• Coursera has become an e-learning leader by partnering with big-name universities such as the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University.
• With the global slow-down of a knowledge-based economy, there is a growing demand for affordable higher education, and a global increase in broadband access, according to a Fast Company report.
• Founders Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller hope to help students from lesser-known universities compete for jobs with those from prestigious institutions and assist current degree-holders as they sharpen old skills and acquire new ones with their free, 6-10-week-long courses.

From the article: 

Coursera courses are 6 to 10 weeks long, with an hour or two of videos per week. In addition to the snap quizzes, they feature weekly exercises, ranging from problem sets to spreadsheets to design projects or essays, and sometimes a final project or exam. …