TOOL REVIEW

PRESENTED BYDEEPAK VENUGOPAL

NIMMY MERIN MATHEW

WHAT IS COURSERA ?

• A venture-backed, for-profit, educational technology company that offers massive open online courses(MOOC).• Founded in 2012 by computer science professors Andrew

Ng and Daphne Koller from Stanford University.• Coursera works with universities and other organizations to

make some of their courses available online, offering numerous courses.

FEATURES• Universal access to world’s best education.• Users can join for free by using their Facebook account or any

other email account.• User can learn their courses according to their own

convenience.• Coursera initially offered courses from Stanford University but

quickly partnered with other prestigious universities from all around the world.• Coursera attract the highest number of registration at 3.5

millions.

HOME PAGE AFTER YOU REGISTER

COURSE SELECTION

HOW DOES IT WORK?First enrol in a free Coursera course. After you enrol and the class has begun, you have about 3 weeks to decide that you want to be in the “Signature Track”, which provides proof of course completion as well as a grade on how well you performed. If you decide that you want to go with the Signature Track option, you have to take a few steps.

• Pay between $30-$100 (depending on the course).

• Submit a recognized ID such as your drivers license as well as take a picture of yourself via webcam. This

gives Coursera a way to verify that you are who you say you are.

• Type a short writing sample, which allows them to use your “keystroke” signature like a fingerprint of sorts. They ask you to repeat this typing sample after each test — so they can be reasonably sure it was

you who took the test.

After these steps, you continue taking your course, taking tests, and getting grades. Once you’ve completed the course and have your grades, you can then share your detailed course performance with employers via a web-based interface.

PROS CONS• Top universities as their

prestigious partners.• Wide variety of courses to

choose from.• Offering courses in multiple

languages.• Students can earn a

recognized certificate for a fee (between $30 & $100)• Use of ‘Signature Track’

• Does not seem to exercise quality control over the course content.• No coherent curriculum is

present in courses offered.• No support from corporates,

relying on prestige of its university partners.• Not all courses offer

certificate of completion.

SAMPLE CERTIFICATE

THANK YOU