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User opinions on getsmarter.com
OVERVIEW
Hello! Thanks for your question about user opinions on getsmarter.com. My search involved corporate websites, trusted media sites, user forums, and website reviews.
The most useful sources I found to answer your query were the Facebook reviews and Glassdoor.com. The Nibbler Site Report was also of interest, in that it evaluated the quality of the getsmarter.com website, an important factor when you consider that the focus of this business is on online studies.
The short version, is that most of the positives about these online courses, and the way in which they are supported, come from the GetSmarter website itself. Facebook and Twitter results were more of a mixed bag. The overall impression I came away with is that GetSmarter is based on a solid idea, but this startup company is still experiencing growing pains; especially in terms of customer support. It is experiencing a solid 88% course completion rate however, even though user reviews are somewhat mixed.
Many of the users expressed delight regarding the course offerings. Others felt the courses were overpriced, and that the material presented could just as easily be Googled.
Below, you’ll find a deep dive of my findings.
WHAT THE COMPANY REPORTS
The rumors you refer to with respect to high user engagement and completion rates are most likely be based on claims made on GetSmarter's website; which states, among other things:
While these numbers are impressive, they are not backed up by factual information on the company website, nor could I locate other sources that could back them up. The number of testimonials, and for that matter the number of reviews published, is too small to even be a scientifically significant sample. The number of reviews posted on the GetSmarter website was 5.
UNIQUENESS OF COURSE DESIGN
A unique aspect of GetSmarter courses, is that most have been designed in collaboration with major universities, including MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, and the three leading South African universities. This was one of the positives reported by users. Conversely, there is some confusion as to whether course certificates are issued by the company itself, or by a partnering university. By and large, more customers appeared to be happy with the course content than those who expressed dissatisfaction.
PRIMARY COMPLAINTS AND PROBLEM RESOLUTION
Support was outstanding until a course purchase was made; after which it dropped of significantly.
The issuance of certificates was at times delayed. A few customers reported never receiving them.
GetSmarter was often slow in responding to questions asked by customers during their online studies.
Both GetSmarter and Facebook reviews indicated that GetSmarter management exhibited a willingness to resolve these and other issues users reported.
While GetSmarter's presence on Facebook appears to be robust, it's activity on Twitter seems to be going in the opposite direction.
WEBSITE REVIEW
Nibbler's comprehensive website review was extremely positive (8.8 out of 10); with getsmarter.com receiving excellent ratings in virtually every category. The website is extremely mobile friendly, the quality of the HTML code was good, and the Facebook presentation was deemed to be excellent; as was the site popularity.
THE FUTURE
GetSmarter is held in high regard within the online education sector, as witnessed by the intention of 2U, a USA educational technology firm, to buy it out in a $103 million transaction scheduled to take effect in the third quarter of 2017.
The same report indicates GetSmarter is experiencing a gradual increase in clientele, as well as in the number of courses it plans to offer.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, the first thing I would emphasize is that GetSmarter is still a startup operation. It appears to be experiencing some of the expected growing pains, particularly in the customer support area. The reviews, both positive and negative, are relatively small in number. In spite of a number of negative reviews, the company is growing, and will likely be bought out by a larger firm by year's end. I would not place undue weight on user reviews at this point in time.
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