“We felt we should be more involved in this new online space,” said Francis.  “[edX is] a good match.  We’re using edX as an experiment, and they’re using us.  It goes both ways.”

ANU’s reformatted astrophysics course will have the added benefit of reaching a wider target audience. Besides on-campus students, anyone who is curious in the subject will be able to take the course for free.

“Students can get a real academic summer learning experience from the beach if they like,” said Francis.

The university will also launch an online summer program experimenting with the new “blended” model of learning. Participating students will take six weeks of online modules before spending one week of intensive in-class study in-person on the ANU campus.

CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS

EdX, however, is expanding not just geographically. As it grows its presence domestically and abroad, edX is also redefining what it means to be a student.

Although most of the courses offered on the edX platform are taught by college and university faculty, university-age students comprise only 40% of the edX student body, according to an edX media kit. “Continuing learners,” a category that includes adult students beyond traditional university age, make up 55% of the student body, while the remaining 5% consists of high school students.

As a result, some of edX’s most recent collaborations are targeted towards the diverse educational background of its student body. Agarwal said that besides its lofty educational missions, another—perhaps more practical—goal of edX is “to help [students] find jobs and as much as we can.”

In its collaboration with LinkedIn, users of the professional networking site will be able to show certification for advanced coursework to potential employers, allowing students no longer enrolled in college or university to leverage their edX coursework in the job market.

And even though high school students still only make up a small minority of the platform’s students, edX’s newest partnership with College Board and Davidson College plans to provide innovative and data-driven modes of learning tailored for students preparing to enter college in the United States.