If you are interested in courses college level online, edX courses may be your best option. In this article you will learn about its pros and cons, the prices and if edX is worth it .
If you don’t know, there are several online learning platforms out there , and choosing the best one can be challenging.
The EDX is a nonprofit organization founded by leading US universities “Harvard and MIT.” It offers more than 2,500 courses and 140 institutions. There are more than 25 million students around the world.
With edX, you can take thousands of online courses from top universities and organizations. The courses are taught by the world’s leading experts and teachers.
All course materials are available free of charge. If you want to get a certificate to show your skills on your resume, you will have to pay.
The EDX courses are known for their high quality audiovisual and applicability of its contents into the labor market. Among the different areas covered by the platform, we highlight courses aimed at professionals in the following niches:
- Computer’s science
- Data science
- Engineering
- Administration and business management
- Languages
- Human Sciences
Among the main universities that host their courses on the edX platform, the following should be highlighted:
• Harvard University
• University of California
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Boston University
• Australian National University
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Princeton University
• Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Toronto
• University of Oxford
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The online courses EDX , despite being the most popular, are not all that edX offers. We can say that the most innovative are the MicroMasters programs . These programs are exclusive to edX.
In addition to online courses and MicroMasters, edX also offers online master’s degrees, professional certificates, and bundled related course selections, Xseries . In addition, they have a platform called edX for Business that offers corporate e-learning solutions for companies.
And it didn’t end there! EdX offers a unique opportunity to be part of a partnership with Arizona State University , called the Global Freshman Academy. This program allows online students to earn transferable credits from edX courses that can be used during college.
After entering a course page, you will have general information: a short description, an introductory video, the main information (course duration, price, language, etc.)
EdX Online Courses
The EDX offers more than 3,000 courses that cover a variety of subjects: Business and Management, Chemistry, Architecture, Biology and Life Sciences, Computer Science , Economics and Finance, Design, Engineering, Languages, Law, Medicine, etc.
The courses online EDX have specific prerequisites, but some are more advanced than others. That is why it is interesting to read the course description on the registration page.
The structure and schedule vary according to the course. Some courses may have a single exam, while others have multiple assignments and exams throughout the course. The minimum passing score is also different for each course.
Most of the edX courses are in English, but there are some that are taught in other languages, such as Spanish, Italian, French, etc.
Is edX certification worth it? They are for free?
When evaluating a course, whether online or in person, the certificate is one of the central aspects. After all, both to appear for a job interview and to enhance your academic curriculum, you will need a certified certificate .
In this sense, edX courses represent a great differential, since not only are edX courses certified, but they also have certificates of high academic and professional impact, as they are issued by the best universities in the world .
To obtain your certificate, you must pass an assessment that assesses the knowledge acquired throughout the online course. Without a qualified evaluation, it is difficult for a potential employer to take an online course seriously. Remember that students who do not pay do not have access to the certificate and evaluations with grades.
EdX courses Pros
- Wide selection of college-level courses
- A wide range of resources to choose from
- Easy to navigate
- Courses for beginners to advanced
- Provides verified certificates
- Excellent price of MOOCs
- Wide catalog of free courses
EdX Courses Cons
- If you don’t have self-discipline, you may find it difficult to study online
- To earn a certificate, you will need to be enrolled in the verified paid rank and complete a course with a passing grade.
EdX courses price
The edX platform works with the proposal of being a very high quality non-profit platform. This makes the platform a benchmark in the dissemination of science and technology, offering many courses for free.
These types of free learning materials are a great way to learn the topics of some of the best universities in the world, such as Harvard and MIT.
However, there are courses aimed at reaching other audiences, such as specialization or update courses in academic and health areas. These courses have a greater workload, generally extending over months with weekly classes and complementary materials and, due to their model and the cost of their maintenance, these courses have a higher cost.
In these cases, the student pays a monthly fee to access the course, and the registration fee and the certificate issuance fee are already included in this monthly fee.
However, paying for an edX online course has some significant advantages:
• Completion certificates
• Graded evaluations
• Unlimited access to the course
You can take any edX course for free, with the exception of professional education courses. To enroll in the course without paying, you must select the audit option on the course information page. You will have access to all course materials (lectures, videos), but you will not receive a certificate of completion. To get a certificate, you must enroll in the verified rank. Fees vary, and each course costs between $ 50 and $ 300.
And thinking of helping you who were interested in learning about the edX platform, we end this article with a tip from 5 popular edX courses:
- Learn to Program in Java, from Microsoft : Java is the main programming language used in the development of applications for android and among other software. Therefore, it is not surprising that a course offered by the renowned Microsoft and designed to prepare students to work with Java programming is among the most popular edX courses
- English Grammar and Style, from the University of Queensland : this is a course whose main purpose is to prepare the student for writing in English. Taught by the University of Queensland, Australia, this course aims to familiarize students with technical, formal and academic writing, as well as familiarizing themselves with advanced grammar techniques. Certainly, a great differential for the job market and that lives up to its popularity within the platform.
- Introduction to Python: Absolute Beginner, by Microsoft : anotherMicrosoft course among the popular ones, and its theme is not surprising that it has attracted so many students. Designed to familiarize the student with Python programming, the course is an excellent option for those who want to start programming and do not know where to start. Complete, didactic and very objective.
- CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science, from Harvard University : being one of the most popular courses at Harvard University, the CS50 also proved to be one of the most popular of the courses that Harvard University made available online through edX. The course covers computer science in a very broad way, teaching how to think and decode information through algorithms.
- TOEFL® Test Preparation: The Insider’s Guide, from ETS : TOEFL was the most popular course on the edX platform in 2018. And it’s no wonder! After all, in any country you decide to work or study, you prove your English proficiency through tests like TOEFL.
