Distance Learning | News

NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering To Launch Online Continuing Ed Program

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 02/20/14

The New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering is collaborating with a private partner to launch an online continuing education program in March.

The program will be jointly delivered with Scientific American and will feature interactive prerecorded content and live webinars.

"Designed for mid-career scientists, business people and technical personnel to maintain competitive credentials, take their next career step or stimulate their creativity, these interactive, weeklong online short courses provide up-to-the-minute instruction," according to a news release. "Notable industry and academic experts create and teach the virtual courses."

Features of the courses, which will run Monday-Friday, include:

• "Active learning modules," with videos, graphics and interactive elements;
• Anytime access to lectures;
• The ability to join a class up to a week before it starts;
• Live question and answer sessions during webinars; and
• The ability to share ideas with instructors or classmates via video, screen-sharing, chat rooms, interactive polls and phone or voice-over-IP lines.

Registration for several courses, including the first, "Cognition and the Aging Brain," is currently open for an introductory cost of $599, reduced from $799. Other courses to be offered include:

• "Bioinformatics: How to Analyze the Human Genome," April 7-11;
• "Transportation Engineering," May 19-23;
• "Disaster Management," June 2-6;
• "Mysteries of the Universe," June 16-20;
• "Quantum Mechanics and Information," August 4-8; and
• "Sustainable Agriculture: How to Feed the World," September 15-19.

"An acknowledged leader in online learning, NYU's School of Engineering draws together the most pedagogically sound virtual learning techniques and strategies, resulting in astonishing rates of student achievement," said Robert Ubell, vice dean for online learning, in a prepared statement. "Our experience in engaging mid-career professionals ensures that students in the new program will find interactive classes surprisingly exciting and unusually informative."

For more information, or to register for a course, visit scientificamerican.com.