文/Selena+Larson+譯/Cecilia+Wei

I am currently enrolled in a free online Coursera1） class on terrorism through a university located in the Netherlands， in which I watch lectures and complete assignments from the comfort of my couch. As much as I enjoy the subject matter， though， completing the course in a timely fashion2） while maintaining a work-life balance has proven challenging.

I almost gave it up.

Instead of quitting altogether， I paid Coursera $49 to give me a “completion certificate” so Ill have a reward when I complete the course. Putting actual money on the line3） turned out to be all the incentive I needed to keep going.

Online education services like Udacity4） and Coursera bank on5） students like me to drive them to success. And if recent online course offerings are any indication， this year we might start to see a trend towards legitimacy and profitability that proves open education has staying power among the multitasking masses.

2013 proved to be a banner year6） for online education. Massive open online courses， sometimes called MOOCs， surged in popularity， due to advanced offerings and a promise to make university-level education accessible. But these companies also faced considerable scrutiny.

In attempting to disrupt traditional education and become a standard of online learning， MOOCs suffered very low retention and completion rates as well as skepticism surrounding their business models. Coursera， one of the most popular online education companies， averaged a retention rate of just four percent across all courses， according to Coursera cofounder Daphne Koller.

It appears education companies are ready to tackle low retention rates and carve out7） their niches8） in academia. With a few subtle changes， these startups could prove to the naysayers that online education is not only affordable， but also attractive to students and employers alike.

A Move to Legitimize

Coursera recently introduced “specialization certificates，” which awards students with certificates once they master a sequence of courses on a specific topic and complete a capstone9） （a.k.a. “senior”） project.

In an interview with ReadWrite10）， Andrew Ng， cofounder and co-CEO of Coursera， said the goal of specialization certificates is to provide more meaningful credentials by putting together11） a full course of study.

Initially， the specialization certificate courses will focus on areas where jobs are in high-demand and could help students secure employment opportunities. For instance， a specialization in data science offered by Johns Hopkins University consists of nine courses， and a Virtual Teacher Program with the University of California at Irvine can be completed in just four courses.

In order to achieve a specialization certificate， students must pay a fee per course to receive verified certificates， which Ng says will drastically improve completion rates.

“We do believe doing a capstone project and earning a specialization certificate will provide greater incentive and motivation for students to complete，” he said.

In initial user tests surrounding the proposed specialization certificate program， Coursera found that introducing a capstone project increased students interest in completing the series of courses by 50 percent.

With Coursera， students can take a course for free or pay anywhere from $49 to $100 for a verified certificate through its Signature Track12） program. Ng said the completion rate for students who paid for courses to earn verified certificates was 63%—considerably higher than the average completion rate.

The majority of courses on Coursera and other online education services can be taken for free， though paid tiers13） offer more in-depth study， and in Courseras case， a more legitimate completion certificate.

On Udacity， another MOOC website， non-paying students have access to course videos and exercises and can view and manage their progress， but a paid subscription gives them access to in-class projects， feedback from instructors and a verified certificate.

Udacity takes a different approach to providing students with desirable classes or skills： The company teamed up with14） corporations including Cloudera15） and Salesforce16） to create industry-specific classes that allow students to achieve certificates recognized by the Open Education Alliance， a partnership between leading technology companies to further the education and adoption of technical skills.

Dont Call It a Major

When comparing a traditional college education to online-only programs， the new specialization certificates could be considered Courseras version of a degree. But Ng said thats not the way it was intended.

“Seventy-five percent of Coursera students today already have a degree，” he said. “We hope to see that these will be a complement to a degree.”

While Coursera is making a distinction between its services and brick-and-mortar17） universities， Udacity， Georgia Tech18）， and AT&T19） have jointly developed an online masters degree in computer science that gives students an accredited20） university degree online for 20% less than on-campus tuition.

The worlds first massive online degree program started on January 15； nearly 2，400 people applied for the program， but only 375 students were accepted.

This isnt Udacitys first attempt to make its courses available to university students for credit. Last year， the company offered three online math classes to students at San Jose State University， but more students failed the online classes than students who took those courses in traditional settings.

Udacity is trying again with Georgia Tech. Depending on how well the program does， it could pave the way for more universities to partner with MOOCs and provide less-expensive degree programs to a larger audience.

The Tune Has Changed

Initially， founders of the MOOC movement—as well as proponents for free and open online education—heralded their creations as the next great education disrupter， a way for people who cant go to college to attain an inexpensive education.

Sebastian Thrun， founder of Udacity， a well-known Stanford academic and founder of the secretive Google X research lab21）， largely ignored the initial statistics that proved a free， open online education might not be the future of learning after all. In some instances， Udacity courses have up to a 90% dropout rate， but that didnt stop the charismatic founder from touting the platforms successes.

Thrun has since admitted he may have been wrong. In a recent interview for Fast Company22）， he said Udacity may not be fulfilling the goal of a complete education experience. He also said he doesnt even like the term “MOOC.”

“We were on the front pages of newspapers and magazines， and at the same time， I was realizing， we dont educate people as others wished， or as I wished. We have a lousy23） product.”

Students echo similar opinions.

Nathan Winn， a sales account manager in San Francisco， has signed up for and not completed three Coursera classes. Winn told me he thought the courses were interesting， but didnt provide the enrichment he was looking for.

Instead， he took a $600 course through Berkeley Extension， a continuing education branch of the University of California at Berkeley.

He said relying on the resources at Cal and investing a large sum of money encouraged him to complete the course. “It was expensive， but because I put that much money into it， I totally completed it.”

An Education Will Cost Money， Perhaps Just Not as Much

Open online educational companies are still experimenting to find the perfect model—one that benefits students， educators and the companies alike.

Legitimacy costs money. Its why traditional colleges and universities often charge exorbitant24） sums so you can receive a diploma with the institutions name on it.

If the recent efforts from Coursera and Udacity are any indication， a completely free education and certification will never be available， but as the price of admission increases， so might the promise of a complete， and authentic， online education.

目前，我在Coursera平臺上注冊了一門關于恐怖主義的免費在線課程，該課程由荷蘭一所大學提供。我舒舒服服地待在自家沙發(fā)上就能聽講座并完成作業(yè)。盡管我很喜歡這個主題，但事實證明，在保持工作與生活平衡的同時，及時完成課程是個挑戰(zhàn)。

我差點放棄了這門課程。

但我沒有完全放棄，而是向Coursera支付了49美元，好讓其給我頒發(fā)一份“結業(yè)證”，這樣我在完成課程時就能獲得回報。害怕實實在在的錢會打水漂最終成了我繼續(xù)學業(yè)所需的唯一動力。

Udacity和Coursera等在線教育服務平臺指望我這樣的學生來推動他們獲得成功。而從最近推出的在線課程來看，今年我們可能會開始發(fā)現(xiàn)，開放教育正呈現(xiàn)出向正規(guī)化及營利性方向發(fā)展的趨勢，這證明開放教育在“分身有術”的人群中仍具有持久力。

事實證明，2013年是在線教育的興旺年。由于其提供高水平的課程并承諾普及大學水平的教育，大規(guī)模在線開放課程（有時被簡稱為“慕課”）突然大受歡迎。但這些公司也面臨著細細的審視。

在其試圖顛覆傳統(tǒng)教育、成為在線學習標桿的過程中，慕課遇到了學生保留率和課程完成率極低的問題，其經(jīng)營模式也受到了質疑。Coursera是最受歡迎的在線教育公司之一，據(jù)該公司的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人達芙妮·科勒稱，公司所有課程的平均保留率僅為4%。

各個教育公司似乎準備好要解決低保留率問題，并準備在學術界中闖出一片自己的天地。通過一些微妙的改變，這些新興公司可以向反對者證明在線教育不僅價格讓人能夠接受，而且對學生和雇主都具有吸引力。

向正規(guī)化邁進

Coursera最近推出了“專項認證證書”。一旦學生掌握了關于某個具體主題的一系列課程，并完成一項頂點（即“高年級”）項目，Coursera就會授予學生該證書。

在接受讀寫網(wǎng)采訪時，Coursera的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人、聯(lián)合首席執(zhí)行官吳恩達表示，推出專項認證證書的目的是要通過打造一套完整的學習課程來提供更有意義的資格證書。

一開始，專項認證證書課程將主要針對那些崗位需求旺盛的領域，并能幫助學生獲得就業(yè)機會。例如，約翰·霍普金斯大學提供的數(shù)據(jù)科學專項課程包括九門課，而加州大學歐文分校的虛擬教師項目僅需完成四門課即可結業(yè)。

為了獲得專項認證證書，學生們必須為每門課程付費以獲得認證證書。吳恩達稱這一舉措將顯著提高完成率。

“我們的確認為，完成一個頂點項目并獲得一張專項認證證書將為學生完成課程帶來更強的激勵和動力?！彼f。

Coursera就其計劃推出的專項認證證書項目開展了初步用戶測試，發(fā)現(xiàn)頂點項目的推出使學生完成系列課程的興趣提高了50%。

在Coursera學習，學生們可以免費學習課程，或是通過該平臺的簽名認證項目支付49～100美元不等的金額以獲得一張認證證書。吳恩達稱，那些為課程付費以獲得認證證書的學生的完成率為63%——比平臺的平均完成率高出很多。

Coursera及其他在線教育服務平臺上的大多數(shù)課程都可以免費學習，但付費級的課程會提供更深入的學習體驗，而在Coursera，付費級課程會提供一張更正規(guī)的結業(yè)證書。

在另一個慕課網(wǎng)站Udacity上，沒有付費的學生能夠觀看課程視頻和做練習，還能查看和管理自己的學習進度，而付費訂購則能讓他們參與課上項目，獲得老師的反饋，并得到一張認證證書。

Udacity采用一種不同的方式來為學生提供理想的課程或技能：該公司與Cloudera和Salesforce等企業(yè)合作，開設行業(yè)特定課程，使學生能夠獲得開放教育同盟認可的證書。開放教育同盟是各大頂尖技術公司為促進技術技能的教育和采用而組建的合作機構。

與專業(yè)課區(qū)分

在拿傳統(tǒng)大學教育與只能在線學習的項目作比較時，新的專項認證證書可以被視為Cousera版本的學位，但吳恩達稱這并不是推出該證書的目的。

“目前Coursera的學生中有75%已經(jīng)擁有學位，”他說，“我們希望這些證書將成為學位的補充。”

Coursera正在將自己的服務同傳統(tǒng)的實體大學區(qū)分開來，而Udacity、佐治亞理工學院和美國電話電報公司卻已經(jīng)聯(lián)合開發(fā)了一個計算機科學碩士學位在線項目，讓學生能夠在線獲得官方認可的大學學位，其學費要比在校學習的學費低20%。

這是世界首個大規(guī)模在線學位項目，于1月15日啟動；有近2400人申請學習該項目，但其僅招收了375名學生。

這并不是Udacity首次嘗試向大學生提供能計入學分的課程。去年，該公司向圣何塞州立大學的學生提供了三門在線數(shù)學課程，但與在傳統(tǒng)環(huán)境中學習這些課程的學生相比，學習在線課程的學生中有更多人沒能及格。

Udacity正與佐治亞理工學院合作，再次進行嘗試。它可能會為更多大學與慕課平臺進行合作鋪平道路，并能為更廣泛的受眾提供花費更低的學位項目，不過這得看該項目進行得有多好。

并非一直受歡迎

起初，慕課運動的創(chuàng)始人——以及免費在線開放教育的倡導者——將自己的創(chuàng)造宣告為下一個偉大的教育顛覆者，是一個讓無法上大學的人們獲得較為劃算的教育的途徑。

Udacity的創(chuàng)始人塞巴斯蒂安·斯朗是斯坦福大學的一位著名學者以及秘密的谷歌X實驗室的創(chuàng)始人。初步統(tǒng)計曾表明，免費在線開放教育可能根本不是學習的未來，但斯朗基本對此置之不理。在某些情況下，Udacity課程的棄課率高達90%，但這并未阻止這位充滿魅力的創(chuàng)始人宣揚該平臺的成功。

后來斯朗承認他以前可能錯了。在最近接受《快公司》采訪時他說，Udacity可能無法實現(xiàn)提供完整教育體驗的目標。他還說他甚至不喜歡“慕課”這個字眼。

“我們上了各種報紙和雜志的頭版，但與此同時我認識到，我們?yōu)槿藗兲峁┑慕逃⒉幌袼怂诖哪菢?，或者說不像我期待的那樣，我們的產(chǎn)品很糟糕?！?/p>

學生們也表達了類似的看法。

內森·溫是舊金山的一位銷售客戶經(jīng)理，他報名參加了Coursera的三門課，但都沒有完成。溫告訴我，他覺得這些課程很有趣，但卻沒有他所期望的那么豐富。

他轉而通過伯克利繼續(xù)教育學院——加州大學伯克利分校的繼續(xù)教育分支機構——修讀了一門學費為600美元的課程。

他說借助加州大學的資源并投入一大筆錢能激勵他完成課程?！皩W費很貴，但由于我為它花了這么多錢，我完完整整地修完了課程。”

還是要花些錢

在線開放教育公司仍在試驗以找到完美的模式——一種令學生、教育工作者和企業(yè)同時受益的模式。

走向正規(guī)化是有成本的。這就是為什么傳統(tǒng)學院和大學往往收取過高的費用，以便讓你能夠得到一張印有該機構名稱的文憑。

Coursera和Udacity近期的努力表明，世上永遠不會有完全免費的教育和證書，但隨著入學費用的增長，完整而名副其實的在線教育可能會有望出現(xiàn)。

1. Coursera：一個提供免費公開在線課程的教育公司，由美國斯坦福大學兩名計算機科學教授吳恩達（Andrew Ng）和達芙妮·科勒（Daphne Koller）聯(lián)合創(chuàng)辦，旨在同世界頂尖大學合作，在線提供免費的網(wǎng)絡公開課程。

2. fashion [?f??（?）n] n. 方式；方法

3. put sth. on the line：使……處于危險之中；將……置于危險境地

4. Udacity：美國一家在線教育公司，總部位于加州帕洛阿爾托。

5. bank on：指望，依靠

6. banner year：豐收年，好年景

7. carve out：成功開創(chuàng)（事業(yè)）；努力贏得（工作機會、合適的職位等）

8. niche [ni??] n. （對某人來說）適當?shù)奈恢茫缓线m的職位

9. capstone [?k?p?st??n] n. （尤指成就的）頂峰，頂點

10. ReadWrite：讀寫網(wǎng)，美國一家科技博客網(wǎng)站

11. put together：設計，創(chuàng)造，制訂（協(xié)議、計劃或產(chǎn)品）

12. Signature Track：簽名認證，Coursera推出的一項收費認證服務，主要用于認證學習者的身份，以證明課程由本人完成。

13. tier [t??（r）] n. （組織或系統(tǒng)的）層；級

14. team up with：與……組隊；與……協(xié)作

15. Cloudera：美國一家大數(shù)據(jù)軟件創(chuàng)業(yè)公司，是云計算服務提供商。

16. Salesforce：美國一家客戶關系管理（CRM）軟件服務提供商

17. brick-and-mortar：（傳統(tǒng)）實體的

18. Georgia Tech：佐治亞理工學院的英文簡稱，全稱為Georgia Institute of Technology，是美國頂尖的理工學院。

19. AT&T：美國電話電報公司，是美國最大的本地和長途電話公司。

20. accredited [??kred?t?d] adj. 經(jīng)官方認可（或承認）的

21. Google X research lab：谷歌X實驗室，是谷歌最神秘的一個部門，位于舊金山，其機密程度堪比CIA，曾開發(fā)過谷歌眼鏡和無人駕駛汽車等項目。

22. Fast Company：《快公司》，美國最具影響力的商業(yè)雜志之一

23. lousy [?la?zi] adj. 糟糕的；劣等的

24. exorbitant [?ɡ?z??（r）b?t?nt] adj. 索價過高的；過分的