Business model
The contract between Coursera and participating universities contains a "brainstorming" list of ways to generate revenue, including verified certification fees (started in 2012 as Signature Track), introducing students to potential employers and recruiters (with student consent), tutoring, sponsorships and tuition fees. 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:
Algebra from the University of California, Irvine
Pre-Calculus, from the University of California, Irvine
Introduction to Genetics and Evolution from Duke University
Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach from Duke University
Calculus: Single Variable from the University of Pennsylvania
Coursera will offer proctored exams at the end of these courses through ProctorU, an online proctoring service that connects proctors and students via webcam. The service will cost $60–$90.
Coursera reduces the cost of courses it offers by using instant computer-based marking where appropriate, making students grade their peers' homework in some cases where computer-based marking cannot be used, such as for poetry composition exercises and employing statistical methods to validate the assessment.
Courses
All courses offered by Coursera are "accessible for free". The website provides courses in a variety of areas, including Humanities, Medicine, Biology, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Business, and Computer Science.[16] Each course includes short video lectures on different topics and assignments to be submitted, usually on a weekly basis. In most humanities and social science courses, and other assignments where an objective standard may not be possible, a peer review system is used.
Coursera courses approximate from six to ten weeks long, with one to two hours of video lectures a week. These courses provide quizzes, weekly exercises, and sometimes a final project or exam.
Web forums are provided for courses, and some students also arrange face to face study meet-ups using meetup.com, or online meetups. However, the Coursera Honor Code prohibits copying answers, therefore the discussion should not exchange answers but should practice a healthy debate.
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