OMG, what! Udemy IPO?

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, Udemy is trying to get on the MOOC bandwagon as they seem to want to take on other MOOC such as Coursera, EdX, etc... 

I don't think they will ever come close to Coursera, EdX, FutureLearn unless they get a partnership happening with a "real college".

Link: 3 takeaways from Udemy's initial public offering | Higher Ed Dive

[LevelUP]

Udemy will be close to Coursera in terms of market cap.

With billions of dollars, they could just buy a college and run it similar to how SNHU is run.  SNHU charges $1000 per course, runs around a 20% marketing budget, and has over 100,000 students now.

Everything is online, they could hire cheap labor from 3rd world countries and make a huge profit.  It's a matter of time till some company figures that out.

[nomaduser]

They should try to get accreditation and give credits for taking some of their courses.
Honestly, there are more practical and profitable skills that you can learn from Udemy than any other MOOCs.
Some of instructors on Udemy are much more talented than community college instructors.

[Johann]

...Some of instructors on Udemy are much more talented than community college instructors.

And very highly qualified, too. I've looked. Overall, I regard Udemy as my best online learning experience. Then again, I have no need for accreditation etc. (Where am I going to get a job at 78, anyway?) Vast choice, good instruction and inexpensive. What more could I want?

I can't see why Udemy would need its own accreditation, unless it intends to award degrees. Numerous companies market courses that are acceptable at accredited institutions -e.g. Sophia et al. Maybe this is a route for Udemy - maybe not. I don't know. Some of the Udemy courses are quite short and may not meet learning hours for college credit. Not all Udemy courses are alike. (And that's a GOOD thing!)

It's complex. Not a one-decision problem. Beyond this old man's pay grade. 

[asianphd]

I am afraid I cannot have $9.99 course anymore if they have accreditation.

[LevelUP]

They should try to get accreditation and give credits for taking some of their courses.
Honestly, there are more practical and profitable skills that you can learn from Udemy than any other MOOCs.
Some of instructors on Udemy are much more talented than community college instructors.

Udemy I don't believe currently makes their own courses.  If they did ACE stuff, I'm not sure how users would search to find these courses.  But they do have "Udemy Business", so why not "Udemy School" as a subscription plan

I agree that Udemy is great at teaching useful skills. Their strength is with technology teaching.

[jsd]

Anyone can publish a course on udemy. like LevelUP said, they don't make their own courses.

i could go make a course right now (not that anyone would buy it), and it could be garbage. Udemy doesn't want to mess around with ACE review or accreditation nightmares for 3rd party folks that might not be good at what they do.

But the "Udemy School" idea you bring up could have some legs.

[MNomadic]

Anyone can publish a course on udemy. like LevelUP said, they don't make their own courses.

i could go make a course right now (not that anyone would buy it), and it could be garbage. Udemy doesn't want to mess around with ACE review or accreditation nightmares for 3rd party folks that might not be good at what they do.

But the "Udemy School" idea you bring up could have some legs.

This. Just like youtube and other platforms, for every good quality content maker, there could be 10 low-quality ones.