Dive Brief:
- Berlin's iversity announced its initial MOOC lineup, as well as its intentions to be a kind of Coursera for Europe, and as of Monday its first MOOCs have launched.
- Currently, six MOOCs are available through iversity out of the gate (though it had intended to launch with 10), with a total of 24 courses planned in English and German, and iversity claims that more than 100,000 students have signed up.
- European institutions involved with the MOOCs include Hamburg University and the University of Osnabrück, with individual professors from Europe and the U.S. contributing out as well.
Dive Insight:
iversity CEO Marcus Riecke told Tech Crunch that he hopes to see its MOOCs number more than 100 with more than a million users by the end of 2014. That's a lofty goal, seeing as how Coursera already boasts more than 5 million users. One wonders how much of Coursera's territory iversity plans on cutting into to reach its goals.
The MOOC space is already competitive among its established players. Here's hoping a little more competition improves the marketplace.