MOOCs: Coursera moves towards massive revenues on certification — from donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.co.uk by Donald Clark
Excerpt:
Real revenues
Coursera took one year to hit $1 million on revenues from certification, 3 months to hit $2 million (Feb 14) and now report $4 million (Apr 14), that’s $2 million in the following two months. Impressive compound growth. This has been achieved through their Coursera certificate track, which, at $30-$100 per course, has seen an average 1.2% conversion rate double up to the current average of 2.4%, giving them $4 mlllion, driven by demand from employers. Note this last observation – ‘driven by employers’.
From DSC:
Donald is right on the mark here: MOOCs continue to experiment, morph, innovate. They appear to have found a solid source of revenue with their certifications. Also, as Donald emphasizes, this growth is driven by employers. I’d encourage you to read his posting, as he points out several other innovations in what Coursera is doing.
It makes me wonder…
- Are institutions of traditional higher education experimenting, morphing, innovating enough?
. - Are we modeling for our students what they will need to do — at least at points — in their careers? (i.e. pivoting, failing/trying again, adapting, experimenting, innovating)
We can’t always hit home runs. We need to be able to fail/try again and create a culture that rewards innovation.
Last thought here:
When connected/smart TV’s get worked out,
MOOCs could add/leverage that type of
platform for some powerful, global
learning (24 x 7 x 365)…helping people reinvent
themselves at extremely attractive prices.