University of Oxford launches partnership with edX and its first MOOC

Notes for Editors:

• About the MOOC course 
  The MOOC enrolment to “From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development” is open now. The course will start in February 2017 and last for six weeks. Students will have access to a discussion forum to submit assignments and discuss with peers and instructional staff and can request a statements of completion at the end of the course. No credits will be offered. 
  After the offering period, the course will remain open and accessible to the public to view the contents (video lectures, case studies, readings) and to take the multiple choice questions but no interaction with peers or instructional staff will be possible.
  The course is designed in six modules and analyses the political, social and economic factors that can lift nations out of poverty into prosperity.
  Module 1: From anarchy to a centralised state
  Module 2: From centralised to inclusive states
  Module 3: Power, identities & narratives
  Module 4: Growth through urbanisation & industrialisation
  Module 5: Natural resources and aid
  Module 6: External influences: Trade, migration, international governance, and military intervention

More information about the course can be found here [insert link to course page]

• About Professor Sir Paul Collier
  Sir Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and a Professorial Fellow of St Antony’s College. From 1998–2003 he took a five-year Public Service leave during which he was Director of the Research Development Department of the World Bank. He is currently a Professeur Invité at Sciences Po and a Director of the International Growth Centre. Recent books include The Bottom Billion (Oxford University Press, 2007) which in 2008 won the Lionel Gelber, Arthur Ross and Corine prizes. In 2014, Professor Collier received a knighthood for services to promoting research and policy change in Africa.

• About the Blavatnik School of Government
  Founded at the University of Oxford in 2010, the Blavatnik School of Government exists to inspire and support better government and public policy around the world. We teach current and future public leaders through innovative programmes, conduct deep research into pressing issues facing policy makers around the world, and convene leaders and experts to foster better public policy. With a strong global outlook, we combine insights from a range of academic disciplines and derive lessons from the public, private and third sectors. The School was made possible through a £75 million donation to the University of Oxford by American philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik. See: www.bsg.ox.ac.uk
  
  
• Oxford’s digital presence
  
  Open Educational Resources
  The University’s Open Spires website showcases a broad range of open educational resources and projects at Oxford. See: http://openspires.it.ox.ac.uk/ 
  Digital Education Strategy - The goal of the Strategy is to ensure that in 2020 Oxford remains a premier institution for teaching, adopting the very best of teaching innovations that are made possible by digital technology. See: https://digitaleducation.web.ox.ac.uk
  
  Oxford’s iTunesU site was launched in October 2008. It features audio and video podcasts from across the University and currently reaches a worldwide audience of 185 countries.The most popular series are General Philosophy, Quantum Mechanics, Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, and Building a Business. So far Oxford’s iTunesU has attracted nearly 30 million views from people from 185 countries. There are 8,134 episodes grouped in 604 series (an episode is a lecture, talk or interview); a total of 4,100 audio hours online (just audio, there is video too); and 7,100 academic speakers have contributed material. For more information, go to http://itunes.ox.ac.uk/
  All material is also available online in Oxford’s web portal. See: http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk
  
  The Digital Humanities at Oxford initiative is a joint initiative by the Oxford e-Research Centre, IT Services, the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), the Oxford Internet Institute, and Oxford's Bodleian Libraries. Oxford probably has more digital humanities activity than any other UK institution, and has received more grants than any other university from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for projects with digital research outputs. One particularly successful project is Early Modern Letters Online, a collaboration between the Bodleian Library and the Humanities Division, which has scanned and digitised online tens of thousands of manuscript letters between great thinkers in early modern Europe.
  http://digital.humanities.ox.ac.uk/
  
  Oxford University Press
  For more information about Oxford University Press, go to www.oup.com
  
  Oxford University Department for Continuing Education offers over 90 short online courses, which are delivered to students from over 130 countries. There are around 4,000 students enrolled on its online courses in any given year. For more about the online learning offered by University of Oxford’s Department for Continuing Education, go to www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/online/index.php
  
  
• About edX
  Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, edX is an online learning destination and MOOC provider, offering high-quality courses from more than 90 of the world’s leading universities and institutions. See: www.edx.org/.