For the first time, Israel’s Open University is offering degree studies over the Web in Russian aimed at those living outside Israel. Until now the language of instruction of Open University’s online offerings has been Hebrew. It is also the first time any Israeli academic institution is offering web based courses in a language other than Hebrew.

The project, first announced at Limmud FSU in Moscow this past April, has the aim of bringing quality web-based education to Russian speakers regardless of where they live. During the past decade the Open University has spent about $10 million on translating study materials into Russian. Uploading the materials to the Internet has cost NIS 1.5 million.