Coursera to Offer VR-enabled Courses, Generative AI Coach

Online learning platform Coursera has enlisted the help of Meta to take learning into the metaverse.

Coursera has launched a series of VR experiences for learners, including VR-enabled courses from educational institutions including Duke University, Peking University and the University of Washington.

The VR courses are designed to help learners engage with content by offering immersive experiences such as touring the interior of a blood vessel via desktop or using most VR headsets.

Coursera has also launched a new AR Professional Certificate and Specialization from Meta that will teach learners job-relevant AR skills.

AI in the classroom

Coursera also announced new AI-powered tools it hopes will make learning more interactive and teaching more effective.

Among them was Coursera Coach, a generative AI-powered virtual coach that can answer questions and share personalized feedback. It can also provide quick video lecture summaries and resources, such as a recommended clip, to help learners better understand a specific concept.

A pilot of the Coursera Coach will launch “in the coming months.”

Coursera also unveiled an AI-assisted course-builder. A user puts in a few inputs, and the AI feature generates course content, including overall course structure, readings, assignments and glossaries. The tools are designed to help educators reduce the time and cost of producing content. The pilot of the tool will launch later this year.

The online learning giant also said it is deploying machine learning-powered translation at scale. Coursera said it plans to use ML to translate courses and lecture video subtitles from English into languages including Spanish, Arabic and Indonesian.