Coursera for Campus

Basic / Student Plan

Learner Guide

Authored by Coursera
Version 2.3 - September 2020
Coursera © Copyright 2020.
All rights reserved.
Welcome to Coursera!
Congratulations on joining your organization’s Coursera
learning program! This guide is written to help you navigate
the Coursera platform and start learning.

What is Coursera?
Coursera is the world's leading online learning platform.
With Coursera, you can easily access world-class content and
credentials from the world’s top universities and companies,
drive skill development with with role-based learning, and
track and benchmark skill proficiency against 62+ million
learners.

Why learn on Coursera?

While learning on Coursera you will...
✓ Learn new skills to help you excel in your current role
✓ Learn to prepare for your dream job
✓ Refresh your education & keep your competitive edge
✓ Become better informed on a variety of topics
✓ Access content from 200+ universities & 30+ industry
partners
✓ Join a global community of 62+ million learners
Important notes about
your plan
Introduction

What is Coursera for Campus?

Coursera for Campus is an initiative that enables any university to offer high quality, job-relevant, online
learning to students. If you are viewing this guide, you are likely part of or looking to join a Coursera for
Campus Basic plan or Student plan program.

★ Basic plan: Allows school administrators to offer a Coursera program to their students. It includes one
free course and unlimited Guided Project enrollments per student per year.

★ Student plan: It gives the same access as the Basic plan, except individual students – rather than
school administrators – request Coursera for access to a program. Coursera will direct students to
their school’s program if one exists already, or create a new program upon validation of school
info that the student provides. This process may take up to a few weeks depending on the
request queue.
Introduction

Important notes on Basic / Student plan

Here are some critical elements of the plan that we want to highlight:

★ Learning program: Each student will join a program in order to access the Coursera catalog. The
student will need to create an account, or link to an existing account first.

★ Enrollment limit: Each student will be able to enroll in one course / year (and unlimited Guided
Projects) from the program catalog.

★ Unenrollment window: You must unenroll from a course within 14 days from date of enrollment if
you wish to take another course.

★ Course access: Some courses may start on a future date. You will see this information on the course
description page prior to enrolling, and if you enroll anyway, items will be locked until the session
starts. If this is an issue for you, you can simply unenroll within 14 days and take a different course.

★ ID verification: Some courses that are part of a Degree or Professional Certificate program
require an ID verification that involves uploading an active government-issued ID. Please note that
student IDs as well as IDs from restricted countries are currently not accepted.
Joining your
organization’s
learning program on
Coursera
Joining Coursera

Joining your organization’s

learning program

Basic plan: There are two ways you can join your
organization’s learning program, depending on how
your school’s admin has invited you...

★ Email invitation: Clicking the link “Join Now”

from the email invitation you have received

★ Program link: Clicking the Program URL

shared by your school and logging into
Coursera using the email address associated
with your school (most likely your school
email)

Student plan: After going through the request flow

on the Student plan website, you will be directed to
the program page to join or receive an email with join
link at a later date if a program does not exist yet.

Note: This is different from visiting coursera.org and signing up as a new user. Doing so will mean that you are using Coursera’s consumer site
and not your organization’s learning program, and hence you will not be able to enjoy the enterprise benefits.
Joining Coursera

Joining your organization’s

learning program

Once you click on the invitation email link or the

program URL, you will be directed to your
organization’s learning program. In order to join,
you need to first log in to the Coursera platform.

To do so, either click on “Join for Free” or the “Log

In” button in the top right corner.

Note: If you are already logged into Coursera with the same email address on which you have been invited for this program, you will directly see
“Join Program” button
Setting Up

Creating your account

Once you click on “Join for Free”, you’ll be

redirected to a Welcome to Coursera page where
you will have 2 options for account setup.

1. If you don’t have an existing Coursera

account, select I’m a new Coursera user

2. If you do have an existing Coursera

account (either under the email where you This option only appears when you try to join the
received the invitation or a different program for the first time, so please be sure to select
it if you have an existing account.
personal email), select “I’m an existing
Coursera user”. This is a critical step to
keep all of your past/future
accomplishments and progress in one
place.

Note: Once you have accessed the program link and joined, you will not see the “Welcome to Coursera” page - you will directly see the pop up to
login with your account or sign up for a new account to access the learning program.
Setting Up

Creating your account

A. If you select “I am an existing

Coursera user”, you will be asked to
enter your existing username and
password. Once done, your existing
account and your email used for the
Basic/Student plan will be linked under
the same account.

B. If you select “I am a new Coursera

user”, you will be asked to create a
password for your new account
Joining Coursera

Your Program Home

Once you have created your account, you will

land on the learning program home page
where you will see two tabs:

1. My Courses: After you enroll in a

course / Guided Projects, you will see
them listed on this page and be able
to enter them. This is also where you
will unenroll from any courses
within 14 days.

2. Browse Catalog: Here you will be able

to see the courses / Guided Projects
available in the program, view details,
and enroll.

Note: Refer to the next section to understand how you can enroll in your first course and begin learning in detail
Enrolling in a course /
Guided Project
Enrolling in a course

Choose your course

Once you have a chosen a course that

interests you, click on the tile to access the
course details.

If you choose a tile for a Specialization or

Professional Certificate, you will be enrolled
into the first course of the series.

If you’d like to complete the entire series,

you can pay for the remaining courses or
reach out to your school’s administration to
request that they partner with Coursera to
offer more enrollments to you. Click on a
course tile to
access the
course details
Guided Projects

Choose your Guided

Project

Guided Projects allow learners to use a

pre-configured cloud desktop that is
accessible from their web browser to
learn a new tool by completing
instructor-led tasks.

You can find all the projects by typing

in “Rhyme” in the search bar. Once you
have a chosen a project that interests
you, click on the project tile to access
Click on a
details and enroll.
project tile to
access the
details

Note: Guided Projects need to be accessed via a desktop or a laptop

Enrolling in a course

Enroll in a course /
Guided Project

The course description page has detailed

information to help your enrollment decision.

The description includes:

✓ Skills that you will gain
✓ Difficulty level
✓ Workload
✓ Rating
✓ Detailed syllabus

If you decide to enroll, click on the “Enroll for

Free” button – it will then change to “Go To
Course”. Once you enter the course, you can
start watching videos and taking quizzes
immediately*

*Note: While most courses are on-demand and learner can start learning immediately, there are a
few courses that have a specific start date. While you can enroll in these courses at any time, you will
have to wait for the session to begin learning.
Starting a course

Access Guided Projects

When you enroll in a Guided Project, you will

be taken to the course page. The course will
consist of a combination of
lectures/readings/project/quiz. Look for an
Ungraded External Tool assignment to
access the project exercise.

Click on “Open Tool” to access the Guided

Project interface.

To obtain a certificate for the completed

Guided Project, come back to the course page
after finishing the project and pass the quiz.

See Solving Issues with Rhyme Guided

Projects for more details and troubleshooting
tips.
 Accessing
Cloud Desktop Accessing the Cloud
Desktop
Guided Projects New course type that offers learners short-form, hands-on learning

Hands-on
learning

Learners instantly go hands-on

with virtual cloud desktop

Instructor-led

Easily follow along with visuals

from the instructor in a
convenient, split-screen interface
Starting a course /
Guided Project
Starting a course

Go to your course /
Guided Project

After you enroll in a course, it will show under

the My Courses tab on your program home
page. Click on Resume or Preview to enter
the course.

You can also get to your course under the

Catalog tab on your program page. Navigate
to the class tile, click into it, and then click on
Go to Course.
Starting a course

Main course / Guided

Project page

When you enroll in a course, you will be

taken to the course page. The course will be
broken down by weeks in the left navigation
bar, and links to assignments, videos, and
readings will appear on the main page.

Click Start to access the first module in the

course.

Click Resume to return to a course to start

where you last left off.
Starting a course

View your progress at a

glance

Every course page has a timeline to help you

easily see how you are progressing through
the course. You can see what you have
completed, and what you need to do next.

The Resume button takes you back to where

you last left off—even if it was in the middle
of a watching a video.
Starting a course

Resetting Deadlines
1

Reset Deadlines: Start/due dates are

suggested to keep you on track — you
can reset if things get busy (you will be
prompted to do so).

You can do so by clicking on the Reset

Deadlines option either from:

1) In-course page
2) Program home page

2
Starting a course

Unenrolling from a
course

As mentioned, your plan allows for one

course enrollment per year.

So if the course you enroll in does not

seem like the right choice, you must
unenroll yourself within 14 days from
the date you enrolled. After 14 days,
you will not be able to change your
selection.

You can do so from your program

home page under My Courses, by
clicking on the “...” button on the course
card.
Starting a course

Keep track of your

grades and completed
assignments

On the Grades tab of the left-hand menu

section of the course page, you can:

✓ View all the quizzes and

assignments in the course
✓ See which assignments are due or
overdue
✓ See all your graded quizzes, and
completed assignments
✓ Retake quizzes and assignments
from this page if you need to
improve a score or if you did not
pass the first time
Starting a course

Discussion forums for

your course

For any questions or issues specific to the

course / Guided Project, please visit the
Discussion Forum within the course page.
You can find relevant topics and threads
created by your peers, or post your own to
get help or start conversations.

Discussion forum is accessed through the

left-hand menu on your course page.
These are available for most courses.
Starting a course

Finding video
segments with
Coursera’s interactive
& searchable transcript

The full transcript of each video can be

clicked in segments, which will take you to
the corresponding point in the video.
Search the transcript if you’re looking for a
particular lesson concept or keywords.

C
A E
Download D
B Your saved
videos for
Fully interactive offline Change video notes will be
Change playback
transcripts that viewing stored here
language of speed
correspond to the the subtitles
video timestamps
Starting a course

Graded quizzes to help

reinforce concepts

Quizzes include multiple question types

from the instructor to test learners
through the course.

You can retake quizzes and assignments if

you need to improve a score or if you did
not pass the first time.
Community

Connect beyond your

course in the Coursera
Community

Visit www.coursera.community while

logged in to your Coursera account.
Click Login on top right to get started.

In the Community, you can:

✓ Dive deeper into topics of interest

✓ Ask and answer questions
✓ Meet other learners using
Coursera to improve personally
and professionally
✓ Get and share study tips
✓ Organize and attend online events
Mobile App

Download the
Coursera mobile app
to learn on the go!

Ease of use Unparalleled Intuitive classroom

accessibility experience
Place your
screenshot here
95% of the 4000+ Coursera is available
courses on Coursera anywhere at any time. Coursera keeps
lectures and lessons
can be taken from Courses are available
short, so learners can
beginning to end on offline, over 35 make meaningful
your mobile phone, languages subtitled, progress in just a few
laptop, or tablet. with availability across minutes a day.
Android and iOS.
Accessing Multiple
Learning Programs
Managing Programs

How to switch
programs?

Over your Coursera journey, you may join

more than one learning program set up by
one or multiple organizations.

To switch to a different program, simply

click on the dropdown at the top-left
corner of your learner home page and
select the desired program. You can then
browse and enroll in the courses available
in the chosen program.

Note that once you’ve enrolled in a course

through one program, you won’t be able
to make duplicate enrollments from other
Please note that clicking on My Coursera will direct you to the
programs. You will still be able to search Coursera consumer website.
and enter the course from any program,
but the course will only be listed on “My If you try to enroll in a course from there that is not included in
Courses” section of the program that was the program, you will be directed to the payment page.
used to enroll in it.
Sharing your
accomplishments
Sharing
accomplishments

Access and share

certificates of
completion

You can access your certificates of

completion under the Accomplishments
option from the dropdown in top-right
corner, displaying your name.

Once here, you will be able to view and

download the certificate, as well as share it
directly on LinkedIn.
Sharing
accomplishments

Coursera credentials are

the second most
popular on LinkedIn!

When you complete a course, you have the

option to upload your certificate to LinkedIn
where it will appear in your profile.
Getting help
Getting Help

Learner Support

We provide support through our Learner

Help Center. This is a great place to learn 1
about how Coursera works and get answers
to your specific questions & issues.

You can access the Help Center from:

1) Top menu of your Coursera account

2) Bottom of the Program Home page and
in-course pages

Note: For questions about specific course 2

content or help with assignments, please
visit the Discussion Forum (accessible from
the course page) and review existing posts
by your peers / make a new post.
 Getting Help

Additional Support
What do these messages mean?

Issue Type Messages Reasons and Solutions

Enrolling in the Your organization has hit the license limit and needs to work with Coursera to
learning program expand the plan. Please reach out to your school administrator/program
admin with the request.

Payment for the r If you are seeing the 7-day Free Trial screen asking for payment to enroll in a course, one
course of these could be the reason:

1. You are accessing Coursera’s consumer site instead of your organization’s learning
program. Please click on the toggle on the top left corner of your account. If it says
“My Coursera” it means you are on the non-enterprise platform. Always make sure
your access the platform using the program link of your organization.

2. The course is not a part of the program catalog

“My Coursera”
means Coursera
Consumer site

Getting the If you see this on your course page, it means you must verify your identity (one-time
certificate for your process) to release certificates for course / Guided Project completions.
course
● Some courses on Coursera only require the learner to verify their name

● Some courses require ID verification, which includes uploading a

government-issued ID
Have fun learning!