Dive Brief:
- Coursera announced Wednesday the launch of 18 new "Specializations," course sequences that help learners master a specific skill.
- The institutions behind the new Specializations include the University of Illinois, UC-San Diego, UC-Irvine, the University of Maryland, Duke University, Northwestern University, Georgia Tech, Peking University, the University of Amsterdam, and National Taiwan University.
- The course sequences require participants to apply the skill they learn in a real-world project before they are awarded a certificate.
Dive Insight:
The complete list of specializations is as follows:
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Business Ops Excellence (University of Illinois)
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Digital Marketing (University of Illinois)
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Cloud Computing (University of Illinois)
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Data Mining (University of Illinois)
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Full-stack design (UC-San Diego)
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Project Management (UC-Irvine)
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Business Communication (UC-Irvine)
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Basic Management Skills (UC-Irvine)
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Management Tools (UC-Irvine)
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Entrepreneurship: Launching your Startup (University of Maryland)
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Engineering Graphics (National Taiwan University)
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Com Sci in Chinese (Peking University)
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How to become a Social Scientist: Research Methods and Statistics (University of Amsterdam)
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Neuroscience (Duke University)
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Content Strategy for Professionals in Organizations (Northwestern University)
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Human Computer Interaction: User Experience and User Interface Design (Georgia Tech)
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Statics & Dynamics: Foundations in Engineering (Georgia Tech)
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Healthcare Informatics & Data Analytics (Georgia Tech)
The skills-based programs were initially announced in January as an alternative to the commitment and price of a full-time degree program, and existing options include a popular Johns Hopkins University Data Science Specialization with a final project by keyboard tech firm Swiftkey.
Coursera’s skills-based programs are developed by the world’s top institutions and professors. Some of the courses collaborate with companies that are leaders in their field to provide real-world applications to what learners are studying. For example, Johns Hopkins University currently offers an extremely popular Data Science Specialization that gives learners the opportunity to work on a project proposed by Swiftkey, a top provider of keyboard technology. With each course costing around $49 and containing around two to six courses (so an average total might be around $100 to $300, though this can vary for programs with more courses).
These types of courses are extremely valuable for adult learners, for example, who may not have the luxury of going back to school for a new degree. Along with Udacity's Nanodegrees, providing these learners with an alternative may, in fact, be the disruption MOOCs were always poised to bring to higher ed.