The Coursera platform is one of the great leaders in the market for MOOC courses ( Massive Online Open Courses ), having as one of its great differentials the partnerships that it establishes with the largest universities in the world for the production of its courses. However, Coursera was originally a platform that offered individual courses, where the student could choose between the following options:
- Listener mode: courses that have the listener mode can be accessed for free. The student can follow the classes and review content, but after completing the course the student does not receive a certificate to prove such an experience.
- Request the issuance of a certificate: both listener and paid courses have the option of issuing certificates. The difference is that in paid courses the certificate fees are already included, while in courses taken as a listener the student needs to pay the certificate issuing fee after completing the course. The advantage of taking courses as a listener under these conditions is that you can take different courses and apply for certificates only from those that you consider most relevant to your curriculum and your professional goals.
- Private courses : some courses do not fall under the MOOC categories, and you need to purchase them in order to have access to your classes. There are even courses that may have monthly installments, as in the case of graduations and courses with MasterTrack TM certificates .
Currently, however, there is a fourth option, which is for students to take courses through the Coursera Plus program. The Coursera Plus works as a monthly subscription program , where the student pays a fixed amount to have unlimited access to different platform courses. This option greatly benefits students familiar with the platform and students who have more time available, as we will see in this article.
Coursera Plus is worth it
The Coursera Plus worth it for anyone who seeks conduct professional courses included in the program. However, due to some restrictions and peculiarities in its methodology, Coursera Plus may not meet the expectations of those looking for specific courses, as well as not being the best option for some people due to different factors. Thus, Coursera Plus is especially worthwhile for those who have the following characteristics:
- Time availability
- Familiarity with online courses or digital platforms
- Interest in technical and professional courses
- Discipline to manage your time
- Ability to be self-taught
Let’s see below why these features are so relevant to the user experience on Coursera Plus.
1 – Time availability
Coursera Plus is a subscription program, so the benefits of the user experience depend on the availability of time to take different courses monthly. Users with few hours available per week can also benefit from the features of Coursera Plus, but in some cases, the cost-benefit ratio is not so attractive.
2 – Familiarity with online courses or digital platforms
The Coursera platform has an intuitive interface aimed at ensuring the best user experience possible, making classes easily accessible. However, a subscription program like Coursera Plus usually exposes the user to spending a few hours a week studying through this platform, so having relative familiarity with similar platforms helps make the experience valuable.
3 – Interest in technical and professional courses
The Coursera platform has courses of different specialty levels, produced by the largest universities in the world. However, MasterTrack TM certificate courses and graduations are not included in Coursera Plus. Therefore, students who are interested in technical and vocational courses are more likely to benefit from the courses offered by the program.
4 – Discipline to manage your time
The discipline to manage time is one of the great challenges of distance learning. With more and more work options in the home office mode and entertainment options accessible through the internet, people with little discipline end up procrastinating and, consequently, taking less advantage of Coursera Plus resources.
5 – Ability to be self-taught
Many Coursera Plus courses have forums to answer questions, and this can help people who are unable to be self-taught or make good use of complementary materials. However, people with more ease in self-taught learning can acquire knowledge in less time and, thus, take more quality courses.
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Who are the Coursera Plus instructors
The Coursera platform is considered an authority in its niche because it establishes partnerships with the largest universities in the world to develop its courses. The university is responsible for providing faculty members from different departments to perform tasks such as:
- Script and syllabus of classes
- Production of complementary materials, at the discretion of the university
- Structuring the number of classes, modules and course duration
- Selection of bibliographic references to support the classes and complement the user experience
- Assessment, to prove the acquisition of the knowledge necessary for certification
In turn, it is the responsibility of the Coursera platform to host the course produced by the partnership university, guaranteeing access to the courses by the student through a proven qualified user experience. As Coursera Plus courses follow the same guidelines as other courses on the Coursera platform, Coursera Plus professors are the professors that the platform’s partner universities consider able to develop the courses that will be hosted by the platform, normally coordinators of research departments and teaching researchers whose lines of research are particularly relevant to the market.
What are Coursera Plus partner universities
Coursera Plus follows the same criteria and establishes the same partnerships as the Coursera platform in relation to partner universities. The only difference is that specific courses, such as graduations and MasterTrack TM certificate courses are not included in the program. Therefore, Coursera Plus partner universities include the following:
- American Museun of Natural History
- Arizona State University
- Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
- Automation Anywhere
- Berklee College of Music
- California Institute of the Arts
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Case Western Reserve University
- Columbia University
- Digital Marketing Institute
- Duke University
- Edge Impulse
- EIT Digital
- IBM
- Indian Institute for Human Settlements
- Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
- Indian School of Business
- Johns Hopkins University
- Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
- Lund University
- Michigan State University
- Moscow State Institute of International Relations
- National Geographic Society
- National Research Nuclear University
- New York Institute of Finance
- University of London
In addition to these renowned institutions worldwide, Coursera also has partnerships with Brazilian institutions, such as:
- Technological Institute of Aeronautics
- University of São Paulo (USP)
- State University of Campinas (UNICAMP)
All courses produced by these universities for the Coursera platform follow the same quality criteria adopted by the respective universities in general, after all the certificate received after completing a course on the Coursera platform, or even a course conducted through Coursera Plus, has both the data identification code and the identification data of the partner university. For this reason, people looking to excel in the job market and in the academic market can benefit greatly from Coursera Plus.
How much does Coursera Plus cost
The cost of Coursera Plus is one of the most attractive features of this modality. That’s because the annual subscription to Coursera Plus costs $ 399.00 , which is equivalent to $ 33.25 per month. This amount can be paid in cash or in installments by credit card, at the student’s discretion. There is no additional fee for those who install the course, except the fees that may be charged by the bank or company that administers your credit card.
The cost-benefit ratio of Coursera Plus is especially attractive for those who are willing to take different courses, since the amount invested monthly ends up being close to the amount that would be invested to take a single course individually. Thus, if you know the courses offered by the Coursera platform and consider that these courses can add value to your professional training, the cost of Coursera Plus will be a valuable investment in your training.
Coursera plus has certificate
All Coursera Plus courses are certified to prove the student’s experience, and this characteristic makes Coursera Plus an excellent investment for career and professional training. Those who are familiar with the platform and willing to take different courses receive a certificate for each course, thus increasing their perception of value in the job market.
It is important to note that the student must have his Coursera Plus subscription active at the end of the course. Registering for a course and canceling the subscription to Coursera Plus with that course still in progress may involve monitoring, completing or issuing a certificate for the course in question.
Coursera Plus Pros
There are many aspects considered pros of Coursera Plus, of which the following can be highlighted:
- Cost-benefit ratio : the cost-benefit ratio is one of the elements evaluated in practically all types of investment, and this also applies to investment dedicated to professional training. As Coursera is a platform known worldwide as a reference for online professional training, having a program that makes its cost-benefit ratio even more attractive is certainly a pro to be considered.
- Practicality: being registered in Coursera Plus, you have unlimited access to all the courses included in the program, and the issue of certificates becomes even simpler, since the fees for certification are already included in the program subscription.
- Stimulus to take more courses: the cost-effectiveness of Coursera Plus depends directly on your ability to organize yourself to find time to study. Having paid the subscription fee in advance can serve as a mental trigger to stimulate this organization, because if you don’t find time to study properly, you will be having a loss. For this reason, the Coursera Plus model encourages more courses and, consequently, continued investment in training.
- Connection with the labor market: the courses included in Coursera Plus are technical courses, from different areas of knowledge, aimed at training professionals qualified to work in the labor market. Thus, for those who are looking to enter the job market and do not yet have professional experience, Coursera Plus offers several courses that can be taken at an affordable price and enable these students to occupy good positions in the job market.
Coursera Plus Cons
Despite all its practicality and cost-effectiveness, some people may encounter important restrictions in relation to Coursera Plus. Of the possible characteristics that can be understood in this way, the main cons of Coursera Plus are usually defined as the following characteristics:
- Payment method: although it is possible to cancel the subscription, some people are afraid to sign up for Coursera Plus through the annual subscription. In this sense, the form of payment can be seen as a limitation for some people.
- Time availability: as it is a subscription service, the cost-benefit ratio of Coursera Plus is directly linked to the time one has to take different courses. Thus, those who have little time available or little familiarity with online teaching platforms may consider this to be the opposite.
- Limitation in relation to the courses: another possible cons of Coursera Plus is the fact that the program does not have MasterTrack TM degrees and certificates . Although the program has numerous courses in different areas of activity, many people come to Coursera precisely because of their courses with a MasterTrack TM certificate , considering this aspect as a major factor contrary to the program.
How to know if Coursera Plus is for you
After all the information presented in this article, you can compare the pros and cons of Coursera Plus to assess its cost-benefit ratio and find out if Coursera Plus is a good option for you. However, if you are still not sure if Coursera Plus is for you, the best way to evaluate it is to register with the program to take advantage of the free trial period. By canceling your subscription within the period stipulated by the platform, you know in practice all the advantages of Coursera Plus at no cost.
