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Coursera is phasing out free certificates

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Re: Coursera is phasing out free certificates

#41

Post by jotm »

Sven7 wrote: post #26
kiloreux wrote: post #6

While what the OP mentioned is True , what i really think is that the real value of MOOCs is not in the certificate (it not that much important especially from MOOC providers) but the opportunity that it creates for people to gain knowledge , and personally speaking , MOOCs have changed my life , i live in 3rd world country where the quality of education is worse than you can imagine, but thanks to Coursera, Edx and…

How did learning new things change your life?

By acquiring knowledge and skills that can be used to get a job or at least an internship, start a business and expand your expertise beyond what is possible locally. Just a guess.

Re: Coursera is phasing out free certificates

#42

Post by Soloquay »

All of these MOOCs lack true verification of knowledge. Ultimately I think that the certification test should be done in person, at a cost to the person taking the test, since they are the ones who benefit most from the legitimacy of the certificate.

Also the signed certificate should include a clear photo of the person who took the test.

Re: Coursera is phasing out free certificates

#43

Post by webhat » 

    “The Statements of Accomplishment (free) and Verified
    Certificates (signature track) will be provided to all
    those who achieve 50% or higher grade, and will be released 
    within 1-2 weeks after the final submission deadline closes. 
    Everyone will be notified by email when they are ready. You
    will be able to download the certificate from your course
    records after they are released.”
50% as a passing grade?

Re: Coursera is phasing out free certificates

#44

Post by nraynaud »

andyidsinga wrote: post #27
kiloreux wrote: post #6

While what the OP mentioned is True , what i really think is that the real value of MOOCs is not in the certificate (it not that much important especially from MOOC providers) but the opportunity that it creates for people to gain knowledge , and personally speaking , MOOCs have changed my life , i live in 3rd world country where the quality of education is worse than you can imagine, but thanks to Coursera, Edx and…

this! Once someone learns something -- they can put it into practice (or not if they were just learning for fun). It makes sense that in the future, rather than a certificate, examples of putting learning into practice would become more important. It is certainly easy to show proof of practice already with smartphones, cheaper computers and great publishing tools. portfolio trumps certificate :)

In some fields you just can't experiment at home (often because the capital expenditure is too high), think some chemistry, some rocket design, some metallurgy etc. You need to get a job to build your portfolio, and you need a piece of paper to get the first job.

Re: Coursera is phasing out free certificates

#45

Post by joepie91_ »

runn1ng wrote: post #32
joepie91_ wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While that is correct from a purely educational point of view, it's unfortunately not currently true from a social point of view. There are expectations of certification in many industries, and the assumption is often made that without a certificate, you do not have the knowledge. In the IT world, this isn't really a thing, but outside it, it often is. It's therefore completely reasonable to expect a 'replacement for…

Yes, but frankly, does anyone ever accept MOOC certificates? All the employers I have met usually skip the MOOC part of my resume entirely.

That'd probably depend on the industry. But even if they didn't, the way to solve that would be by increasing the reputation of MOOC certifications, not by doing away with them entirely.

Re: Coursera is phasing out free certificates

#47

Post by recursive »

webhat wrote: post #43

“The Statements of Accomplishment (free) and Verified Certificates (signature track) will be provided to all those who achieve 50% or higher grade, and will be released within 1-2 weeks after the final submission deadline closes. Everyone will be notified by email when they are ready. You will be able to download the certificate from your course records after they are released.” 50% as a passing grade?

According to the excerpt you included, yes it is.

Re: Coursera is phasing out free certificates

#48

Post by penprogg »

ColinWright wrote: post #25

People in other comments are saying the certificates are pointless, or useless, or never needed. In contrast to their claims, recently when applying for a job I was asked for proof that I really do have a PhD. I have no idea where the certificate is, and pointed out in an email that certificates can, these days, easily be faked. To provide a certificate merely gives them grounds later, if they find I don't have a PhD…

When people are saying the certificate is worthless they mean that when applying for a job, employers do not care if you have completed a mooc or not. A Mooc's value doesn't come from the fact that you finish the course, it comes from the fact that you've learned something new from great teachers. With the knowledge from that mooc you should then do something which you can then show to whomever.

Re: Coursera is phasing out free certificates

#49

Post by jlarocco »

joelgrus wrote: post #5

Honestly, if someone's resume tells me they took (say) the Coursera Natural Language Processing course, never in a million years would it occur to me to ask to see the certificate, any more than I'd ask to see their transcript to verify that they took specific classes in college. And vice versa, I have lots of Coursera courses on my resume, no one has ever asked to see my certificates either.

Putting Coursera on a resume had never occurred to me.

Do you use it to bolster other experience and education? Or would you be comfortable applying for a position where your only relevant experience was from Coursera?

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