Congratulations to ABE lecturers on their win!
The 2022 edX Prize for exceptional contributions to online teaching and learning went to Professor Dick van Gameren and his course team – Nelson Amorin Mota, Frederique van Andel, and Rohan Varma, from the faculty of Architecture & the Built Environment.
Their MOOC Global Housing Design addresses the critical global need for urban development expertise and helps thousands worldwide to rethink and design sustainable and inclusive housing taking into consideration local social, economic, and environmental influences and motivations. The edX prize recognises the innovative methods used to maintain learner engagement and help build connections to turn insights into real-world impact. It also awards the lecturers for demonstrating the potential that online learning has to transform educational systems and inspire learners to chase their knowledge goals.
Innovation in online education
The course offers an immersive experience and a highly personalized component, where learners are tasked with reimagining the housing projects in their own communities to visualize a more sustainable tomorrow. Those development proposals are compiled into one searchable database for participants to explore new ideas and offer feedback, creating a global network of energized learners eager to enact change.
The exemplary work of Van Gameren and his colleagues showcases the potential of online education to reach communities of learners hungry for knowledge but unable to meet the demands of a traditional education. The team is helping to arm a new generation with the insights and network needed to create a sustainable future centred around affordable housing for all.
Rob Mudde, Vice Rector Magnificus
Teaching online allows me to reach thousands of people across the world and empower them to make positive changes to the environment and the buildings they work and live in. As a team, we can use our passion and expertise to teach others about designing and building adequate housing for a more sustainable future. And learners can acquire knowledge and skills at a time and place that suit their busy lives – whilst collectively we contribute to a better world.
Dick van Gameren
Intrigued? Wish to develop an online course? Join the 200+ lecturers at TU Delft who are making an impact through online education. Visit the Call for Proposals page or contact your Faculty Coordinator.
Third time winner!
This is the third time that our university receives the edX Prize for its commendable work in online teaching and learning. In 2016, TU Delft’s first MOOC Solar Energy by Arno Smets (Faculty of Electric Engineering, Mathematics & Computer Science) was awarded the inaugural edX Prize, whilst Andy van den Dobbelsteen, Eric van den Ham and Tess Blom (Faculty of Architecture & the Built Environment) won it in 2020 with the MOOC “Zero-Energy Design: an approach to make your building sustainable”.
About edX
TU Delft offers online MOOC courses on the edX platform. edX is a non-profit platform for online education, which universities such as MIT and Harvard have been using since 2012 to make education accessible to everyone with access to the internet, no matter where they are in the world. Anyone can follow the courses free of charge, regardless of prior education and without an entrance test.
In 2013, TU Delft was the very first European university to join and offer courses on the platform. The winning course Global Housing Design is part of a dedicate portfolio offering for Sustainable Cities by the TU Delft Extension School for Continuing Education.