Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Coursera, Udacity And The Future of Credentials - Ryan Craig, Forbes

Two high-profile companies are pursuing a badge-based future: Coursera and Udacity. Both began their lives as providers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). While some figured out quickly that there was no business model to support credential-less online learning, it took the companies a bit longer. Udacity pivoted first in 2013, announcing “Nanodegrees” developed in partnership with leading technology companies (“built by industry”). The thinking being that Google’s involvement in the Android Developer Nanodegree improves the curriculum; the Google brand doesn’t hurt either. Udacity has done the same with iOS (Apple), Tech Entrepreneur (Google) and its other programs (by a committee of leading technology lights). For its part, Coursera is betting on content and brands from top universities. Coursera launched its “Specializations” in 2014 and now offers 75 different programs, the vast majority from a single university. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryancraig/2015/09/30/coursera-udacity-and-the-future-of-credentials/