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Education-focused technology company Coursera, known for its specialized online courses and learning tools from the world’s top universities and educational institutions, is making education more mobile and accessible to people. The company also offers online courses through an app on smartphones running on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS operating systems.
Since flexibility is one of the main reasons learners around the world sign up for online courses, the availability of Coursera on its web portal as well as a mobile app could have a double benefit. Not only will this help the company increase its reach, but it will also make it easier for learners to register, especially those who want to take a course alongside their professional activities.
Currently, Coursera has over 25 million registered learners worldwide, 1.8 million of which are in India alone. Of its learner base in India, 24% access Coursera services via mobile. In addition, the country is the second market for Coursera, just behind the United States.
Commercial standard took an in-depth look at Coursera’s Android mobile app and analyzed its functionality to gauge the app experience. Here are some of the observations:
To start
The Coursera app is available on the Google Play Store under the name “Coursera: Online Courses”. Once the app is downloaded and installed, the app requests registration, which you can do through a Gmail account, Facebook account, or any other email address. Once registered, the application automatically connects.
Application features
The Coursera app is easy to use and navigate. Features can be toggled by swiping or directly touching the option. Four main options are available: My Courses, Recommended, Featured, and Discover.
The My Courses window displays the courses for which you are currently enrolled. It also offers a ‘browse catalog’ button which displays all available courses filtered under different branches, such as arts and humanities, business, IT, and more.
The Recommended window displays recommendations for courses based on the primary goals you have set. The Featured window displays trending courses and the discovery window displays all available courses filtered under different branches – just as it appears after clicking the “Browse Catalog” option in the My Courses window.
Online course
The Coursera app offers several courses on the same subject offered by different universities. Therefore, the duration and material of the course differ and it is up to the learner to decide on the course and the university before enrolling.
The app shows important details like video hours in the course, practice quizzes, required quizzes, peer review assignments, etc. The course outline is also provided to explain what will be covered by the course.
Once you have found the course of your choice – by selecting the course title, duration, study material, price and university – you can register directly from the app.
How to register for a course?
You can sign up for free learning materials or a paid course through the Coursera app. Free learning materials require you to submit homework based on learning experiences.
For paid courses, you can pay for the entire course or for separate subjects within the course. There is an option to prepay course fees using debit or credit cards, or even Paytm. In addition, the learner can select modules within the course and pay for the selected modules using debit or credit cards, or a Paytm wallet.
Conclusion
The Coursera app is one of a kind – at least so far – and offers great educational resources for the new age learner. The app is fast and can be used to take lessons on the go. The company says 96% of all courses can be taken using mobile devices.
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