The largest course at the University of Iceland since its foundation

Over three thousand participants are enrolled in the University's first international online course launched today and offered in partnership with edX, a leading international online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT. University of Iceland's course is in Medieval Icelandic Studies focusing on the Icelandic Sagas in all their wonder. 

Participation has exceeded all expectations and students come from all over the world. The largest group, however, comes from the United States, or over a thousand students.  Most of the Europeans are from the United Kingdom, or ten percent of the student body; but registered participants are from Mexico, New-Zealand, Australia, India, Brazil, Argentina and numerous European countries. 

Hjalti Snær Ægisson, doctoral student at the University of Iceland is the main instructor on the course. He says it is an exciting task to have 3,350 students in one and the same course. "It is possible to put this number in all kinds of context.  To name an example the number of students in this course exceeds the number of new students enrolling in the autumn of 2017. Furthermore, the number can still go up; even though this is the number of students enrolled at the beginning of the course it is still possible to sign up after the course has begun. After these six weeks the course will still be on the internet for a certain period of time, porbably a few years, and then of course the number of participants will grow."

Haraldur Bernharðsson, associate professor in medieval studies at the University of Iceland's  Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies, says that the reception clearly shows that medieval Icelandic studies is an international subject. "The University of Iceland offered medieval Icelandic studies at the graduate level for over a decade." The course offer was improved in 2012 strengthening the Master programme Viking and Medieval Norse Studies," says Haraldur and adds that the participation in the new online course confirms the great interest worldwide in the Icelandic Sagas. 

Hjalti agrees and says that the Sagas have a general and lasting appeal and that it is positive that Icelandic educational institutes acknowledge their importance. "It is an honour for us in humanities to get the opportunity to host this first edX course organised by the University of Iceland." 

He says that participation in edX is of great promotional value for the Icelandic Sagas and medieval studies, even though the situation was good before. "The research traditions is long and continuous, contrary to common belief, Nordic studies are a very international research field. The Icelandic sagas are studied in universities in the United States, Europe, China and Australia.  Judging from the discussion on the course's facebook page, many of the students have a prior knowledge in the literature, and among them are people who have been reading the Sagas for years. Yesterday I was speaking to a women in North Cumbria who told me she joined Facebook only to be able to follow us." 

The University of Iceland joined the edX network late last year; a leading non-profit online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT. By joining the University of Iceland wants to increase access to dynamic and exciting study programmes; promote the University's work on an international level, and further develop teaching methods in line with rapidly changing technologies and society. 

Students at the University of Iceland call for more variety in teaching methods. Some teachers already use open online courses and model their teaching methods on these courses.  "The edX collaboration is an important addition open to both University students and staff. Highly respected universities worldwide are now part of the powerful collaborative network edX, which offers an abundance of open and exciting online courses, called MOOC or Massive Open Online Courses.    

The University of Iceland on edX
The University of Iceland course on edX