UC Receives International Interest as Its First MOOC Offering Credit Prepares to Launch Oct. 7

The University of Cincinnati set an Oct. 7 launch date to begin teaching UC’s first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

As with most MOOCs, the course will be free and is open to participants around the world. There are no admission requirements and no prerequisites associated with the class so individuals who have no current affiliation with UC can simply register online and immediately join the class. Hundreds of students worldwide already have expressed interest in taking the class.

The joint effort of UC’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business and UC’s College of Engineering & Applied Science (CEAS) have taken the traditional MOOC concept one step further by offering two free credit hours to participants who successfully complete the course and enroll in a master’s program at either of the two colleges.

This revolutionary approach allows participants to “sample” the UC curriculum and simultaneously recognizes the work of students who complete the MOOC and ultimately pursue a UC graduate degree by saving them both time and money while on their degree path.

“Our MOOC2Degree course will allow students to experience our quality faculty and programs before making an investment in pursuing a master’s degree,” says BJ Zirger, associate dean for Online Education at the Lindner College of Business.

The seven-week MOOC2Degree course is titled Innovation and Design Thinking and will be co-taught by Lindner’s Drew Boyd, assistant professor-educator of marketing and executive director of the Master of Science in Marketing, and Jim Tappel, assistant professor-educator at CEAS.

The course—with currently more than 200 people registered from around the world—is designed to appeal to innovation practitioners from all backgrounds as the class will teach students to master the tools necessary to generate new ideas and how to quickly transform those concepts into viable new products and services.

The online class will utilize weekly lecturettes, assigned readings, live chats and guest speakers. The lineup of guest speakers will include Cindy Tripp, formerly the director of Global Design Thinking at Procter & Gamble; Dr. Michael Clem, vice president R&D, medical at Kaleidoscope; Elizabeth Edwards, CEO at Metro Innovation and author of “Startup: The Complete Handbook for Launching a Company for Less”; and Doug Ladd, chief marketing officer, EndoChoice.

To learn more or register for the class, visit

Innovation and Design Thinking

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