For Kristina von Castel-Roberts and her 45,000 students, there’s no seat capacity in her classroom.
The nutrition professor is the first in the university to teach a massive open online course through Coursera.
Coursera partners with 62 top-tier universities worldwide to offer free noncredit courses that anyone can take. UF is the first Florida university to participate.
More than 45,000 students in six continents have been enrolled in von Castel-Roberts’ Fundamentals of Human Nutrition class, which began in January.
She began her online class in 2006. To make it relevant to her diverse students, von Castel-Roberts said she expanded her course material to include nutritional recommendations from other countries.
She said the class with Coursera gave her a better glimpse of global nutrition.
“It’s been an educational experience,” she said.
Associate provost for teaching and technology Andy McCollough praised UF’s partnership with Coursera. He said the university wanted to share its courses with the rest of the world, and professors would have the opportunity to work with online experts.
“The benefits will be enjoyed by faculty and students,” McCollough said.
Even though the university doesn’t make any money, he said, massive open online courses are a worthy investment.
Agricultural and biological engineering professor Wendell Porter’s class starts Monday. He said his enrollment has topped 18,500 students.
“I’m teaching two-cities worth of people,” Porter said.
Porter, who started his online class in 2008, began recording new videos and making all minor changes in October.
“They don’t use the word massive for nothing,” he said.
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
