b'Education mattersEducation mattersPerth, the only cities that still run bothcourse (MOOC) platform\x08 Using the edX undergraduate and postgraduate coursesplatform, students can communicate in geophysics? with teachers and with other students, sit supervised examinations, and earn Albert Einstein has been quoted asacademic credits and certificates\x08 EdX saying We cannot solve our problemsis a non-for-profit organisation, offering with the same thinking we used when wecourses at no charge (but payment created them\x08 Taking a leaf from Albertmight be required to get certification) or Einsteins playbook, we should search forfor a fraction of the price of on-campus alternative, less traditional educationaleducation\x08 Currently, edX embraces 20 resources\x08 One such modern alternativemillion users and offers courses from over is online education\x08 160 universities, including MIT, Harvard Online education may appear to beand Oxford University, and companies Marina Pervukhinaa recent invention but, according tosuch as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Associate Editor for EducationWikipedia, online education started inand Amnesty International\x08 Two Marina.Pervukhina@csiro.au 1999 when the University of TbingenAustralian universities, Curtin University in Germany published videos of lecturesand The University of Queensland, offer online for its timms initiative (Tbingercourses in geophysics\x08 The edX platform Back to school in 2021? Go toInternet Multimedia Server)\x08 Arguablyoffers six different types of certification: universityX the movement was significantly boostedundergraduate-level MicroBachelors in 2002 when the MassachusettsProgram, Graduate-level MicroMasters It has been said that when the economyProgram and a Professional Certificate\x08 is in crisis, universities thrive, and duringInstitute of Technology (MIT) introduced its OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiativeIn addition, Executive Education courses downturns in the natural resources sectorare designed for business leaders to help geophysicists, among other specialists,with the aim of publishing all their course materials online and makingdeveloping strategic skills\x08have returned to universities to improve their skills and acquire new credentialsthem widely available\x08 In the same yearCoursera is another well-known MOOC in order to increase their probability ofCarnegie Mellon University started theprovider\x08 It was founded in the same year future successful employment\x08 Open Learning Initiative\x08 The idea wasas edX by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, supported by other universities andcomputer science professors at Stanford However, in the past two years, some safeOCW projects have been launched atUniversity\x08 Andrew Ng, is famous for his harbours have been closed\x08 AustralianYale, Utah State University, the UniversityMachine Learning (ML) course, one of universities have closed their geophysicsof Michigan, and the University ofthe most popular courses on Coursera, in departments reducing markedly theBerkeley\x08 which he explains complex ML concepts opportunity to pursue geophysics at thein laymans terms\x08 Today Coursera is tertiary level\x08 This short communicationCurrently over 2400 courses athome to 73 million students and offers is design to answer the question: Whatundergraduate and graduate level areover 3900 Courses and Specializations, educational resources are available foravailable online from MIT alone\x08 Theseover 20 degrees and MasterTrack geophysicists in 2021? are generally accompanied by homeworkCertificates, and over 13 Professional problems and exams, video lectures,Certificates\x08 Courseras strengths lie in the In 2021 only four universities inand complete textbooks written by MITfields of business, personal development, Australia offer geophysics degrees,professors\x08 The project is supported by adata science and computer science\x08 While and only two offer masters degrees innumber of Universities in more than 20the latter two are certainly relevant to geophysics\x08 Curtin University in Westerncountries\x08 According to the website ofpractising geophysicists, unfortunately, Australia is the only university thatthe OCW Consortium: Coursera does not currently offer any offers both an undergraduate degreecourses in geophysics\x08in applied geology and geophysicsAn OpenCourseWare is a free and open and a masters degree in geophysics\x08digital publication of high qualityProfessional societies also offer online The University of Sydney offers ancollege and university-level educationallearning\x08 For example, the SEG developed undergraduate degree in geology andmaterials. These materials are organizedits own SEG on Demand (https://seg\x08org/and geophysics\x08 Macquarie Universityas courses, and often include courseEducation/SEG-on-Demand) channel offers an undergraduate degree inplanning materials and evaluation toolsthat provides records of Virtual Courses, Advanced Science with a specialisation inas well as thematic content. Honorary Lectures, Distinguished geophysics, and complements that with aOpenCourseWare are free and openlyLectures, eLearning Courses, Annual masters degree in Science Innovation inlicensed, accessible to anyone, anytimeMeeting Technical Program, DISC, and Geology and Geophysics\x08 The Universityvia the internet. Webinar Recordings\x08 One feature of the of Adelaide offers a Graduate CertificateHowever, OCW provides neitherSEGs channel is the Geophysics 101 in Petroleum Geology and Geophysics\x08certification nor access to faculty\x08 course given by Leon Thomsen, author All these courses are offered on campusof the most-cited paper in Geophysics as the geophysics curriculum limitsTo overcome these two limitations(Thomsen, L\x08, 1986\x08 Weak elastic possibilities of online learning\x08 Whatin 2012 MIT and Harvard Universityanisotropy\x08 Geophysics, 51, 19541966, to do if you do not live in Sydney orlaunched edX, a massive open onlinedoi: 10\x081190/1\x081442051)!FEBRUARY 2021 PREVIEW 24'