University of Maryland gets Coursera, will offer free courses starting January 2013

The University of Maryland, College Park, is the latest university to offer several of its classes for free through Coursera, according to the Baltimore Business Journal. Four classes will be available starting spring semester 2013:

• Developing Innovative Ideas for Real Companies
• Women and the Civil Rights Movement
• Exploring Quantum Physics
• Software Defined Networking

According to the Baltimore Business Journal, students who enroll in the online courses “can not earn credit from the university, but can receive a certificate from Coursera.” A press release from the university says that the University of Maryland has been negotiating with Coursera since last July, and that two-dozen professors volunteered to have their courses listed.

[University of Maryland Senior Vice President and Provost Ann Wylie] had to turn away volunteers, when roughly two dozen expressed interest in the four slots. She and her staff selected the ones they thought would have the broadest appeal and would expand Coursera’s catalogue. [more]

Launched by two Stanford University professors in fall 2011, Coursera specializes in offering massive open online courses. In Maryland, Johns Hopkins University is the only other university partnered with Coursera.