Coursera, the massive open online course (MOOC)
provider, introduced an iPhone app that will bring its free courses to mobile
iOS 7 devices. The app puts Coursera ahead of its competition in the effort to
reach students on their smartphones or those in emerging nations, according to
a report in VentureBeat.
The app provides all the features of the Coursera
website. Students can use their iPhone or iPad to browse and enroll in courses,
watch video lectures, or take quizzes over cellular connections or by
downloading them to the device from the app.
The app is free in Apple App Store, but the device must
run iOS 7.0 or later and students have to sign up for a Coursera account to
access the material.
“The
app doesn’t differ all that much from the web experiences that you may be used
to,” noted tech writer Christina Farr. “However, much of the content is still
under development, which is frustrating. Many of the courses are listed on the
app as ‘coming soon.’”