MOOCWatch 21: China vs the World
With one of our newest recruits being based in China, we are now able to share an insider’s perspective on the development of MOOCs in one of the world’s most influential nations. And it seems that MOOCs are as big in China as they are in the rest of the world combined. According to China’s…
35+ Legit Master’s Degrees You Can Now Earn Completely Online
Starting several years ago, massive open online course (MOOC) providers began releasing online degree programs, in partnership with universities. This trend started out slowly, but has been gaining momentum. The first MOOC-based degree, the Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) from Georgia Tech and Udacity, was announced back in 2013. It took two…
Udacity Doubles Prices, Relaunches 1-on-1 Mentorships & Career Coaching
Last week, Sebastian Thrun, CEO of the $1B e-learning startup Udacity, made three important announcements: New Prices: Udacity is revamping its Nanodegree pricing scheme: fixed fees are replaced by a $399 monthly fee — amounting to a significant overall price hike. New Mentors: Udacity is expanding its mentorship model to offer more individualized, end-to-end support…
FutureLearn’s 2019: Year in Review
In 2019, FutureLearn received £50M ($65M) in funding and launched Unlimited, an annual subscription for its entire catalog. The total number of learners on FutureLearn’s platform grew to over 10 million, up from 8.7 million in 2018. On average, each learner has enrolled in 2.5 courses. 35 million comments have been posted on FutureLearn since…
A Complete List of SWAYAM Free Online Courses and MOOCs (2019)
SWAYAM is India’s national MOOC platform, designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of India’s Education Policy: access, equity and quality. Class Central has been keeping track of SWAYAM’s progress since it was first announced back in August 2014. Since it beta launched in July 2017, it has seen over 10 million learners. At the…
EdX’s 2019: Year in Review
In 2019, edX got a new co-CEO, gained more learners than in 2018, and a couple of the platform’s instructors won a Nobel prize. The total number of learners on edX grew to 24 million, up from 18 million last year. Before that, edX was gaining 4 million learners a year. As usual, edX launched…
January 2019’s Future of Learning Conference Focuses on Transformation of Higher Education
Disclosure: To support our site, Class Central may be compensated by some course providers. December 8, 2018 1 minute read Comments It can be easy to forget that there is something big going on in higher education. By now, many of us have become used to the fact that for nearly any subject, there are…
By The Numbers: MOOCs in 2019
Now in its eighth year, the modern MOOC movement has reached 110 million learners, excluding China1. In 2019, providers launched over 2,500 courses, 11 online degrees, and 170 microcredentials. Here’s how the top-5 MOOC providers look like in terms of users and offerings: Learners Courses Microcredentials Degrees Coursera 45 million 3,800 420 16 edX 25…
Edraak, MOOC Platform for the Arabic-Speaking World, Crosses 2M Users
Disclosure: To support our site, Class Central may be compensated by some course providers. February 5, 2019 1 minute read Comments Edraak, the MOOC platform for the Arabic-speaking world, now has over 2 million users and more than 4 million course enrollments. Launched in 2014 by the Queen Rania Foundation, the platform has grown from…
The Emergence of China’s Nationally-Recognized MOOCs
China MOOC Conference: MOOC team receiving award MOOCs took off in China in 2013 with the launch of XuetangX, China’s first MOOC platform, which was developed by Tsinghua University. Six years later, China offers over 12,500 MOOCs across more than 10 MOOC platforms. In July 2017, China’s Ministry of Education announced an initiative to recognize…
