What began as a single course on circuits and electronics two years ago has rapidly expanded to a consortium of 30 partner institutions. Although initially, edX’s new partnerships were based solely in the United States, over a dozen foreign institutions have embraced the online learning initiative since February, and both the Chinese and French governments have separately announced the creation of online education portals powered by edX for campuses in their home countries.

With 17 international partners, the edX consortium today boasts a presence in countries spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.

Perhaps just as striking as the increasingly international profile of edX is its increasing number of partnerships with institutions not associated with higher education that have been announced in the past few months.

The International Monetary Fund announced in June that it would be using edX’s open source platform to allow governments and the public to take training courses in economics and finance.

LinkedIn, a professional networking site, also announced in November that it would be partnering with edX and other leaders in online education to allow LinkedIn users to add their certifications or other completed coursework to their LinkedIn profiles.

Most recently, edX announced a new collaboration with Davidson College and the College Board to create online modules for high school students in Advanced Placement classes.

Some professors say that it is too early to tell whether most of these initiatives will have a significant impact on new modes of teaching or on the direction of edX itself.

“It’s too early to say,” said Chinese history professor Peter K. Bol, Harvard’s Vice Provost for Advances in Learning, about the impact of edX’s most recent partnerships. “Things have been moving very quickly.”