By Will Oremus, Slate
In just one year, Coursera has established itself as the giant in the rapidly growing field of online higher education. It has done it by partnering with dozens of prestigious universities around the world to broadcast lectures to the masses, for free. Not surprisingly, this approach has proven stupendously popular. The New York Times’ Tamar Lewin noted that Coursera drew one million users in its first four months, more than Facebook or Twitter. Coursera has unveiled its newest initiative: “signature track” courses that offer students “verified certificates” if they pay a fee of $30 to $100 and submit to a few simple procedures to verify their identity.The Washington Post has more on the verification procedures, which are really interesting, if untested in the education world. But the more immediate question is this: How many people will be willing to pay $100 for an online course that most others are taking for free?
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