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More than 100 million learners worldwide use their online courses for digital learning. We have taken a close look at the two leading MOOC providers.
MOOCs (massive open online courses)promise free and flexible access to education.
Withmore than 100 million users,CourseraandedXarethe giants among the MOOC platforms.
Whoexactly are these providers? And which one is better?
(Jump directly to our directory with 8,000+ online courses.)
Coursera: Private Platform with More Than 100 Million Learners
Courserawas founded in 2012by two Stanford professors.With more than 100 million users it is the largest MOOC platform worldwide.
Incooperation with universities and companies, Coursera offers a broadspectrum of online courseswhich ranges from computer science topersonal development. One of their most popular courses is "Learning How To Learn".
More than150 partner institutions,among them elite universities like Yale, Stanford and Princeton, provide highcalibre courses.
Courserais a listed on the stock exchange, so the course provider has a clearprofit orientation.
Two trends follow from that:
- More and more course content gets hiddenbehind apaywall.
- Coursera is expanding its offersforcorporate customers. With company accounts it can win manycustomers at one go.
In spite of this, a lot of content is still availablefree of charge.And individual learners find thousands of free video courses for self-study.
(Read a more detailed profile of Coursera.)
EdX: Socially Minded Harvard Spin-Off
Like Coursera, edXwas founded in 2012 by the elite universitiesMIT andHarvard.
But in contrast to Coursera, edX was started on apurelynon-profitbasis. One of their top courses is Harvard's "Introduction to Computer Science".
Morethan100 renowned partner universitiesare offering courses for about 50 million edX learners, among them are the universities of Oxford,Zurich and London.
EdXoperates similarly to Coursera. There are free and paid course series.Inaddition, learners can use thecreditsof some coursestowardsa master’s degreeat one of the cooperating partner universities (MicroMaster).
(Read a more detailed profile of edX.)
EdX vs. Coursera in Direct Comparison
Whatare the most significant differences between Coursera and edX?
- Topics: Both platformsoffer a diverse range of subjects. However, Coursera focuses more onprofessional training, for example computer science and business degrees. EdXoffers numerous courses in the humanities and the natural sciences.
- Costs: Both portalsoffer audit versions free of charge. Only the certificate track requirespayment. Coursera increasingly focuses on paid course series (Specializations).These course series are not always available for free (see also: "How to Find Free Online Courses").
- Certificates:Both, Coursera and edX, offer certificates. This requires a verificationprocess which includes an electronic ID control. Sometimes, edX takes longer tocomplete this process. Also, the wide range of course formats and certificateoptions can be quite confusing for new users (see also: "Are the certificates worth it?").
- Availability:Coursera repeats its courses quite regularly, so there is virtually no waitingtime between the starting dates of the courses. EdX, on the other hand,"archives" its courses over lengthy periods. Archived courses canstill be watched, but no certificates can be taken anymore.
- Website navigation:Both websites are quite user-friendly. Some customers have reported that thepage navigation of edX appears more cumbersome.
- Offers for businesses:Both platforms have special offers for businesses. In fact, edX and Courserahave become the most important providers of digital professional training ("The most important E-Learning Providers for Companies").
(Also check out theseUser Experiencesfor Coursera and Edxand our full list of free online lectures.)
EdX-founder Professor Agarwal (MIT) abouthis vision for open and accessible education:="player-unavailable">
Conclusion:
Courseraand EdX are the two frontrunners among online course providers. In bothcases, the courses go into much depth and are created by some of the mostrenowned universities in the world.
Which of the two is the best providercannotfinally be decided. Every judgement depends on your personal learning objectives and onthe attended course.
Wetherefore recommend that you test the courses that you are interested insimultaneouslyon Coursera and on edX using the free version. Also consider user reviews for orientation or check out other course providers such as Udemy.
There is one point of criticism relevant for both providers: Coursera and edX leaveyou pretty much on your own. An individual 1:1-coaching which is offered for example by Udacityis not yetavailable from these providers.
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