West Virginia University will begin offering two massive, open, online courses, or MOOCs, this fall through its partnership with Coursera.

The College of Creative Arts will offer “New World, New Map: GPS for today’s music industry,” a class focused on the various aspects of today’s music business, beginning on Oct. 15. The College of Business and Economics will offer its internationally recognized “Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination” class beginning on Nov. 3. Both classes are free, last five weeks and can be used by professionals to earn a verified certificate. A committee made up of faculty approved these two courses.

“These two classes represent the kind of varied education West Virginia University offers,” Provost Joyce McConnell said. “The Music Industry course is one of the newest on campus, and will help prepare the next generation of entertainment executives, while the FAFE class is just one piece of the University’s many offerings in the field of forensics.”

To sign-up for either course or for more information, visit http://ai.wvu.edu/MOOC/.

WVU Academic Innovation, formerly WVU Extended Learning, has led the effort to develop the MOOCs, as a way to promote the academic quality of programming at WVU and as a research project to understand the shifting dynamics of online education.

“Courses like these showcase the best of what a collaborative team can accomplish,” said Sue Day-Perroots, associate vice president of Academic Innovation. “Our instructional designers deployed the best practices in course design to develop a media rich experience with the help of videographers from University Relations. There has been extensive faculty engagement from the proposal process to final product.”

WVU is partnering with 73 top universities through Coursera, an education platform that has gained an international following of lifelong learners. Students who enroll in these courses have the opportunity to interact with students all over the world.

Coursera has partnered with top-tier universities and organizations around the world to provide courses across a broad range of disciplines. WVU is one of just nine other major public or land-grant institutions to partner with Coursera to provide these types of classes.

“New World, New Map: GPS for today’s music industry”

Darko Velichkovski, coordinator of the new music industry program in the WVU School of Music, leads this class which explores the roots of the music industry, regulations and today’s industry methods and practices. Some of the topics covered include: music publishing and copyright fundamentals, live music and musical works licensing, concert promotion, standard recording agreements, the online marketplace, the promotion, distribution and sales of music and more.

“We are pleased Professor Darko Velichkovski has developed this MOOC as a precursor and enticement for students to enter our Music Industry program,” said Paul Kreider, dean of the College of Creative Arts. “The curriculum is exciting, providing an in-depth look into the fascinating world of music industry.”

The online course will consist of lecture videos, which average 10 minutes in length. Students will then visit related websites and engage in online discussions. There will be quizzes, short writing assignments, online video quiz questions and suggestions for outside resources and discussion. There are currently 1,364 students enrolled.

“The MOOC environment also enables us to share, nationally and internationally, some of our academic capacities, experience and knowledge with all those who are interested in the music industry professionally, and who aim to further their progress in the field, wherever they happen to reside,” Velichkovski said.

“Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination”

Dr. Richard Riley, the Louis F. Tanner Distinguished Professor of Public Accounting, and Dr. Richard Dull, associate professor of accounting, will teach the class, which currently has an enrollment of 4,717 students around the world. John Gill, vice president of the Education of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, will also help instruct the class.

“We have one of the most established and recognized ‘Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination’ programs in the world,” said Dr. Karen Donovan, associate dean for Academic Affairs of the College of Business and Economics. “The MOOC platform provides us with a highly interested, highly engaged, international audience where we can offer the expertise we have in this area of study.”

The course will give participants an overview of the issues surrounding worldwide fraud. Riley said: “We will employ the case method of study, along with lectures and videos of actual fraudsters in action … Thousands of businesses are victimized by fraud. In this course, students will learn who, why and how people commit fraud, along with the skills for catching them.”

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