Coursera is pushing further into specialized sequences of courses that may be more attractive to people looking to boost their career prospects. The largest network offering massive open online courses, or MOOCs, Coursera is also partnering with companies to help shape the curriculum.
Case in point: CSE and Cognitive Science professor Scott Klemmer will launch a sequence of online courses in Interaction Design, beginning June 16 with Klemmer's own introductory course on Human-Computer Interaction Design. In it, students will learn how to design great user experiences and to apply their skills in a capstone project. Klemmer has recruited a partner in industry: Michel (Mike) Krieger, a co-founder of Instagram. Following the sequence of six courses (some as short as three weeks, or as long as nine), students must do a capstone project in which they design a creative, end-to-end user experience using professional interaction design and "UX" (user experience) tools. Krieger has agreed to provide feedback to students about their projects, and some of the best students will earn the chance to get personalized feedback from Krieger as well as from Prof. Klemmer. The capstone project is only available to students who pay to take the full sequence of Interaction Design courses, while all six courses prior to the capstone can be taken at no cost, as long as the student does not require a verified certificate (which are reserved for paying customers). For his part, Krieger said that similar coursework he took in college had a lasting impact on his career and on the design of Instagram. "As our devices become increasingly powerful," he said, "it's essential that we create a generation of designers and builders who can help people around the world harness that power."
Read more about the Specialized Course in Interaction Design on Coursera.