Originally posted by
bsbray
I use Coursera to learn new things all the time. There is a huge wealth of knowledge there in all of the university courses from institutions all over the world, all offered there for free, that you can do at your own pace and on your own terms. People seem incredulous when I tell them about this site, as in, "Why would a university offer free classes to everybody online?" The short answer is, because if you want to be able to claim credit for these courses, certificates or even degrees, then you have to pay for the credit hours. Otherwise, if you don't want to put it on your resume, then yes, it is absolutely 100% free, and schools in Middle and South America use these in their own classrooms.