Coursera
 |
|
 |
|
|
Type of site
|
Online education |
|---|---|
| Available in | English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hebrew, German, Italian |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California |
| Founder(s) | Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller |
| Key people | Rick Levin (CEO) |
| Employees | 120+ (August 2014) |
| Website | www |
| Alexa rank |
 577 (October 2016[update]) |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required |
| Users | 15 million (September 2015) |
| Launched | April 2012 |
| Current status | Active |
Coursera /kərˈsɛrə/ is a venture-backed, for-profit, educational technology company that offers massive open online courses (MOOCs). Coursera works with universities and other organizations to make some of their courses available online, offering courses in subjects such as physics, engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, and data science, among others.
The current phase of business development is focused on user acquisition. Currently some of the courses are available for free. A list of ways to generate revenue includes verified certification fees (started in 2012 as Signature Track), specialization in areas of expertise. Other possibilities include introducing students to potential employers and recruiters (with student consent), tutoring, licensing, sponsorships and tuition fees. As of 2012 Coursera was reported to have 1.5 million students signed up for its programs serving at 100 online courses. In September 2013, it announced it had earned $1 million in revenue through verified certificates that authenticate successful course completion. As of December 2013, the company had raised $85 million in venture capital.John Doerr suggested that people will pay for "valuable, premium services." Any revenue stream will be divided, with schools receiving a small percentage of revenue and 20% of gross profits.
In January 2013, Coursera announced that the American Council on Education had approved five courses for college credit. As the journalist Steve Kolowich noted, "whether colleges take the council's advice, however, is an open question." The courses that were recommended to degree-granting institutions for college credit are:
...
Wikipedia