Dive Brief:
- Coursera has announced a partnership with the United States government to create “learning hubs” around the world where students can have Internet access to free courses, supplemented by in-person discussions.
- The learning hubs address the lack of reliable Internet access in some countries and the idea that students do better if they can discuss course materials.
- Coursera is joining forces with the State Department’s MOOC Camp Initiative, which operates in 40 countries — about half using Coursera courses, and half using courses from other providers.
Dive Insight:
It's true that the government is working with other MOOC providers, but it seems like Coursera is the closest partner. The MOOC provider is collecting data and plans to work with the government to analyze learning outcomes from the project.