MOOCs: Coursera Launches Fee-Based Service To Certify Completion of a Course
From VentureBeat:
Online education supernova Coursera just announced that it will offer students verified certificates of completion of some of its courses. The identities of students will be verified throughout the course using photographs of themselves and a photo ID taken with a webcam. Students will also create a biometric profile of their unique typing pattern by typing a short phrase that will be used to authenticate work submitted. The company will charge a fee of between $30 and $100 for certificates depending on the course (Coursera’s courses are free), and certificates will not count towards college credit. Students who cannot pay for certificates can apply for financial assistance.
The article lists courses from U. of California, San Francisco, Duke, Georgia Tech, and the U. of Illinois that already offer a certification option.
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Now in business for a year, the site has 2.2 million students…and offers 213 courses from 33 top universities.
Much More in the Complete Article
On a Related Note (MOOCs and Fees): eCornell Offers a MOOC That Steers Students to a Paid Follow-Up (via Wired Campus)
Filed under: News

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.