These Are The 'Most Popular' Online Courses For IT Professionals

Coursera, one of the largest providers of online courses from top global universities, today revealed the list of the 'Most Popular Courses in India', based on an analysis of enrollments by Indian users in online courses in 2016.

Coursera has 1.8 million learners from India out of 23 million registered learners globally - its second largest base of online learners after the US. The maximum growth has been witnessed in technology courses which constituted 70 per cent of the list of the 10 most popular courses in India. As compared to 2015, Coursera has seen a 50 per cent increase in the number of registered users, especially amongst technology learners.

"The trends showcase how India's aspiring professionals are looking for new alternatives to learn skills throughout their careers in order to keep pace with the fast pace of change in business and technology," Coursera said in a statement.

"Considering, the crucial role played by the IT industry, employing over 13 million people in India, it's no surprise that 7 out of the top 10 online courses in India are technology-focused. Indians are vying for top jobs at startups and at the many multinational technology companies that continue to come to India to find talent. Most of our Indian learners see online courses as a way to stand out in a sea of qualified job applicants," said Nikhil Sinha, chief business officer at Coursera.

The 10 Most Popular Coursera Courses of 2016 (based on total Indian enrollments):

1. Machine Learning - Stanford University
2. Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) - University of Michigan
3. R Programming - Johns Hopkins University
4. Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects - University of California, San Diego
5. The Data Scientist's Toolbox - Johns Hopkins University
6. Algorithms: Design and Analysis, Part 1 - Stanford University
7. Speak English Professionally: In Person, Online & On the Phone - Georgia Institute of Technology
8. Grammar and Punctuation - University of California, Irvine
9. Mastering Data Analysis in Excel - Duke University
10. HTML, CSS and JavaScript - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Coursera is an education-focused technology company that offers courses and learning experiences from the world's top universities and education institutions including Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, University of Virginia, and ISB. It is backed by leading venture capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, New Enterprise Associates, GSV Capital, International Finance Corporation, Laureate Education Inc., and Learn Capital.