A New Milestone: More Than 1 Million Cumulative Enrollments for the USM Kirwan Center edX Platform

Baltimore, Md. (July 26, 2021) – Launched in 2016, the University System of Maryland’s (USM) Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation recently exceeded the milestone of 1 million cumulative enrollments on the edX platform.

edX is an American massive open online course (MOOC) provider created by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). More than 150 schools, nonprofit organizations, and corporations offer courses on the edX website. edX offers high-quality courses from the world’s best universities and institutions to learners everywhere.

With 38 million students around the world who participate, edX hosts online university-level courses in a wide range of disciplines to a worldwide student body, including some courses at no charge. (In a recently announced transaction, education technology company 2U Inc. is acquiring edX, in a transaction designed to identify even more opportunities for students in online education.)

In 2016, MJ Bishop, Ed.D., Associate Vice Chancellor and Director of the USM Kirwan Center led the launch of USMx. USMx is a system-wide initiative to help institutions leverage the efficiencies and advantages of online learning, particularly with a large number of learners.

At the start of July, the current cumulative enrollment for USMx courses stood at 1,059,389. By exceeding the milestone of 1 million cumulative enrollments from thousands of individual students, USMx has a learner in every country on the planet.

Broader Snapshot of USMx Success

More than 271 courses from USM institutions are privately and publicly available on edX. These courses have generated over $2.8 million dollars in revenue for the Kirwan Center and USM institutions.

“The USM Kirwan Center takes great pride in the impact our USMx platform has brought to so many students in such a brief period of time,” Bishop said.

“When we talk about the ‘transformative’ role the Kirwan Center plays in education delivery, the varied options of subjects offer a striking example of new learning opportunities for the students we serve.”

Institutions throughout the USM have offered innovative courses and programs. These subject areas and host universities include:
 
  • “Instructional Design and Technology” and “Cloud Computing” MicroMasters® programs via University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC);
  • A new “Environmental Management for Sustainability” professional certificate program from University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES);
  • Professional Certificates in “Agile Project Management,” “Product Management,” “Innovation & Entrepreneurship,” and “Digital Marketing” from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP);
  • Private professional development courses from Frostburg State University for K-12 teachers and staff on “Suicide Prevention” and “Educational Equity and Restorative Practices;”
  • “Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care” and “Overview & Management of Parkinson’s Disease,” from Salisbury University;
  • Development by University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) of six private courses focusing on a digital technology credential in conjunction with the Kirwan Center and the Greater Washington Partnership.
  • The globally focused “Ebola, COVID, and Beyond” course jointly developed by UMGC and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).
  • The “Supreme Court and American Politics” MOOC, offered at the University of Baltimore and taught by longtime reporter Lyle Denniston, considered one of the premier journalists covering the U.S. Supreme Court for more than 40 years.

In July 2019, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) became the nation’s first historically black institution (HBI) to launch a MOOC on the edX platform as part of the USM Kirwan Center partnership with the Boston-based MOOC provider.

“The pandemic underscored the viability of online courses and micro-credentials that serve both as pathways to academic programs and as workforce and career enhancement opportunities for adult learners,” said Paul Walsh, program director for USMx. “edX saw a 10-fold increase in new learners and a 15-fold increase in course enrollments in the past 18 months.”

Overview of edX and the Kirwan Center

An edX course can be audited, but an assessment in the course is available only to a “verified” or certificate-pursuing learner. When a student earns a certificate from an edX course, it certifies completion and mastery of the content via a passing grade set by the institution. The certificate is a micro-credential that increasingly is becoming recognized by specific industries. Most employment recruiters view these certificates as advantageous for a job applicant.

While edX counts the world’s leading universities, nonprofits, and institutions as its members, the pending affiliation with 2U offers promise to broaden educational opportunities around the world. “USM joined edX to investigate the affordances of MOOCs and expand the reach of our institutions,” Bishop said. “We are hopeful that 2U’s involvement with edX will benefit learners and institutions alike. We will be watching this situation carefully and will continue to work with USM institutions to explore opportunities to offer courses that achieve a broad reach.”

The USM Board of Regents in 2013 established the William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation to leverage the power of multi-institutional collaboration to increase access, affordability, and achievement of high-quality credentials for Maryland students. The Kirwan Center leads statewide efforts to implement, evaluate, and sustain innovations aimed at student success. Supporting USM institutions in making forays into online learning has been part of the Kirwan Center’s mission since its inception. This includes the strategic implementation of fully online degree/certificate programs, MOOCs, and hybrid and "flipped" courses.

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The USM comprises 12 institutions: Bowie State University; Coppin State University; Frostburg State University; Salisbury University; Towson University; the University of Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; the University of Maryland, College Park; the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; and the University of Maryland Global Campus. The USM also includes three regional centers—the Universities at Shady Grove, the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, and the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland—at which USM universities offer upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses.

Systemwide, student enrollment exceeds 170,000. The USM and its institutions compete successfully nearly $1.5 billion in external grants and contracts annually. USM institutions and programs are among the nation's best in quality and value according to several national rankings. To learn more about the University System of Maryland, visit www.usmd.edu.



 

Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu