Chinese University MOOC vs edX

Chinese University MOOC is an online education platform launched by NetEase and the Higher Education Press, offering courses from well-known Chinese universities. Anyone can register and use the MOOC learning model for free, and free courses are listed at free. Courses may combine video lessons, discussions, assignments, questions, and a final exam; teachers take part in forum support and assignment grading. Learners who meet a course’s assessment standard can apply for an electronic certificate signed by the instructor. Certificates are linked to the learner’s real identity and can be verified by number or QR code. The Android and iOS apps support lessons, quizzes, assignments, communication, course-material downloads, and notifications. Course subjects include humanities, arts, philosophy, history, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. Paid courses are bought as a whole, covering published and upcoming lessons during the course validity period; prices vary by course. Eligible self-developed courses may be fully refunded within seven days only if they have not started; iOS purchases follow Apple’s refund rules.

edX is an online course provider offering courses, certificates, executive education, microcredentials and degrees from edX, member institutions, 2U and other organizations. Learners can audit courses for free, but the audit track limits content, omits graded assignments and certificates, and ends access to materials when the course ends. Verified individual courses start at around $50 and include graded work, a certificate and continued access to lectures, readings and lessons. Multi-course professional certificate programs start at around $500; executive education programs can cost at least $2,500. Courses combine video and text, discussions, and different problems and assessments; many are self-paced, and individual courses generally take two to six weeks. Android and iOS apps support enrollment, most assignments, discussions and offline video downloads, but not timed or proctored exams. Institutional and business offerings include LMS integrations, SSO, grade pass-back, analytics dashboards and administrative tools. edX reports a network of 100 million learners and more than 250 content partners.