New MOOC Partnership Between Coursera and ISB

by Stacy Blackman Consulting, Nov 30, 2014

Coursera, the US-based online education provider, and the Indian School of Business (ISB) recently signed a partnership agreement to develop courses for Courseras 10-million-plus learners. A course on A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment, designed by Professor Raj Raghunathan, visiting professor at the ISB, will be the first to be offered in the series.

ISB will also be Courseras first Indian partner to produce and own content. India is Courseras largest user base outside the US with over 700,000 learners, and it's a country with enormous unmet demand for higher education and skill development.

According to researchers, India currently has the capacity to serve 28 million undergraduate studentsonly about 20% of high school graduatesand faces challenges in adequately preparing graduates for jobs.

With Coursera participating actively in the India education market, we believe we will be able to provide access to quality resources that will enable generations, now and in the future, to compete in a global economy, says Dr. Vivek Goel, former Provost of the University of Toronto and Chief Academic Strategist at Coursera.

In recent years, ISB has introduced technology in different ways in its bouquet of programs. The school has a Technology Entrepreneurship Program for young engineers, a course on Business Analytics that combines online as well as classroom learning, and was the first amongst B-schools in the country to adopt a "flipped" classroom model of learning. The two campuses at Hyderabad and Mohali are connected by smart classrooms and video conferencing making it function as a single entity seamlessly.

ISB will enhance its footprint in the online education space globally through its association with Coursera," says Professor Arun Pereira, Executive Director of the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Case Development at the ISB.

"Having introduced several technology based initiatives that have enhanced the learning experience of its studentsincluding blended learning and smart classroomsISB will now leverage the expertise of its world class faculty to design and deliver cutting edge courses that are accessible to the world, Pereira adds.

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