edX is an American large open online course provider developed by Massachusetts and MIT. It hosts numerous online university-level classes in various disciplines to an international student body, including a few elective courses for free. It also conducts extensive research into learning style according to the way people use it. It was launched in August 2020.
edX can be considered as a reincarnation of the original Coursera that was introduced by the two universities as a joint venture in the early nineties. During those days, Coursera was considered as the most popular online learning program then there was. Coursera launched its first offering targeted at professionals with a strong interest in engineering and other technical fields. Since then, other fields like medicine and management started accepting pre-requisite for their professional certificates in addition to enrolling in their professional certificates programs. This gave birth to what we know today as edX. edX stands for “exam results based” and “exam evidence based”.
Today, the scope of work of edX has expanded beyond the usual areas in which it was used to offer pre-requisite courses. Today, it offers executive education courses to suit different needs of its clients. These are courses that require a certification or credential in order to enroll in them. In addition to that, edX also offers other services to its clients. Some of these include assistance with financial aid, application process assistance, registration assistance, advising on professional certificates, counseling and teaching on related courses and many more.
The first set of edX courses were designed for those who were not qualified for any of the offered prerequisites for the regular Coursera series. Those individuals were given certificates in exchange for spending five hundred dollars as a fee to enrol in one of the offered online Coursera courses. The success of this program prompted other educational institutions to follow suite and offer similar offers, thus offering a whole new pool of students for the online Coursera programs.
Courses offered by edX now cover a broader range of topics apart from the prerequisites. They include various modules which cover various aspects of management and professional courses. Courses that can be taken online include the following: Foundations of Executive Education, Human Resources Management, Team Building, Strategic & Tactical Planning, and Human Resource Management. There is a fixed schedule for students to complete these courses. A student will have to complete these courses by a particular date in the year.
The certificate courses offered by edX are not only for professionals. Students of the said course who wish to become certified in any of the fields mentioned above can apply for a verification track. Verification tracks require a candidate to take exams from time to time in order to ensure that the candidate maintains the level of competence. In order to apply for a verification track, students need to have already cleared the said courses. When a student is approved to have a verification certificate, he or she will receive an official certificate which will serve as proof that the candidate possesses what it takes to take up a post in an area of specialization as defined by edX.
Another certificate option which is offered by edX is the auditing program. Auditors are hired by many courses including the accounting, finance, human resources, information security, and management courses to audit the efficiency and the effectiveness of employees to perform their tasks. Students will receive a verified certificate when they successfully complete the audit program. However, in order to be considered a certified auditor, a person needs to pass the exams administered by edX.
Courses offered by edX include both online and on-campus programs. The online edX courses are available for study at home and can be attended anytime a student has free time. Many students nowadays opt to get an edX professional certificate as a complement to their resumes. These certifications are highly respected by employers and can serve as a great stepping stone for those who wish to pursue higher educational goals.
