Winning team is again prize finalist

News - 01 December 2020

In addition to securing an ‘Oscar’, colleagues from Architecture are shortlisted for the 2020 edX prize

Dr Andy van den Dobbelsteen, Eric van den Ham, Siebe Broersma and Tess Blom (Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment) are finalists in the 2020 edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and Learning with their online course “Zero-Energy Design: an approach to make your building sustainable”. The contest celebrates exceptional engagement and innovations of the lecturers in the edX community, and amplifies the powerful role that online learning at scale plays in the transformation of education today. 

“We are very proud to have been selected by edX as one of the 10 best MOOCs”, says Andy, “When our team initiated the online course on this societally urgent and scientifically relevant theme, we wanted to offer a very clear and helpful stepped approach, presented in short lectures, week by week. Perhaps even more importantly, we wanted to make it pleasant and fun to follow for everyone across the world. That is why we invested in short documentaries on energy-neutral buildings, which connected the theory of zero-energy design to interesting practical examples.”

The MOOC is designed to bring architectural expertise directly to the learners’ own buildings; it helps participants figure out which energy reducing measures can be applied to their specific situation and climate, in order to make their buildings (more) sustainable and zero-energy consuming. The evaluation matrix and the tools offered for each step in the course can be applied to judge and intervene both on familiar, local buildings, and to designs in different countries and environments.

“In addition” Andy continues, “we wanted to demonstrate the immense use of energy in common households, by means of a short, funny and dramatic film that I’ve had in mind for years. This became ‘Energy Slaves’, which recently won a Golden Heron Award, the Dutch ‘Oscar’ for commissioned films, of which we are also really proud. We are grateful to the TU Delft Extension School, which supported the development of Zero-Energy Design, and to Oculus Film, which produced the films with us.”

The creative concept and innovative performance was a hit with the film jury: “What a party to watch! They manage to make the viewer think about their own behaviour. The dilemma in your own head about what you do and should do keeps you busy for a long time. In short: we want to see these kind of movies more often!”

These prizes and nominations show that passion and expertise can powerfully make use of online education. Through considered didactic choices for optimal learner engagement and effective knowledge acquisition, the TU Delft Extension School helps lecturers such as Andy and his colleagues bring their experience to the wider world and to further contribute to solving the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Would you like to find out more about creating online courses and programs? Get in contact with the Extension School or your faculty coordinator.  To find out more about the TU Delft’s online education portfolio check the website.