Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Iversity

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Type of site
  
Online education

Website
  
www.iversity.org

Slogan(s)
  
Study anywhere!

Commercial
  
Yes

Available in
  
English, German and Russian

Created by
  
Jonas Liepmann and Hannes Klöpper

iversity.org is a European-based online education platform. Since October 2013, iversity has specialised in providing online courses and lectures in higher education, specifically MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Courses are free and open for anyone to enrol and participate. Many of them are conducted in English or German, but also other languages. iversity cooperates with individual professors as well as different European universities. Some of the courses were winners of the MOOC Production Fellowship held in early 2013. iversity.org officially launched the MOOC platform online in October 2013 and as of February 2015 has a user base of 600,000 online learners, enrolled in 63 courses offered by 41 partner universities. iversity is the only MOOC platform offering courses with ECTS-integration. iversity has branch offices in Bernau bei Berlin, Germany and Berlin.

Contents

History

  • Initial idea and development of a beta-version of the platform in 2008 by founder Jonas Liepmann.
  • iversity GmbH (German equivalent of an LLC) was founded as a Learning Management System. Hannes Klöpper joined as a co-founder and second managing director.
  • in 2012 iversity decided to become a European-based MOOC platform
  • Spring 2013 – iversity and the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft launched “The MOOC Production Fellowship” as a competition for online course concepts. A jury chose 10 of the best MOOC concepts out of more than 250 entries. The winners were each awarded €25,000 for the production of their courses.
  • In October 2013 iversity relaunched as a platform for online courses, initially with 10 courses and 115,000 registered users.
  • In January 2014 online learners were able to take the first paid final, on-site exams, through which iversity earned its first revenues.
  • In October 2014, exactly one year since the relaunch, iversity’s total funding reached over €5 million.

    • Courses

    Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) harness visual elements (lecture videos, animations, graphics), interactive elements (simulations) and written materials (scientific articles). All elements can be reviewed at any time. Instructor and course participants can interact with each other in discussion forums. Instructors can use quizzes to get feedback on the learning progress of the course participants. Most iversity courses end with a final assessment or exam. Exams can be taken on-site, online as “proctored-exam” or in form of a final project that has to be handed in to the instructor.

    Students at iversity.org can choose between different study paths, resulting in different certificates. “Statement of Participation” is free-of-charge, other certificates come with varying costs – depending on which level of certification the student chooses. Universities that offer a course at iversity have the option of offering European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits. This track allows students to receive credits from their course and apply them to their university studies. ECTS Credits can be used at any European Higher Education Institution. A certificate that awards ECTS credits is issued once the participant has passed an on-site or online proctored exam. Enrolment to courses is free, costs only apply when purchasing certificates.

    For the production of courses, iversity collaborates with European universities and individual professors. Lecturers design their own MOOCs with technical support from iversity. iversity cooperates with institutions such as

  • Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli (LUISS)
  • RWTH Aachen
  • University of Buckingham
  • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
  • Hertie School of Governance
  • European University Institute
  • University of Tubingen
  • University of Mainz
  • Hochschule Reutilingen

    • Business Model

    iversity earns revenue through the sale of certificates, which online learners receive after successfully completing courses on iversity.org thereby catering to all types of learners, among them working professionals who need to document their learning achievements and university students. Some courses at iversity can be integrated into the student’s diploma through the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). iversity has raised more than €5 million in venture capital. The investors are T-Venture, bmp media investors, BFB Frühphasenfonds, Masoud Kamali, Westtech Ventures, CRALS, Peter Zühlsdorf and Kontor B45. The iversity Advisory board consists of Dr. Jörg Dräger and Prof. Édouard Husson.

    References

    Iversity Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA