About Coursera:
Coursera, the leading online education company, has come a long way. Founded by the brilliant minds of Stanford University in 2012, it now employs over 1500+ people. Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, the founders, collaborated with several universities and institutions. After the collaboration, they started providing some selected courses for students. The user interface, design, and software of Coursera have always been appreciated. It is also popular for making free courses. Although one needs to pay a nominal fee to gain certification. Coursera runs on self-paced education. Being a global leader, helps them connect a wide variety of students online. With recorded lectures, timely peer-reviewed assignments, it has built a powerful community.
Almost every other day, you would hear about Coursera partnering with some university. This consistent growth in the past decade has led the company to go public this year. Although some skeptics doubt the growth of its IPO in the post-pandemic world. But, no one can deny that it is one of the hottest selling stocks right now. Despite having high-end competitors like edX and Alison courses, it has built a name for itself as a brand.
Impact of Coursera Becoming a Public Company:
It is not a regular sight to witness an educational tech company issue IPOs. But, it indeed gained a big audience as the founders rang the bell of NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) to mark the new beginning. One of the primary ambitions of Coursera to raise the game is AI. With artificial intelligence, the founders wish to level up the personalized learning experience. Also, the information output is likely to improve. Considering the number of students shifting online amidst the pandemic, they have grabbed the opportunity in time.
Its major impact on higher education would be that of skill learning. With online companies like Skillshare, focusing on that, Coursera could be a fundamental change. With a focus on advanced skills and experience, the coming decade would be revolutionary. Students could gather knowledge and experience at home with their gadgets. Also, they could hone their skills and become employable at a young age. This is great news for developing countries where underemployment is causing a threat. Coursera would not want to affect the quality of universities it works with. This would help them nurture a research-oriented approach. With the leading educational institutions, students would not need to wait for entrance tests or student loans. Coursera is already making education more important than degrees. It would also be a suitable choice for working professionals who want to gain more skills while working.
Hence, with a large ed-tech company going public, Coursera is moving towards more opportunities. If it can keep its focus on personalized learning, it will succeed. In the highly competitive world of today, skills are of most importance. By mastering the specific skills required to do well in a field, the global economy is bound to witness innovation and development. Although, it would be interesting to see how the investors and common people respond to this step.
