edX (for free) does not have the appearance of a university. There is no university, no library, no dorms, and no tuition. edX, the wunderkind of academics, was founded in the spring of 2012 by educators from MIT and Harvard. Some of the world’s most prestigious institutions including UC Berkeley and Boston University as well as both founding institutions, provide its courses. With over a million students, however, provides a greater learning community than the entire UC system.
Make no mistake, however: edX is not a university-killer. While participants can audit classes for free and receive confirmation of registration (Honor Code Certificates), edX does not provide the same level of certification, networking, or communal experience as a traditional institution. Consider edX as a platform that allows admittedly major and well-heeled colleges to reach out to both traditional and non-traditional students. Typically, those adult students are interested in science. But thanks to a high school project and professional educational programs, that is changing.
Although edX’s K-12 offerings and Coursera’s overall library fall short of Khan Academy’s and Coursera’s, it requires recognition for two reasons. As a non-profit open-source platform, edX welcomes developers to contribute to their Open edX effort. Developers have used that access to make edX course assessment the most adaptable currently accessible, despite its flaws.
What you will see here?
edX Plans and Pricing
Plans
Unlike some other online learning platforms, edX does not provide a monthly content subscription plan. This allows you to watch as many videos as you want for a single fee. We won’t be too concerned about this because all of the classes we did find could join for free, making it a terrific method to essentially study a college-level course. This strategy allows you to collect additional information about a course before enrolling.
Pricing
A professional certificate, on the other hand, is a series of courses on a specific topic that uses to achieve a new skill or certification, such as updating a CV or gaining a promotion. The topics are diverse, such as Computer Science Essentials for Software Development from PennX (University of Pennsylvania). This consists of four courses, designed to be complete in four months at a rate of seven to nine hours per week (but can be completed at any time), and is currently on sale for $536.
MicroBachelor and MicroMaster courses are available for students seeking a more comprehensive skill set. These intense to provide a more in-depth understanding of a specific issue. Volvo, Walmart, and
Finally, fully online master’s degrees are available in a variety of topics. For example, Boston University offers an online Mba course that consists of six modules expect completion in two to three years for a cost of $24,000.
Just a remark on the last price. The $24,000 may seem pricey when compared to some other online streaming sites. Keep in mind that a graduate degree can easily cost six figures.
Background or Foreground of edX platform
EdX offers free self-paced and timed courses, however, there are some disadvantages. Students have minimal contact with their professors, TAs, or coworkers, and assessment. But best in class, is still poor, particularly in the humanities. Even though edX offers a variety of certificates (Honor, Verified, and XSeries), students will not acquire the same credentials as they would at a typical university. EdX uses a freemium approach, in which students can audit classes for free or pay a donation ($50 or more) to participate in identity-verification certificate programs.
Characteristics
edX performs at more serious content, such as college-level and high-quality classes similar to those offered at a major university. This is since many of the classes are taught by university professors from prestigious universities. The classes range in difficulty from a certificate program to a graduate degree program.
Those expecting more relaxed content, such as a weekend cooking class, will be disappointed. Rather, the courses are arranged into college departments, which are further divided into specialization divisions. For example, we have Azure, Blockchain, and HTML within the Computer Science Department. This is all structured in the same way that a college course catalog is.
The information on edX is suitable for a college degree, which is its major strength. Rather than having to search the internet for a university that offers the proper content. The extensive course catalog makes it simple to select the best content. Then sign up for only the course, or as part of an online degree, either entirely or partially.
Support
edX offers support, although the alternatives could be more thorough. A direct phone number, let alone a toll-free number, are among the missing contact choices. We also couldn’t discover a fax number or an email address. There was no contact portal, no movies, and no online community locates.
The assistance is more automated. A comprehensive FAQ is available. As well as a box to ask a question, which directs the user to the appropriate section of the FAQ. There’s also a chat box that accesses by clicking the button in the lower right corner of the screen. But the conversation that appears is exclusively for chatbots. It’s impossible to get in touch with anyone after making requests for a direct phone number or a live person and just receiving links. After a while, we were given the opportunity to email edX. But there was no direct supply of email addresses, so we had to use the chatbox portal.
edX Catalog
EdX has a broad course catalog with a focus on higher education and the sciences. There were 420 courses accessible at the time of my last check, from 65 institutions, non-profits, companies, and other groups. When you limit your search, the catalog reduces quickly. One hundred and sixty of the courses already completes (Archived), schedules of 89 to begin in the next weeks (Coming Soon), and 94 would not start for at least a month (Upcoming). There were around a hundred courses to select from, which was a reasonable but not Coursera-sized buffet (over 900).
The sciences have a larger presence: I had nineteen computer science classes to pick from, compared to only five arts and culture classes (and that is a broad designation). edX has begun to experiment with self-paced courses, which have considerably fewer alternatives than regular timed programs, which can last up to twelve weeks (21 options at last count).
According to my research, a small number of universities dominate the edX catalog. Harvard faculty, for example, created four of the five Humanities courses accessible. In the sciences, there was a little more variation, with classes from Harvard, MIT, Rice, Cornell, UC Berkeley, and UT Austin.
Conclusion
edX is a well-known platform that offers content on a wide range of topics. We can see why users like the certificate and degree options as well as the excellent rating of the smartphone apps and the free courses available. The flaws in the smartphone apps, the lack of more direct help alternatives, and the lack of informal material are all mentioned. In the end, edX provides engaging content for more serious study.
