On April 20, the APIE Program opened the fourth batch of its core courses (Online courses 1 and 2 and e-Workshop) and celebrated new records: more than 570 learners registered for the course (as of today), and the first e-workshop (online real-time session) had more than 250 participants, the great majority from SOI Asia partner institutions.
The increase in the number of participants is the result of different efforts. The active participation of APIE alumni students in their own communities and word-of-mouth have spread information and their experiences in previous batches. Most APIE alumni have also shared their achievements, such as course completion badges, on social media, helping APIE raise visibility among students.
Faculty members have also played essential roles in achieving these numbers. More than 180 applicants came only from the University of San Carlos, where the course expects to support students’ learning outside the classroom.
APIE Engagements in Vietnam
VNNIC (Vietnam Network Information Center) also contributed to the increase in participation in APIE. In addition to strongly supporting the call for participation in Vietnam, VNNIC hosted the first e-Workshop in its offices in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Min. This joint effort aims to create an environment where learners can get language and technical support from the VNNIC staff and make the APIE learning experience smoother and more engaging.
The APIE team is also working on other economies to raise the visibility of the programs. On a visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, APIE program lead Noriatsu Kudo and APNIC Foundation project office Marcos Sadao Maekawa met faculty members of the Faculty of Advanced Technologies and Engineering at VNU Vietnam Japan University, which is part of the Vietnam National University. The university showed interest in APIE courses and emphasized that they have much in common with some courses in VNU-VJU, indicating the potential to integrate the course into their computer science and engineering courses.
APIE Core course opens twice a year for the SOI Asia community. A public version of the first online course, “Understanding the Internet,” is also available on FutureLearn. Learn more about other components of the program on the APIE website.
