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Coursera Review: A New Way to Go to School
Coursera has really paved a way for self-learning as one of the largest providers of education in the world. Founded in 2012, Coursera now offers over 7,000+ courses across a wide range of disciplines. Some of the most popular course topics include data science, programming languages, and business administration. Coursera has partnered with schools such as Stanford University and industry leaders to offer high-quality MOOCs that are current and relevant. Find out more in our Coursera review.
Ranked #6 from 6 Online Platforms
Ease of Use
Pricing
Features
Support
4.5 stars
What Is Coursera?
As a student on Coursera, you can choose from over 7,000+ courses that can be completed at your own pace. Whether you want to learn how to code or gain more knowledge in business, there is a lot to pick from.
The primary goal of Coursera is to make education accessible to anyone with a desire to learn or an internet connection. Classes are available through video lectures or reading assignments. Plus, you can also download content to keep for later.
Coursera provides opportunities for lifelong learning. This enables anyone to build the knowledge and skills they need to succeed at work or even just make their own life better. No matter what your age, education level, or background is, there’s something for everyone on Coursera.
Coursera Video: For Progress Makers
See how Coursera has the power to transform our lives for the better through its open coursework.
Pros/Cons of Coursera
Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using the Coursera platform compared to other online learning platforms.
PROS
CONS
Coursera Reviews and Ratings
Coursera is an online education platform that offers classes from some of the world’s top universities and institutions. Here are some of the strong points of why you should get started.
Ease of Use
Coursera is very easy to navigate and to find courses in its catalog. Before you sign up, you can check out the course ratings by students who have taken these courses. This is extremely useful to know if it’s worth your time and effort. Once you sign up and register for a course, the dashboard is intuitive and keeps track of everything you’ve completed.
Pricing
Coursera is a great way to save money and time. By just registering, you can already access these courses for FREE. However, you won’t receive a certificate upon completion. If you are interested in their certificate or degree programs, it has affordable pricing compared to the full cost of traditional education. Overall, Coursera is cheaper and has great value for high-quality courses.
Features
Coursera has one of the better user interfaces for online platforms. The video player has closed captions and you can change the video speed to make it go faster. There are also written transcripts and reading material that accompany most courses. The assignments are mostly multiple choice with automatic grading without any personalized feedback.
Support
Each course on Coursera comes with a community feedback and support forum. The amount of discussion varies depending on how popular a course is for interaction. The more popular a course is, the more engaging the community is. Some courses like Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning course can be vibrant. There are open-ended questions that you submit as an assignment. You return the favor by grading several other assignments with a grading rubric. Although it sounds like a nice idea, it really depends on your peers and might not be too helpful all the time.
Coursera At a Glance
Quality
7,000 world-class courses and hands-on projects
Recognized
70 million learners served from around the world
Trusted
200+ leading universities and companies
Who Is Coursera For?
Remember success is not about motivation. It’s about dedication. And those dedicated to their education are the ones who have the most success on Coursera. We are always on the hunt for a new skill, hobby, or career. It’s through Coursera that you can gain significant benefits at no cost.
The range of courses offered on Coursera makes it an excellent place for people who want to learn more about a particular subject or for those looking for an online course to use as part of their degree. Courses can be taken either full-time or part-time, and there are no start dates so you can take a course at your own pace.
There are many reasons why you might want to take a course on Coursera. Perhaps you are looking for a new career, want to learn something new, or just want to brush up on your job skills. Whatever your reason is, Coursera can help you pave your way on a viable path to a career change or advancement.
How Much Does Coursera Cost?
Originally, Coursera only offered courses for free, which they still do. But Coursera has expanded cost requirements for paid certificates or even a Master’s degree. This is why the cost can vary significantly between the type of program you are in.
Through Coursera, you can get a certificate of completion or earn a verified certificate for a fee. This means Coursera will verify your identity and that you’ve completed the course. Then, you can include it in LinkedIn or on your resume. This made it a relatively inexpensive way to give you an employment advantage.
First, you can pay the full price tag of specialization on a program-by-program basis. Specializations are just a series of courses within a subject. Now, Coursera has a new pricing model with Coursera Plus that you can pay on a monthly basis for more than one certificate.
| Program | Price |
|---|---|
| Single courses | $0-$99 |
| Multi-course Specialization and Professional Certificate subscriptions | $39-$79 per month |
| MasterTrack™ Certificates | $2,000-$5,000 |
| Degree Programs | $9,000-$45,000 |
| Coursera Plus | $59 per month $399 per year |
What Is Coursera Plus?
Remember that without paying for a subscription, you can already gain access to a diverse range of courses in Coursera for free. But the downside of the free option is that you won’t only receive a certificate at the end of the specialization.
When you pay for the Coursera Plus subscription model, you will not only gain unlimited access to 7,000+ world-class courses, but you will also get access to applied projects and the chance to earn job-ready certificates. This is good because employers are paying attention more so to certification than ever before.
That means instead of paying for a single specialization, you can get a Coursera Plus subscription and get multiple certificates in one go. But keep in mind that there are some Coursera Plus exclusions. For instance, Degrees, MasterTrack™ Certificates, and some Professional Certificates (IBM) are excluded from Coursera Plus.
Popular Coursera Courses
There are a variety of reasons why people choose to take courses on Coursera. Some are for professional reasons and others are for personal development. If you’re interested in taking a Coursera course, here is an overview of some popular ones.
Data Science
Coursera Data Analytics IBM Professional Certificate – IBM is one of the world’s most respected brands in IT and data analytics. With their specialization course, you will discover powerful tools and techniques used by analytics professionals.
Machine Learning by Andrew Ng – In this course, you’ll explore the basics of machine learning and gain hands-on experience implementing algorithms using TensorFlow. No previous experience with machine learning or TensorFlow is required – just bring your enthusiasm for AI!
Business & Administration
Coursera Project Management Certificate (Google) – Google’s Project Management Certificate is a great way to gain the skills you need to succeed in project management – in less than 6 months.
Key Technologies for Business (IBM) – Gain a foundational understanding of key technologies driving modern businesses, so you can specialize and stay on the cutting edge.
Computer Science
Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Specialization – Get your foot in the door of the booming tech industry. With an introduction to computer science course, you will be equipped with the skills needed to introduce you to a variety of tech jobs
Coursera Python for Everyone Specialization – This specialization teaches you the basics of programming with Python. You’ll learn how to work with data effectively, clean and analyze data, and visualize data through graphs and charts.
Information Technology
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialization – This course is designed to introduce GIS principles and technologies to people who have little to no experience in spatial analysis and modeling.
GIS, Mapping, and Spatial Analysis Specialization – Gain a deeper understanding of how spatial thinking and geographic analysis can be used to solve real-world problems. Learn to gather and analyze geographic data, develop maps, and create geographic solutions.
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Autodesk CAD/CAM/CAE for Mechanical Engineering Specialization – This specialization will teach you the fundamentals of mechanical engineering design using AutoCAD. Whether you are a student, working professional, or industry professional, this course will prepare you for your next CAD/CAM/CAE project.
How To Start with Coursera
Coursera is really simple to get started. But the best part is that it’s free and doesn’t take a lot of effort to register. Just create an account and make sure to enter your full name, email address, and password.
First, you’ll have to fill out a questionnaire about your goals and what you want to learn from Coursera. They’ll also ask if you are employed, what your job title is, and what your interests are. When you finish answering the survey, it will list courses that may be of interest to you.
For any course, you can find out how many students have enrolled in it, who the instructor will be, and the syllabus for what you will learn throughout the course. You might also want to check out the reviews to know if it’s worth your time.
If you want to enroll in Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning course from Stanford University, simply click the “Enroll for Free” button. Then, it will give you the option to either purchase the course or take the course without a certificate.
Once you enroll in your course, it will immediately take you to your dashboard. The Coursera dashboard is like your own personal headquarters, which tracks any courses you are currently enrolled in.
After this, it’s really all about completing all the course material and making it the most for you. As you can see in the left pane, Coursera keeps track of all the material that you finish and what still remains.
Coursera has one of the most intuitive user interfaces out of all the platforms. Additionally, you get little quizzes throughout your coursework to reinforce your learning and check your understanding.
Student Feedback and Review
The best way to find out how good a university is at teaching its students is by looking at its Coursera ratings. These ratings are based on student feedback, and they tell you how many people have completed a course, how much they liked it, and what their average score is.
I’d just like to say good for Coursera for being open about permitting course ratings and reviews. Even though this is a valuable way for students to gauge the contents of a course, ratings and reviews are unfortunately not available on a lot of platforms.
You can also see what courses are trending which might help you decide if you want to start studying for the next big exam. It’s easy to browse Coursera reviews too, so you can get an idea of which courses are worth your time before you sign up for them.
The Coursera App
The Coursera mobile app is a powerful tool for learning on the go. It takes the lectures and class materials found on their website and turns them into an interactive experience that you can use anytime, anywhere.
The Coursera app is perfect for people who have busy lives and don’t have time to visit the site during work hours or would prefer a more hands-on approach to learning. But with an average rating of 4.0, Coursera is still ironing out the bugs.
It also offers many other features like managing your past courses, accessing your personal account, checking up on your progress, being notified when new classes are available, and syncing with your Google Calendar.
FAQ
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the Coursera online learning platform.
Coursera is an education platform that partners with universities and organizations to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. There are over 7,000 courses in a variety of disciplines that you can browse based on your interests. Courses on Coursera run anywhere from a week to over a year allowing you to learn at your own pace, on your own schedule.
Anyone can enroll in a course with Courses. With the rise of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), there has never been a better time to learn on your own terms. MOOCs are open, free, and offer some of the best education around. As we experience a massive shift in how we access information and knowledge, it’s important that we stay informed of the current trends in technology online. Although it’s not a full replacement for a degree, it shows that you are proficient to a level to help market yourself to employers.
Yes, Coursera is legitimate. Coursera offers affordable options for those without the time or money for traditional universities. The platform also has great customer service for any questions you might have about your degree or certificate. So if you’re looking for ways to improve your knowledge outside of the classroom, Coursera is a perfect fit for you.
For a long time, education has been one of the few things in life that don’t come cheap. If you want to get a good education, you need to pay a hefty fee. However, this is not necessarily the case anymore thanks to Coursera. The majority of content on Coursera is free. But you have the option to pay for verified certificates as well.
Coursera has partnered with universities to offer full-fledged Master’s degrees. This includes everything from Master’s Degrees in Business Administration (MBA) to Master’s in Computer Science. These options typically have a duration of 1 to 3 years.
Higher education isn’t just for the lucky few anymore. That’s because Coursera is here to help those who want to learn and grow, no matter how much money they have in their bank account. It’s easy as signing up for an account and enrolling in a course of your choosing.
Coursera was founded by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Currently, Andrew Ng has one of the most famous courses on machine learning, and offers it through the Coursera platform.
More Online Education Platforms
Here are some other reviews for online education platforms to help you gain new everyday career skills.
