Quora Feeds
Active Member
Ming Law
Let me look into my crystal ball...
My crystal ball told me that Coursera will be 1. successfully monetized and 2. widely accepted by academic institutions and employers in the not near but distant future.
This is all just my hope of course. In reality, Coursera may be outdone by other ventures such as EdX, Udacity, and MOOCs that have yet to come. Right now, however, Coursera undoubtedly has the spotlight and the pressure is on.
Monetization
Let's not forget that Coursera is a for-profit organization. Creating a successful business model, which is largely unknown at this point, will decide whether Coursera is here to stay or not. The people at Coursera don't want to ruin what they have right now (a ton of students taking their courses, partnerships with many universities, and more recognition than any other MOOC) but they don't want to miss out on potential earnings. In other words, they have an unprecedented following but don't want to offer their services for free any longer than they should.
In the distant future, you can expect to see academic institutions (community college or university) use Coursera to teach remedial courses. Physics 101, Chemistry 101, etc. will all be taught through the Coursera platform. Teachers and professors won't have to create their course from scratch, saving them time for other endeavors such as research.
Wide-spread acceptance
As of now, certifications from Coursera classes don't mean much to employers and don't even count as credits towards a degree. That will all change in time. One school has already caught the wave, as you'll see below.
Other schools will certainly follow suit.
In addition, Coursera is working with the American Council on Education (ACE) to approve certain courses for credit-equivalent evaluation. Students will have to take an identity-verified proctored exam and pay a nominal fee, but this is by far a cheaper method to accrue credits than the traditional way. I think both of these instances above point to a drastically lowered cost of learning and higher education.
In sum, Coursera will change the landscape of higher education entirely.
Sources:
Massive Open Online Courses Prove Popular, if Not Lucrative Yet
How an Upstart Company Might Profit From Free Courses
American Council on Education to Evaluate Credit Equivalency for Coursera’s Online Courses
See Questions On Quora
Continue reading...
Let me look into my crystal ball...
My crystal ball told me that Coursera will be 1. successfully monetized and 2. widely accepted by academic institutions and employers in the not near but distant future.
This is all just my hope of course. In reality, Coursera may be outdone by other ventures such as EdX, Udacity, and MOOCs that have yet to come. Right now, however, Coursera undoubtedly has the spotlight and the pressure is on.
Monetization
Let's not forget that Coursera is a for-profit organization. Creating a successful business model, which is largely unknown at this point, will decide whether Coursera is here to stay or not. The people at Coursera don't want to ruin what they have right now (a ton of students taking their courses, partnerships with many universities, and more recognition than any other MOOC) but they don't want to miss out on potential earnings. In other words, they have an unprecedented following but don't want to offer their services for free any longer than they should.
Right now, the most promising source of revenue for Coursera is the payment of licensing fees from other educational institutions that want to use the Coursera classes, either as a ready-made “course in a box” or as video lectures students can watch before going to class to work with a faculty member.
In the distant future, you can expect to see academic institutions (community college or university) use Coursera to teach remedial courses. Physics 101, Chemistry 101, etc. will all be taught through the Coursera platform. Teachers and professors won't have to create their course from scratch, saving them time for other endeavors such as research.
Wide-spread acceptance
As of now, certifications from Coursera classes don't mean much to employers and don't even count as credits towards a degree. That will all change in time. One school has already caught the wave, as you'll see below.
This fall, Ms. Koller was excited about news she was about to announce: Antioch University’s Los Angeles campus had agreed to offer its students credit for successfully completing two Coursera courses, Modern and Contemporary American Poetry and Greek and Roman Mythology, both taught by professors from the University of Pennsylvania. Antioch would be the first college to pay a licensing fee — Ms. Koller would not say how much — to offer the courses to its students at a tuition lower than any four-year public campus in the state.
Other schools will certainly follow suit.
In addition, Coursera is working with the American Council on Education (ACE) to approve certain courses for credit-equivalent evaluation. Students will have to take an identity-verified proctored exam and pay a nominal fee, but this is by far a cheaper method to accrue credits than the traditional way. I think both of these instances above point to a drastically lowered cost of learning and higher education.
In sum, Coursera will change the landscape of higher education entirely.
Sources:
Massive Open Online Courses Prove Popular, if Not Lucrative Yet
How an Upstart Company Might Profit From Free Courses
American Council on Education to Evaluate Credit Equivalency for Coursera’s Online Courses
See Questions On Quora
Continue reading...
