More than four in ten European universities have not heard of massive open online courses (Moocs), according to a new report.

A total of 175 institutions took part in a survey conducted to coincide with the European University Association¡¯s annual conference in Ghent on 11-12 April.

The responses reveal that 58 per cent knew what a Mooc was, although 88 per cent wanted to learn more.

Just a third could confirm that Moocs had been discussed at their university, according to the report, Internationalisation in European higher education: European policies, institutional strategies and EUA support.

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The vast majority of the questionnaires were filled in by a university¡¯s international office or by senior management.

Other results show that two thirds of institutions are offering more courses in English as part of a strategy to become more international.

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The association has also released a report that concludes Global University rankings are having a growing impact on institutional strategy and public policy.

Global University Rankings and their Impact: Report 2 says that ¡°arts, humanities and to a large extent the social sciences remain underrepresented in rankings¡± because citations are undercounted in these subject areas, despite improvements in methodologies.

Rankings also tend to focus on ¡°elite¡± universities and ¡°thus cannot provide a sound basis for analysing entire higher education systems¡±.

However, rankings producers are increasingly acknowledging the ¡°biases and flaws¡± in their data and so warning of the dangers of misusing the league tables, it concludes.

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david.matthews@tsleducation.com