Full policy

PRIVACY NOTICE UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 6 OF REGULATION (EU) No 2016/679 OF 27 APRIL 2016

The current privacy notice is granted pursuant to Article 6 of Regulation (EU) No 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 relating to the protection of natural persons as regards the processing of personal data and in compliance with the rules on the processing of personal data and on free movement of such data.

This privacy notice refers to the Polimi Open Knowledge - POK website ("POK"), offered by Politecnico di Milano ("Polimi") to deliver Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

POK will host also the MOOCs offered by Polimi partners in the Edvance project (Digital Education Hub - Next Generation EU) until 2026: Humanitas University, Bocconi University, University of Brescia, University of Macerata, University of Messina, Academy of Fine Arts Bologna, Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, Conservatory of Cagliari, Milan Civic Schools Foundation (Fondazione Scuole Civiche di Milano).

This privacy policy provides information to those who interact with POK, which can be accessed electronically and pertains to the domain: pok.polimi.it.

Data Controller: Politecnico di Milano – Directorate General upon authorisation of the pro-tempore Rector dirgen@polimi.it

Data Protection Officer: privacy@polimi.it - phone: +39 0223999378

Purposes and legal basis of data processing, categories of data and data storage period

Under the relevant European and national legislation (EU Reg. 679/2016, hereafter, Regulation), we inform you that your personal data will be used for the purposes in the table below.

Nature of the data

The provision of data is mandatory. Refusal to provide the data makes it impossible to carry out the intended purposes.

Processing methods

The data processing for the purposes indicated above may be carried out on digital media, manually and/or with electronic tools. Duly authorised persons are entitled to access the data acquired for the aforementioned purposes.

For each online course POK offers a Forum: if you post on the Forum, your name and surname will be visible also to the other course users. A discussion on the Forum can be incorporated into other course pages: in his case name and surname of participants in the discussion are visible also there.

Platform usage data can be processed by Politecnico di Milano, ensuring adequate security measures, to carry out statistical analyses and scientific research activities within the University and in the framework of the Edvance project.

Categories of recipients

For the above purposes, the data may be communicated to Italian or international public or private entities, companies or persons that provide services on behalf of the Controller:

• staff authorised to process personal data;
• European Union;
• organisations partnering with POK to offer MOOCs, such as organisations participating in the respective EU-funded projects;
• partner institutions of the Edvance project;
• Italian Ministry of University and Research;
• employers, institutions or other entities that foster your enrollment in a MOOC for training or other educational purposes (if an entity supports your course participation, POK may share information with that entity as needed to confirm your enrollment, participation, progress, and completion status in that course);
• subjects that provide outsourcing services or acting as technicians operating the POK equipment and service programs;
• entities / authorities for issuing public key certificates.

Personal data retention period

• course data: 3 years after the end of each course
• general records of POK: data will be cancelled after 10 years of user inactivity

Transferring data to non-EU countries or international organisations

The data controller processes data within the European Union. In general, if, for technical and/or operational reasons, it becomes necessary to use parties located outside the European Union, or to transfer some of the data collected to technical systems and services managed in the cloud and located outside the European Union, the processing will be regulated under the provisions of Chapter V of the Regulation and authorised based on specific decisions of the European Union. Precautions will be taken to ensure the most complete protection of personal data, basing such a transfer:
a) on adequacy decisions of the receiving third-party countries expressed by the European Commission;
b) on adequate safeguards expressed by the receiving third party under art. 46 of the Regulation;
c) on the adoption of so-called “corporate binding rules”.

Data subject rights

As the data subject, you may request from the Controller:

• confirmation of the existence or otherwise of personal data concerning you;
• access to your personal data and related information;
• correction of inaccurate data or completion of incomplete data;
• deletion of your personal data (under one of the conditions indicated in Art. 17, paragraph 1 of the Regulation and in respect of the exceptions envisaged by paragraph 3 of that Article);
• the restriction of processing of your personal data (in the presence of one of the circumstances indicated in Art. 18, paragraph 1 of the Regulation);
• the transformation into anonymous form or block on data processed in violation of the law, including data whose storage is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or processed.

As data subject, you have the right to partly or fully object:

• on legitimate grounds, to the processing of your personal data, even if it is relevant for the purpose for which the data was collected;
• to the processing of your personal data to promote training initiatives and Politecnico di Milano’s events.

These rights may be exercised by contacting privacy@polimi.it.

If you believe that your rights have been violated by the data controller or a third party, you can lodge a complaint with the Italian Authority for Data Protection - Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, or with another relevant supervisory authority under the Regulation.

Last updated: 27 January 2025

Full policy

Privacy policy on data collection and processing pursuant to art. 13 of EU regulation no. 679/2016 of April 27, 2016

This privacy policy is issued pursuant to Article 13 of EU Regulation 2016/679 of April 27, 2016, on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and compliance with the legislation on personal data processing, as well as the free movement of such data.

This privacy policy refers to the websites providing the MOOC - Massive Open Online Courses of the Edvance project (Digital Education Hub for Advanced Digital Culture - Next Generation EU within the framework of the PNRR, Mission 4, Component 1, Investment 3.4 "University Teaching and Skills") of the following partners: Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Humanitas University, Università Bocconi, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Università degli Studi di Macerata, Università degli Studi di Torino, Università degli Studi di Trento, Università di Pisa, Università degli Studi di Messina, Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, Conservatorio di Cagliari, Fondazione Scuole Civiche di Milano.

The processing of personal data is carried out jointly by the university partners and educational institutions participating in the project, under joint controllership pursuant to Article 26 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).

Politecnico di Milano acts as the project coordinator, ensuring the technical and operational management and support of the project and serving as the reference point for coordinating the data flow among the participating universities.

This privacy policy provides information to those who interact with:

• the POK website, accessible online and pertaining to the domain: pok.polimi.it, which offers online courses from Politecnico di Milano, Humanitas University, Università Bocconi, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Università degli Studi di Macerata, Università degli Studi di Messina, Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, Conservatorio di Cagliari, Fondazione Scuole Civiche di Milano
• the Edvance Politecnico di Torino website, accessible online and pertaining to the domain: edvance.polito.it
• the Edvance Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia website, accessible online and pertaining to the domain: edvance.unive.it
• the Edvance Università degli Studi di Cagliari website, accessible online and pertaining to the domain: edvance.unica.it
• the Edvance Università degli Studi di Torino website, accessible online and pertaining to the domain: elearning.unito.it/edvance
• the mooc@unitn website of Università degli Studi di Trento, accessible online and pertaining to the domain: mooc.unitn.it
• the Edvance Università di Pisa website, accessible online and pertaining to the domain: edvance.elearning.unipi.it
• the UniBO Open Knowledge website of Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, accessible online and pertaining to the domain: book.unibo.it

1. Joint Data Controllers

• Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci n. 32, 20133 Milano, C.F. 80057930150
• Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi n. 24, 10129 Torino, C.F. 00518460019
• Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, via Zamboni n. 33, 40126 Bologna, C.F. 80007010376
• Humanitas University, via Rita Levi Montalcini n. 4, 20072 Pieve Emanuele (MI), C.F. 97692990159
• Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venezia, C.F. 80007720271
• Università Commerciale “Luigi Bocconi”, via Sarfatti n.25, 20136 Milano, C.F. 80024610158
• Università degli Studi di Brescia, Piazza del Mercato n. 15, 25121 Brescia, C.F. 98007650173
• Università degli Studi di Cagliari, via Università n.40, 09124 Cagliari, C.F. 80019600925
• Università degli Studi di Macerata, via Crescimbeni nn. 30-32, 62100 Macerata, C.F. 00177050432
• Università degli Studi di Messina, Piazza Pugliatti n. 1, 98122 Messina, C.F. 80004070837
• Università degli Studi di Torino, via Giuseppe Verdi n. 8, 10124 Torino, C.F. 80088230018
• Università degli Studi di Trento, via Calepina n. 14, 38122 Trento, C.F. 00340520220
• Università di Pisa, Lungarno Pacinotti n. 43/44, 56126 Pisa, C.F. 80003670504
• Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, via Belle Arti 54, 40126 Bologna, C.F. 80080230370
• Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, Dorsoduro n. 423, 30123 Venezia, C.F. 80013420270
• Conservatorio Statale di Musica Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Piazza E.Porrino, 09128 Cagliari, C.F. 80000960924
• Scuole Civiche di Milano – FdP, Alzaia Naviglio Grande, 20, 20144 Milano, C.F. 97269560153

Data will be processed by authorized subjects, duly instructed in compliance with current legislation.

2. Data Protection Officer and contact points

Politecnico di Milano, as coordinator, contact: privacy@polimi.it

3. Categories of Data Subjects

The EDVANCE Project provides training courses created ad hoc by the participating universities, made available to the group to be attended by:

• students enrolled at the universities and/or other educational institutions partnering in the project;
• third-party professionals, meaning all natural persons accessing the courses from outside the partner institutions.

4. Purpose of processing, legal basis, categories of data, and retention period

For the purposes of applying European and national legislation (EU Reg. 679/2016, hereinafter Regulation), it is informed that your personal data will be used for the following purposes:

5. Nature of data

The provision of data is mandatory. Refusal to provide data makes it impossible to carry out the intended purposes.

6. Processing methods

Processing for the above purposes is carried out digitally, manually and/or with electronic or automated tools. Access to data acquired for the aforementioned purposes is allowed to duly authorized personnel.

The usage data of the platforms providing the Edvance MOOCs may be processed by the joint controllers, ensuring adequate security measures, for the purpose of conducting statistical analyses and scientific research activities within the university and within the Edvance project.

Each university partner of the EDVANCE project independently manages the data related to the outcomes of students' participation in the MOOCs, acting as an Autonomous Data Controller for this specific purpose.

Therefore, processing methods, retention criteria, and any other information related to the management of these data are directly regulated by the student's home university.

Students can consult the privacy notice on personal data processing adopted by their university through the official channels of the reference institution.

7. Categories of recipients

In relation to the indicated purposes, data may be communicated to the following public and/or private entities, or may be communicated to companies and/or persons, both in Italy and abroad, that provid services, even external, on behalf of the Data Controller:

• Edvance project partner institutions;
• Ministry of University and Research (MUR);
• entities offering outsourcing services or acting as technicians operating on the equipment and programs of the platforms providing the Edvance MOOCs, duly appointed Data Processors pursuant to Art. 28.

8. Transfer to Non-EU countries or International Organizations

Personal data will be processed by the Data Controller within the territory of the European Union.

Should it be necessary for technical and/or operational reasons to use entities located outside the European Union, or should it be necessary to transfer some of the collected data to technical systems and services managed in the cloud and located outside the European Union, the processing will be regulated in accordance with the provisions of Chapter V of the EU Regulation and authorized based on specific decisions of the European Union.

All necessary precautions will be taken to ensure the utmost protection of personal data, basing the transfer:

1. on adequacy decisions of the recipient third countries expressed by the European Commission;
2. on adequate guarantees expressed by the recipient third party pursuant to Art. 46 of the EU Regulation;
3. on the adoption of binding corporate rules, so-called Corporate Binding Rules.

9. Rights of Data Subjects

As a data subject, you can request at any time from the Data Controller:

• confirmation of the existence or non-existence of personal data concerning you;
• access to your personal data and related information;
• rectification of inaccurate data or integration of incomplete data;
• deletion of personal data concerning you (upon the occurrence of one of the conditions indicated in Art. 17, para. 1 of the Regulation and in compliance with the exceptions provided in para. 3 of the same article);
• restriction of the processing of your personal data (in the occurrence of one of the cases indicated in Art. 18, para. 1 of the Regulation);
• anonymization or blocking of data processed in violation of the law, including those for which retention is not necessary in relation to the purposes for which the data were collected or subsequently processed.

As a data subject, you also have the right to object, in whole or in part, for legitimate reasons, to the processing of personal data concerning you, even if pertinent to the purpose of collection.

These rights can be exercised by contacting the privacy contact point at privacy@polimi.it.

If you believe that your rights have been violated by the Data Controller and/or a third party, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority and/or another competent supervisory authority under the Regulation.

Updated on March 6, 2025

For the purposes of participating in the courses and educational activities of the Edvance project, it is necessary to read this privacy notice. By continuing with enrollment and participation in the courses, the user declares to have read, understood, and accepted the terms of data processing as described above.

This privacy policy has been translated into English with the support of AI tools. The official and legally binding version is the Italian text. In case of discrepancies, the Italian version shall prevail.

Full policy

In order to participate in polimi open knowledge (“pok”) courses or access any resources offered by politecnico di milano (“polimi”) at www.pok.polimi.it (“site”), you must first carefully read and agree to these terms of service (“terms”). by accessing and participating in the courses, you have indicated that you have read these terms and agree to be bound by and comply with them. if you do not agree to be bound by these terms, please promptly exit the site.

Polimi reserves the right to modify these terms at any time and will publish notice of any modifications on-line at this site. by continuing to access the site after notice of such modifications has been published, you signify your agreement to be bound by them.

Object and purpose

Polimi provides the online platform POK which hosts MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) created by Polimi, other organizations and POK partners based in Italy and throughout the world. By registering for an online course offered on the Site, you join a worldwide community of learners. POK endeavors to provide you access to online courses and learning materials wherever you are located.

Eligibility

Registration and participation in POK and its online courses is restricted to those individuals over 18 years of age, emancipated minors, or those who possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into these terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations and warranties herein. In any case, you affirm that you are over the age of 14 since access to the Site is not intended for children under 14. If you are under 14 years of age, do not use the Site. If you have questions about the applicability of this policy, please contact us at pok@polimi.it. Certain courses may also have additional eligibility requirements as specified in the specific course description. If you are not eligible for registration and participation or do not agree to the Terms, you may not use the Site.

Rules for online conduct

As a user of the Site, you are liable for any information that you publish on the Site, as well as for the manner in which you use the Site. Publications include all content contributed, posted or displayed by you or by other users on the Site. Such user-related content is understood to mean any texts, photographs, videos, content in other media formats or discussions that are transmitted, communicated, or otherwise presented on interactive spaces (forums, social networks), and work submitted as part of course assignments (including peer assessment assignments).

Accordingly, you agree to abide by all applicable laws and prevailing rules of conduct for computer and network use, notably by refraining from intentionally engaging in any activities that constitute or may give rise to:

• identity theft;
• stealing passwords from other users;
• modifying, altering or destroying data that does not belong to you;
• monitoring or inspecting data belonging to other users, without their authorization;
• connecting to or attempting to connect to an account without proper authorization;
• letting someone use your user name and/or your password;
• diverting one of the Site’s functions or features, causing it to deviate from normal use;
• damaging, disabling, overcharging, impairing or disrupting the Site, the server or the network.

You may not use the Site via any automated means, such as a screen-scraper or robot. This is not intended to exclude the use of assistive technology for your own use, such as screen-readers. You agree not to send any unsolicited emails to other Site users. You may not display the Site within a frame on another website, or place pop-up windows or other disruptive technologies over it.

You further agree to abstain from attempting, by any means whatsoever, unauthorized access to POK and unauthorized collecting of any data that is stored on the Site, its servers or on associated computers, through any means not intentionally made available to you through the Site.

You further agree that you will not email or post any of the following content anywhere on the Site:

• content that defames or threatens others;
• harassing statements or content that violates the applicable laws;
• content that discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them;
• content related to partisan political activities;
• material that contains obscene (i.e. pornographic) language or images;
• advertising or any form of commercial solicitation;
• content that is otherwise unlawful;
• intentionally misleading or inaccurate content;
• content that infringes another's intellectual property, including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks or trade secrets.

Copyrighted material, including without limitation software, graphics, text, photographs, sound, video and musical recordings, may not be placed on the Site without the express permission of the owner of the copyright in the material, or other legal entitlement to use the material.

You agree that, if a third party claims that any material you have contributed to the Site is unlawful, you will bear the burden of establishing that the material complies with all applicable laws. Although Polimi does not monitor the content of the Site, Polimi has the right to remove material from the Site, block access, or take other action with respect to the material in its sole discretion.

By submitting or distributing your user postings, you agree to allow such contents to be reproduced and disseminated potentially worldwide, though solely for the purposes of the online courses, unless otherwise specified in the relevant courses.

Recommendations to users

Unless your online instructor indicates otherwise, you are encouraged to:

• discuss general concepts and course materials for each course with the other learners while relying on the collaborative tools available;
• make sure that the full name you give is the one you want to appear on any certificate of accomplishment;
• choose your user name carefully, bearing in mind that it cannot be subsequently modified and that it will be visible to the other participants.

Users’ undertakings

In addition to the rules for online conduct set forth in the Terms and in the privacy policy, you undertake to:

• not engage in any form of cheating aimed at artificially enhancing your assessments or results;
• not attempt to artificially enhance or lower the assessments or results of others;
• observe the intellectual property rights granted under the user license attaching to each online course featured on the Site.

Content disclaimer

The text and other material on the online courses may include the opinion of the specific instructor and are not statements of advice, opinion, or information of Polimi. If you feel you might be offended by the content of the online courses, you should not continue.

Online courses may also include the personal opinions and other expressions by users who post entries on a wide range of topics. Neither the content of the forums, nor the links to other web sites, are screened, approved, reviewed or endorsed by Polimi.

User accounts

In order to fully participate in all Site activities, you have to sign up for a POK user account (name, username, email address); if you have the credentials to access Polimi online services, please use them to enter the Site via single sign-on.

You agree that you will never divulge or share access or access information to your user account with any third party for any reason.

In setting up your user account, you may be prompted or required to enter additional information. You understand and agree that all information provided by you is accurate, current and complete and that you will maintain and update your information to keep it accurate, current and complete. You acknowledge that if any information provided by you is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, we reserve the right to terminate your use of the online courses.

Course modification or cancellation

The online courses, including the course materials, may contain errors and omissions. We reserve the right to correct errors or omissions without prior notice. We also reserve the right to cancel, discontinue, reschedule, delay, change instructors or modify any course or service.

You acknowledge that the course content of the online course does not reflect the complete curriculum of a course that may be offered to students enrolled at Polimi.

We will study course participation to learn how to enhance both our course offering and the online learning experience. In the interests of these research studies, you may be exposed to slight variations in the course materials that will not substantially alter your learning experience.

Use of Site and materials

Unless otherwise indicated, the Site and content are the property of Polimi. Except where otherwise specified, user may not copy, reproduce, duplicate, retransmit, distribute, publish, sell, resell, commercially exploit or otherwise transfer any material of the Site or modify or create derivative works of the material of the Site. The burden of determining that use of any information, software or any other content on the Site is permissible rests with user. Some content on the Site is provided by third parties, and the use of that content is subject to rules and restrictions as indicated on the Site. You agree to be bound by all such rules and restrictions.

Certificate of accomplishment

Subject to satisfactory performance and course completion, you may achieve a certificate of accomplishment (“Certificate”) signed by the instructor(s). Polimi reserves the right to determine whether a Certificate will be issued for the online course and the nature of the information to be provided in the certificate. You acknowledge that any certificate will not stand in the place of a course taken at Polimi or an accredited institution or confer any academic credit, grade or degree or indicate enrollment at Polimi. You further acknowledge that instructors of any online course will not be involved in any attempts to get the course recognized by any educational or accredited institution.

Governing law

POK is managed by Polimi, located in Milan, Italy. These Terms and privacy policy shall be governed by and interpreted according to Italian law. The provisions of each have been written in both English and Italian languages. Both versions shall be equally valid and effective but, in the event of inconsistency between the two versions, the Italian version shall prevail.

Disclaimers of warranty/Limitations of liabilities

Under normal circumstances, the Site is accessible 24 hours a day every day of the week, except during service interruptions due to scheduled maintenance or unscheduled emergency maintenance or due to the occurrence of a force majeure event. POK assumes no liability for any loss or damage of any kind resulting from the unavailability of the Site. POK bears no responsibility for contents provided in online courses hosted by the Site.

Polimi reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, POK (or any part thereof) without notice.

You agree that Polimi will not be liable to you for any loss or damages, either actual or consequential, arising out of or relating to these terms, or to your (or any third party's) use or inability to use the Site, or to your placement of content on the Site, or to your reliance upon information obtained from or through the Site.

You agree that: Polimi, in its sole discretion, may terminate your use of the Site or your participation in an online course; Polimi shall not have any liability to you for the termination; and that you are not entitled to any course credit or to any student or academic grievance procedures in connection with such a termination.

If you no longer desire to participate in the Site, you may terminate your participation therein upon notice to Polimi pok@polimi.it.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold Polimi harmless from any claims, actions, demands, losses or damages, including legal fees, arising out of, resulting from or in any way related to your participation in an online course, use of the Site, placement of any content onto the Site or violation of these Terms.

External links

For your convenience we may provide links to sites operated by organizations other than Polimi (third party sites) that we believe may be of interest to you. Polimi does not disclose your Personally Identifiable Information to these third party sites without obtaining your consent. Polimi does not endorse and is not responsible for the privacy practices of these third party sites. If you choose to click on a link to one of these third party sites, you should review the privacy policy posted on the other site to understand how that third party site collects and uses your personally identifiable information.

The Site may include hyperlinks to sites maintained or controlled by others. Polimi is not responsible for and does not routinely screen, approve, review or endorse the contents of or use of any of the products or services that may be offered at other sites.

Privacy policy

We encourage you to read our privacy policy, updated in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.

Protecting children's privacy

We do not knowingly collect or maintain Personally Identifiable Information on our Site from persons under 14 years of age, and no part of our Site is directed to persons under 14 years of age. If you are under 14 years of age, then please do not use or access this Site at any time or in any manner. Polimi will take appropriate steps to delete any Personally Identifiable Information of persons less than 14 years of age that has been collected on our Site without verified parental consent upon learning of the existence of such Personally Identifiable Information.

Contacting Polimi

To ask any questions regarding these Terms or to report any malfunctioning, you may contact Polimi at pok@polimi.it.

Effective date: November 08, 2023

Full policy

This Cookie Policy applies to the POK platform (“Website”), which can be accessed electronically at pok.polimi.it and managed by Politecnico di Milano - METID, C.F. 80057930150 P.IVA 04376620151.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small strings of text sent to the user of the website visited which are stored on the user's device and allow the website to recognize users and store certain information about them. Cookies can be retrieved during subsequent visits.

Cookies used by this site

Name	Duration
MoodleSession	Browser session
EU_COOKIE_LAW_CONSENT	12 months
Eplayer_clearance	Browser session
cf_clearance	30 days
__cf_bm	30 minutes
_cfuvid	30 days
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA	6 months
__Secure-ROLLOUT_TOKEN	30 days
YSC	Browser session

How to disable cookies

Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your settings to disable this function. It is possible to block all types of cookies or agree to receive only some and disable others. The "Options" or "Preferences" sections in the browser menu allow you to prevent the use of cookies and other user tracking technologies, and to obtain notifications from the browser when these technologies are being implemented. Alternatively, you can also consult the "Help" section of the toolbar present in most browsers.

You can select the browser you use from the list below and follow the instructions:

• Edge
• Explorer
• Chrome
• Firefox
• Opera
• Apple Safari

For more information on cookies and their general functions, visit a helpful website such as www.allaboutcookies.org or https://www.garanteprivacy.it/faq/cookie.

Disabling cookies may limit your ability to use the website and prevent you from taking full advantage of its features and services.

Privacy contact point: privacy@polimi.it

Full policy

POK (Polimi Open Knowledge), launched in June 2014, is the MOOC (Massive Online Open Courses) portal of the Politecnico di Milano, offering free online courses open to everyone.

The main goal of the portal is to support students—not only those from the Politecnico di Milano—in their academic and professional journey: from high school to university, from a bachelor's degree to a master's degree, and from university to the job market. Additionally, it provides many other courses for teachers, researchers, professionals, and citizens. The available courses are developed both by the Politecnico di Milano and by other universities and institutions.

The courses that are part of the Edvance project—the first Digital Education Hub for higher education dedicated to advanced digital culture—are primarily aimed at university students who wish to deepen their knowledge through high-quality MOOCs focused on advanced digital skills such as data literacy, artificial intelligence, and digital sustainability. They are also open to professionals and workers seeking technical and soft skills, thanks to an updated educational offering aligned with labor market needs and developed in collaboration with the business sector.

The service also extends to teachers and educational technologists, offering training on methods and tools for digital and blended education, with a particular emphasis on artificial intelligence and open education. Likewise, it is designed for anyone looking to invest in lifelong learning by providing an accessible and innovative digital ecosystem enriched with microcredentials and open badges to ensure the recognition of skills in professional and academic settings.

Target Audience

POK (Polimi Open Knowledge) primarily targets students—not only those from the Politecnico di Milano—to support them in their academic and professional journey, especially at key transition points in their careers: from high school to university, from a bachelor's degree to a master's degree, and from university to the job market. Additionally, it offers numerous courses for teachers, researchers, professionals, and citizens.

The MOOCs that are part of the Edvance project focus specifically on the development of advanced digital skills and are primarily intended for university students, professionals, and workers seeking technical and soft skill training, as well as for teachers and educational technologists interested in digital and blended learning methodologies, and for citizens investing in lifelong learning.

Service Management

The service is managed by Politecnico di Milano.

User Support

User support can be contacted via email at pok@polimi.it.

Personal Data Processing

For more information on how personal data is collected, used, and protected, please visit the dedicated data processing page, accessible at the following link.

Service Access

The platform and its content are directly accessible to users with credentials issued by an IDP federated with IDEM/EDUGAIN or a digital identity via SPID/CIE.