Are edX courses legit?

In this brief guide we are going to answer the question “Are edX courses legit?” describing edX’s methods and if its courses are reliable and safe.

Are edX courses legit?

Yes, edx courses are legit. Edx is associated with many different universities and offers credits and bonuses for students from those universities who take the courses. Therefore, EdX certificates are respected globally by employers.

According to their official site, Edx is affiliated with different types of organizations worldwide such as academic institutions, non-profit entities, national governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational companies. 

Let’s talk about the edX platform and the great company behind it.

What ‘s edX?

Many people think that MOOCs are the most important technological innovation in education of the last 200 years.

The first online courseMOOC was the “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge” course organized by George Siemens and Stephen Downes at the University of Manitoba (Canada) in August 2008.

However, the first MOOC course that was truly successful was the “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” course, organized in Fall 2011 by Sebastian Thrun, Professor at Stanford University, and Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google.

The unexpected success of these two courses was the trigger for the current attention these courses receive. Shortly after, professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, also from Stanford University, founded the Coursera platform and began offering courses from April 2012.

Subsequently, on May 2, 2012, MIT and Harvard University, initially “great enemies” on the battlefield of the best universities in the United States, announced their joint edX project, which aims to develop a common MOOC nonprofit platform.

The two university centers announced that they were going to invest a total of 60 million dollars to develop the platform and distribute the class material through videos, exams and theoretical tests on the Internet. 

Since then, both institutions, along with others that have subsequently joined the project, offer free courses through the Internet in a collaborative project that seeks to break the molds of traditional university education.

How Does edX Work?  

The courses at edX are taught by top experts and professionals from renowned Universities such as Harvard, MIT, Berkeley and more. With edX you can choose from hundreds of online courses taught by them, with free materials available for everyone.

Among the study tools of the edX courses we find readings, quizzes, videos and exams. Without a doubt, they know how to teach. If you want to interact with the student, you can get into the student community in various forums.

If you want to add a certificate to demonstrate your skills on your resume or just want a promotion or extra pay, you can take any course at your own pace without any inconvenience.

EdX offers more than 2000 courses on various topics: Biology, Chemistry, Business, Economy, Engineering, History, Architecture, and more. 

As if that wasn’t enough, at edX you can also get Master’s degrees online. EdX calls them micro credentials, in which we find: MicroMasters, MicroBachelors, Xseries, Professional Certificate and Executive Education.

What are you waiting for?

The moment you decide to enroll in a MOOC course, you just need to enter your data and wait for the start date set by the platform.

Then you’ll have direct access to your MOOC and you will begin to enjoy all the interactive material such as videos, infographics, forums, tests, ebooks, webinars, PDFs, exercises or links to other authority websites or training resources.

Is Edx Legit?

Without a doubt, we can say that EdX is a 100% legitimate platform just knowing that it was founded by scientists from MIT and Harvard and has connections with universities around the world.

But what do the users of the platform say? According to TrustPilot data, EdX has a 4.5 / 5 star rating and more than 70% of the students left a 5 star rating. In the comments we can highlight:

Anant Agarwal is the edX Founder & CEO.The platform has over 20 million registered users, and the organization underpinning it employs around 250 staff. 

Universities involved with edX include Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Berkeley, Georgia Tech, RIT, University of Pennsylvania, and another 100 institutions. Increasingly, large companies are providing training via the platform too. 

What do you like best?

‘’It is a good application for E-leaning, we can easily learn any courses from this application. The professors explain all the topics with the help of visual graphs and diagrams which helps in enhancing our data analytical skills and communication skills too…’’

‘’EdX has been of immense benefits to me and to my organization. With edX, we can learn flexibly and easily anytime and anywhere…. I have used edX for about three years and it has never let me down…’’

What do you dislike?

‘’Some courses in EdX are entirely not free. You need to pay a fee to be able to access and use the material more effectively…’’

‘’The lengths of some courses could have been shorter…’’

Mechanism

If edX is a non-profit organization, how do they manage to cover the costs of their free courses?

”We are one of the leading providers. EdX is a non-profit,  but we are self-sustaining. These courses are not free for our partners to produce.” said Anant Agarwal, edX CEO.

According to Anant Agarwal, universities can choose between two partnership models with edX. The opportunity to earn money is in both of them.

When the platform allows a university to create its own free course it is called “university self-service model”, and the only condition is that edX has a part of the money generated from the course. 

Edx saves the first 50,000$ entries for each course or 10,000$ for each frequent class. Subsequently, 50% -50% of the income is shared with the university institution.

The second model is called the “edX-supported model”. In this instance, edX offers production assistance to universities to design and launch their MOOCs. After its launch, edX charges the university a fee of $ 250,000 for each new course, and if the course is extended, an additional $ 50,000 for each extension period. While the universities have 70% of the income of the course.

The universities develop the content of the course, such as support materials and the various teaching techniques (videos, texts, audios, etc.). While the edX platform takes care of the technical and administrative aspects, such as certificates.

Popular Courses 

EDX courses are known for their high audiovisual quality and the applicability of their content in the job market. Among the different areas covered by the platform, we highlight the courses aimed at professionals in the following fields:

• Computer’s science
• Data science
• Engineering
• Business Management
• Languages
• Human Sciences

Each of these main areas has subcategories with different course options. For example, the large area “Informatics” has courses in subcategories such as “Programming” and “Software development”.

It’s also important to remember that EdX courses have different levels of experience. Therefore, regardless of the large area and specialty of the chosen course, you will find courses that last 4 hours, 10 hours, 20 hours, even longer courses, which commit 160 hours or more.

Here we present the TOP 10 of the best edX courses of 2020:

• CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Data Science Certificate
• The Science of Happiness
• Digital Marketing
• Project Management Course
• Analytics: Essential Tools and Methods
• Blockchain Fundamentals
• Supply Chain Management
• Front-End Web Developer

Advantages and disadvantages of edX

Today we present the reasons why it may be useful to sign up for a course of this type, and also the reasons why it may not be the most appropriate option for your interests.

EdX Advantages

1. They are free. We cannot deny that the possibility of completing a high-level course, endorsed by a prestigious university, at no cost, is very motivating.
2. Every week begins a course that may interest you.
3. The commitment required from the student is time, which can vary between a weekly dedication of 6-8 hours to 15-18 hours.
4. It’s possible to request a verified certificate if you pay a fairly low fee.
5. Each student can prioritize the reasons why they follow the course, and adapt their activities to their own objectives. 
6. The student can organize their time and there is no obligation to attend classes on a fixed schedule. 
7. The student’s doubts and concerns can be shared in the forums that exist for it. Sometimes it is easier to ask questions in writing than to participate orally in a class.

Edx Disadvantages

1. They are free, but if you’re looking for a verified certificate then you have to pay. 
2. You have to pay close attention to the start dates of the courses. You can sign up months in advance and then discover that you won’t be able to dedicate the time you need.
3. You need a lot of discipline to dedicate the necessary time to the course each week.
4. The verified certificate requires much more dedication than you might expect, and you cannot be sure that it will be recognized by the public administration either.
5. Forums, you know, can be quite chaotic spaces.

Once these characteristics have been evaluated, you can better decide if you are interested in completing an edX course. Come on, join us!

In conclusion, we have no doubt that edX is a reputable and legitimate e-learning site founded by no more and no less than graduates of major universities like Harvard and MIT. 

Universities work together with the platform to provide hundreds of courses, edX opens the door to high-level education at no cost. With tools such as videos, readings, audios, content provided by professors of Universities such as Berkeley, Harvard, etc.

EdX is the only non-profit platform of its kind, however, that doesn’t mean that they’re not remunerated. The strategies to generate money and reinvest it in improving the courses is adding a small amount of payment to obtain the verified certificates.

Does it work for both parties? Of course. Even if it’s the university that completely designs the courses, or they have production assistance, both parties receive their corresponding amount to continue standing.

So, do you already feel safe and confident to sign up on edX? What are you waiting for?

FAQ’S: Are edX courses legit?

References

‌EdX’s Competitors, Revenue, Number of Employees, Funding, Acquisitions & News – Owler Company Profile. (2012). Retrieved September 15, 2020, from Owler website: https://www.owler.com/company/edx

Kolowich, S. (2013, February 21). How edX Plans to Earn, and Share, Revenue From Its Free Online Courses. Retrieved September 15, 2020, from CHE website: https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-edx-plans-to-earn-and-share-revenue-from-its-free-online-courses/

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