Rick Levin is CEO of Coursera Inc (estb. 2012), which bills itself as the world’s largest Moocs aggregator/provider offering 1,816 courses from 140 partner universities to 18 million-plus students worldwide. An alumnus of Oxford and Stanford universities, Levin served a 20-year term as president of Yale University prior to signing up with Coursera in 2013. Excerpts from an email interview: How has online education and in particular Coursera changed higher education? Coursera courses are not merely videotaped lectures. We use mastery-based learning principles to combine lectures, interactive content, discussion forums, and assessments, offering students a unique online learning experience. Video lectures are broken up into 5-15 minute segments, interspersed with exams and peer graded assignments. Learners who complete our courses have the option to earn certification which they can automatically upload to their LinkedIn profiles. Open online course platforms such as Coursera are widening the reach of the world’s great universities. The vast majority of the 1.2 million Indians on Coursera are people in their twenties-forties who want to acquire new knowledge and skills without the commitment of going back to college full-time. How do Moocs compare with traditional university education? We don’t aspire to replicate the university experience. Online education provides opportunities to people who don’t have the time for on-campus instruction. For the vast majority of learners, signing up for a Coursera programme is not about getting a university education, but about finding an alternative to higher education or supplementary higher education to prepare for college or improved on-job performance, or acquiring skills required by employers. Moreover, we believe that online education has the potential to greatly enhance on-campus learning, complement traditional classroom formats, and grant instructors more flexibility in their teaching methods. What are the challenges of delivering online education, specifically in India? Lack of internet access, especially in rural areas, is one of the biggest challenges for the growth of online education in India. The second critical challenge is making people aware that online education is available and useful. A large segment of the population, not only in India’s villages but also in the metros, is not aware of online learning opportunities. An important role for Coursera in India in the next few years is to engage with potential learners to make them aware of the positive impact that online education can have on their careers and lives. Pricing is another factor. Many in India may find the pricing of a Coursera certificate too high. To address this, we have launched some of our courses in India at affordable prices. The largest number of Moocs enrolments is coming from emerging economies like India. Your comment. That is certainly the trend we’ve seen at Coursera. The percentage of learners on Coursera from emerging economies has grown from 30 percent in 2012 to 50 percent in 2015. These numbers reflect the significant unmet demand for access to high quality education in these economies. What are the future plans of Coursera? 2015 was a notable year for the growth…
