20,000 students in the first 24 hours: UK enters MOOC space with social, mobile FutureLearn

Until last Wednesday, US-based learning platforms have led the development of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Together, those platforms, including Coursera, edX, and Udacity, serve an estimated 3 million learners worldwide with courses from a number of elite partner institutions, such as Harvard and MIT.

But now, in the same week in which edX announced a partnership with Google for the development of a new, open-source online learning system, the UK has launched its own – and its first-ever – MOOC platform: FutureLearn.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung g called for a comprehensive restructure of Viet Nam's education system to make it more regionally competitive by 2030

In a separate event yesterday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called for a comprehensive restructure of Viet Nam's education system to make it more regionally competitive by 2030.

Dung outlined expectations during a meeting of the National Committee on Education and Human Resources Development 2011-15, held at the Government Office.
A raft of new measures was discussed, with the committee being determined to transform the national education system so that it meets the country's demands of industrialisation and international integration in the time to come. The country wants education to be at the heart of its continued sustainable development.

Dung said that the draft project must clearly identify the current shortcomings of the system so that education can be improved for generations to come.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan stressed the importance of renovating the exam system and ensuring the assessment procedures are fair and accurate.

Sources: VNS