US COLLEGES UNIVERSITY

Stanford , Princeton & 3 Other Elite Varsities to offer free online classes 

                                Five prestigious US university will create free online courses for students worldwide through a new, interactive education platform dubbed Coursera, the founders announced on Wednesday. The two founders, both professors of computer science at Stanford University , also announced that they had received $16 million in financing from two silicon valley venture firms. Coursera will offer more than three dozen college courses in the coming  year through website at course-ra.org, on subject ranging from Greek mythology to neurology, form calculus to contemporary American poetry.

                             The classes are designed and taught by professor at Standford , Princeton , the university of California at Berkeley, the university of Pennsylvania and the university of Michigan . Coursera joins a raft of ambitious online projects aimed at making higher education more accessible and affordable. Many of these ventures , however simply post entire lecture on the web, with no interactive component. Others strive to create brand- new universities form scratch. Multiple - choice and short - answer test will be computer scored. Coursera will soon unveil a system of peer grading to assess more complex work, such as essays or algorithms. Students will not get college credit. But Coursera may offer ''certificate of completion '' or transcripts for a fee. The company may also seek to turn a profit by connecting employers with students who have shown aptitude in a particular field , a spokeswoman said . Participating university by boosting their reputation, connecting with far- flung  alumni and bringing in donations from grateful online students. source :  The Times of India