Learning new skills and building a good resume are attached to the popular belief of attending a reputed university and getting a degree to prove your worth. This is not the case anymore, as e-learning has revolutionized the way of learning. Now you can learn new skills and build your career in a fun and interactive way.
Coursera is a similar platform in the e-learning pool of applications, but the question arises – Coursera courses: Is it worth it? Is it a good platform for getting an online degree?
All of these questions will be answered in this article found back in 2012 by Stanford University Computer science professors. The way of working is to collaborate with universities and other organizations to make online course certification and degrees available to students in different subjects.
As of now, it is estimated that around 150 to 200 universities are offering their courses on course era in around 4000 courses are available on course now. In this article, you will be provided with a concise Coursera Review.
What Is Coursera, And How Does It Work?
Coursera is an online platform or an e-Learning platform that offers courses in large quantities to the general public it is one of the many different e-Learning platforms that offer massive open online courses (MOOC). It has the same working structure as that of Udemy, skillshare, and dozen other big names in the same field.
The sheer vastness of the courses on Coursera has set apart the platform from others and given Coursera a lead over others in this aspect.
This allows the user to have access to quality education and gain backdoor access to Ivy League quality education without getting into the competition for getting into these reputed schools. The platform can also be accessed by government and business organizations that are looking for a complete workforce development product. Also, it offers degrees for the same. Hence one can learn history and find crash course on python coursera answers while loops on the same platform.
Looking back at the start and checking the progress of Coursera in terms of growth, we see it by going globally and getting the most reputed organization and universities around the globe to partner up with it. Around 200 universities and institutions from 29 countries are affiliated with Coursera. In addition to this Coursera is also partnered up with Yale University, the University of Illinois, also the University of London, Yonsei University of Korea, and many other organizations to provide effective education.
How Does Coursera Work?
Coursera offers courses varying from the range of 4 weeks to 12; these are not long courses that need a long hour of preparation and labor. Mostly the lecture per week would vary from an hour to two hours.
A platform like this is convenient for students in testing their skills with regular quizzes or per graded assignments, some weekly exercises, and some courses may include final exams or final projects, or honors assignments.
What if it is getting hard for you to give time to your studies? What if your schedule is so packed that you can’t take time off it and get done with your course? Worry not many courses on Coursera can be customized according to your need. This means that these courses can be provided to you on demand and take as much time as you would like to complete your classes without thinking about missing out on them or worrying about getting them done at your pace. Currently, there are more than 100 on-demand courses offered by Coursera in addition to the guided project. What are guided projects? These projects are 2 to 3 hours projects that can be completed at your own pace without rushing it.
Coursera also hosts master’s degree courses on its platform. The first course to provide a master’s degree on Coursera was a master’s in innovation and entrepreneurship. The University of Illinois was the one that introduced a master’s in accounting after the master’s in innovation and entrepreneurship degree and since then Coursera is known for providing a degree in a master of computer science in data science as well as an MBA degree.
What Type Of Courses Are Offered On Coursera?
There are 6 different types of courses for which one can apply for. These courses are professional, degree, guided project, specialization, courses, and master track certificates.
These are the courses offered by Coursera. Depending on your personal goal one can apply for any one of them. Some of these options are free while other costs money. The length and difficulty of these options vary accordingly.
You can opt for a course that suits your goal and are currently in demand, and has excellent Coursera Review. If you are looking for a python course then you can do so by choosing a course for python one and learning the new skill as fast as you can. Similarly, if your interest is in graphic designing or business analytics Coursera is there to provide you with a certification course on its platform. Alternatively, if you want to jump-start your career or if you’re looking for a chance of field then you can opt for a course that is lengthy and in demand, information and technology is an in-demand course that the youth is looking forward to, so if your goal is to change your field of work then you can opt for an in-demand course. Coursera is also known for providing on-demand training and development programs that are widely utilized by large organizations and different government and public bodies.
Coursera also offers several specialization courses that are different from normal courses for an individual looking for the dynamic development of his skill set. These specialization courses are different from normal courses as they provide the user with several courses that are related to the same topic. This not only makes the learning process easy but more effective. This specialization is beneficial to someone who has a particular set goal that he wants to achieve.
Some popular specializations one can pursue are: –
- Digital Marketing
- Healthcare IT Support
- Communication Skills for Engineers
- Data Science Fundamentals
- AI for Medicine
- Organizational Change and Culture for Adopting Google Cloud
There is another type, of course, that one can pursue. A professional course, it’s an in-depth type of specialization. The time duration to complete this course is quite lengthy when compared to the other courses time duration. But it won’t take longer than 6-7 months generally. After completion of your course, the institute will provide your certificates. There are hand projects to build your portfolio and improve your learning; these projects would be taken into consideration while giving out the certificates by the institute.
The next option would be MasterTrack. This certificate allows one to work through the online learning modules. The classes in this program will help you pursue a master’s degree as the classes in MasterTrack will give you credit later on. The benefit of this is that one would be eligible to take classes from experts and work on a real-life project.
MasterTrack is more intense and expensive when compared to other programs. The average time to fully complete this course may vary from six months to eight months.
The final option in this list would be your online degree earning an online degree on Coursera is almost like holding a bachelor’s or a master’s degree from a college and this would be the same as the campus people get. The legitimacy of the degree comes with the certainty of the university you’re completing your online degree form. What about the credit? Well, the credit can be transferred elsewhere if one chooses to do so.
Now talking about the cost of an online degree, it would be a bit more expensive than other degrees, but the main benefit lies with the degree and also that you have to half of what a campus student would have to pay. Getting a deal for half the price isn’t a bad deal at all.
The key areas that Coursera is known for covering are computer science, business, Data science, and lastly public health. These are by no means the limited option available on Coursera. You can pursue your MBA degree from Coursera or something related to healthcare can also be taken as a course. The benefit of pursuing the degree from Coursera is that you are guaranteed a degree from institutes like Arizona state university, and Macquarie University.
Pros And Cons Of Coursera Review
Coursera is a reputed platform and is considered one of the best platforms out there in the field of e-learning. Still, the platform has its pro and cons when it comes to delivering its services.
Pros
1. Expert-Level Instruction
When we talk about MOOC platforms like Udemy or any other platform, most of the time we are uncertain about the quality of education that we are provided from their side as most of the teachers or instructors on these platforms are average or new and don’t have a lot of material to help them with the teaching job. These are unprofessional people; this makes the user worry about the situation. Whereas, Coursera is a platform that is in the hands of professionals and it is made sure that they are the best in their field of work and they know what they are doing. Thus, Coursera is considered a good choice when it comes to professionalism in its program.
2. Speed
When you’re learning something on Coursera then one thing you can be sure of is that you’re going to save a lot of time as the pace at which the courses are taught are fast-paced generally and won’t take long to complete a course.
But it is not mandatory to complete your classes in a hurry. Students can choose their own pace and figure out how much they can get in a day, week, or month – all according to their own convenience.
3. Certification
One of the main reasons for high Coursera Review amongst students is that they get a certificate after completing their course. While other platforms also provide you with a certificate, the critical difference between the two platforms is that unlike some other MOOC platforms Coursera certificates are valid and are directly from a reputed institution. This certificate can do something for your career unlike a certificate from Udemy.
Cons
1. Not best when it comes on 1on1 discussion
Even though Coursera provides its students with the option of interactive classes, it is observed that these interactive classes aren’t useful several times. Times when you take a long period course and log in at a given time slot but can’t talk or discuss your doubts with the teachers as they have a tight schedule.
2. Application process
The problem and maybe one of the most frustrating features of Coursera might be the application process. Unlike other MOOCs, you can’t just choose a course, pay your fees, and get enrolled in the class. In Coursera, you have to apply for a course and then you’re admitted to a specific course.
3. Limited assessment opportunity
Feedback from your teacher about your assignment or a project is less likely on Coursera. Unlike page upon pages type feedback that campus students receive from these teachers, the feedback you receive won’t be similar to that of those students. Sometimes it is also observed that these assignments are self-graded.
Conclusion
Coursera is a unique MOOC platform in its sense and is regarded as the best by many in terms of its instructors and their knowledge. Also, the price set for the courses vary but are not that much expensive when compared to a regular or campus fee. The certification makes it all the more favorable for the students to choose and pursue their degree online mode and get their degree. The master’s program of the platform has improved drastically and is expected to expand in the coming days. Also, talks are going on about collaboration with other big universities around the globe, this would make the platform more dynamic in sense of courses and opportunities offered.
Thus, Coursera is a valid source, which can be trusted when it comes to providing you equal ground for your career to grow.