# Questions about Coursera: Is it really free? Is it safe to sign up for?



## Vexed

What happens if you fail a class?


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## Snakecharmer

It is free, but you don't receive credit for courses. I don't think anything happens if you fail (aside from the site having a record of it), but if I decided I didn't want to complete a course, I'd drop it (you can do that with a simple click).


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## Vexed

Do you use it? What do you think of it


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## stillakidatheart

I'm currently taking an Intro to Psych course. There isn't really a grade credit as it is a free enrichment course. They do give statements of accomplishment certificates to those who earn 70+% in the class. I'm sure it's safe to sign up for. You can choose to be anonymous in the discussion forums that my course has, though I'm not sure about the other courses as this is the first coursera course I'm taking. And yes, it's really free - they don't ask for credit card numbers or anything. Just your email, first and last name (middle if desired), and that's pretty much it.


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## Vexed

Is it wrong to put a fake name? It's it pointless if I inputting a real one to change it after?


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## Soul Eater

I'm using it. It seems safe. I like it. I'm honestly only signed up in courses to hear the lectures, see the notes, etc. I'm not even doing any of the assignments in most of them, just trying to get a feel for the subjects. Granted, I'm also enrolled in like a bazillion courses and don't have the patience to do all the homework for ALL of them. I don't really care about the certificates you get for the class completion. I just want to learn. I don't think it's wrong to put a fake name, just know that you won't be able to use the certificate if you do complete a course.


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## ThatOneWeirdGuy

It's 100% free. The only thing that costs anything is receiving some sort of official certificate that you can put on job applications. *shrugs*

It's safe as well. If you fail a class, nothing really happens. There are no actual consequences. Not sure what you expected.


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## AriesLilith

It's free and there are no consequences to not finish the courses (at least not that I know of). I've missed 2 of the courses I've enlisted, and nothing happened.


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## Epherion

Vexed said:


> What happens if you fail a class?


They dispatch an internet hitsquad after you for wasting their time.


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## Aquarian

*useful critical analysis of the underlying logic and goals of the Coursera model:*

I've been wondering about the real goals of the Coursera model. This letter/article seems to me to be getting at some of the truth below the surface illusion:

Can Venture Capital Deliver on the Promise of the Public University?

An excerpt:



> Eventually, all students in my Coursera class will learn that the data they now provide to the company for free—perhaps so it can grade them—is the private property of Coursera, which can sell it back to them in the form of “services.” These could include their own performance records and also different “views” comparing them with the records of students at better universities, with higher test scores, and with advanced degrees. The possibilities for renting this information back to students are endless, not to mention the added possibility of developing other markets for the user-assessment information that Coursera will “own.”
> 
> My students will thus come to understand that the _for-profit _logic of their online educational empowerment depends on the fact that while they are consuming information, they are also producing information that Coursera can correlate with other data to predict what prices students with particular profiles will eventually be willing to pay. Coursera’s big idea, as you have described it, is that assessment every twelve to fifteen minutes helps students learn. This model of user-interaction is similar to that of LinkedIn when it was free, that is, before it went public. Today, LinkedIn users can still perform searches on other people for free, but they must pay for access to information about who has searched for them. From such comparisons my students will learn that there’s a lot of money to be made if you can first “grow” your database by giving content away and then “rent” it back to a customers, including those who provided the data, in return for seemingly free use of the platform that collects it.


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## Glenda Gnome Starr

I'm taking a nutrition course and am really finding it interesting. I like the video lectures, and I appreciate interacting with the other students, via a facebook page.


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## haephestia

I've taken about 4 courses and been enrolled in 8 or 9. They send me emails each week and I don't pay any attention. There are no repercussions to not using a free service, simple as that. They don't chase you down, and it's not as though they can put it on your permanent record or something. Technically even completing the course is worthless if you're looking for some kind of certification for it. The best you can say is "I took a free online couse on it" and hope people don't think you're a nutter.


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## DreamingSoul

I am so glad I read this! Definitely going to sign up and see what it have to offer


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## Miss Sophia 124

I took some coursera courses concurrently with taking the course in college and coursera is much more easier to pass, though admittedly there is some overlap with the college course =) 

The ivory tower of the academia, I think is in fact, harder, but its easier to self-motivate actual college courses. In coursera you don't have much incentive, other than intrinsic, to complete these courses.

courses I completed: 
The Power of Microeconomics: Economic Principles in the Real World
University of California, Irvine

This is the hardest one in my opinion.


Introduction to Psychology
University of Toronto


The discussion assignments take much longer than you think, I would recommend starting them on the first day.

Microeconomics Principles
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Took this concurrently with my college microeconomics class.

Introduction to Key Constitutional Concepts and Supreme Court Cases
University of Pennsylvania

I found this course easey after complettng my college american government class.

Microeconomics: The Power of Markets
University of Pennsylvania
Took this concurrently with my college microeconomics class.

Introduction to Psychology
Yale University

Great course.

Stanford Introduction to Food and Health
Stanford University

I personally thought the nutrition facts are incorrect.

Introduction to Calculus
The University of Sydney

Took this concurrently with my college calculus 1 class.

Calculus: Single Variable Part 2 - Differentiation
University of Pennsylvania

Took this concurrently with my college calculus 1 class.


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## WarmMachines

I'm using edX and Coursera currently. It's free, but you need to pay for the certificates. I'm currently enrolled in courses relating to medical research and patient care.

Edit: can you guys suggest me some websites similar to edX and Coursera, which is free? I looked into Brilliant, Great Courses Plus, Skillshare...and they need money and I'm not sure if they are worth it.


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