President Hennessy delivered his annual address to the Academic Council, the body of Stanford’s tenure-line and other senior faculty, on Thursday, April 30. Hennessy discussed the past academic year and plans for the upcoming year with a focus on the role of technology in learning.

According to Stanford Report, Hennessy acknowledged the benefits of current models of technology-based learning, such as massive open online courses (MOOCs), but also acknowledged their drawbacks and expressed his support for further development of hybrid models.

“We’ve learned that MOOCs are not the answer, at least not the only answer,” Hennessy said.

Hennessy also discussed these issues with a panel, which included Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning John Mitchell ’78, professor of German studies and comparative literature Amir Eshel, and assistant professor of education Candace Thille.

During the panel discussion, Mitchell announced that the upcoming school year will be dubbed the “Year of Learning,”and is meant to “spur discussion about a range of subjects involving technology, including how Stanford and other institutions can best pursue teaching, learning and research in the 21st century.”

Contact Emma Neiman at eneiman ‘at’ stanford.edu.