Coursat

Coursat (كورسات, "courses") is a free Arabic online course platform. Its own description is "منصة عربية توفر كورسات مجانية عالية الجودة في مختلف المجالات والتخصصات" (an Arabic platform providing free, high-quality courses in various fields and specializations) that aims to raise the level of e-learning in the Arab world and gives skilled people, experts and teachers a chance to reach a larger audience. The footer describes Coursat as one of the projects of Samaat (سمات).

It serves two groups. Learners sign up, enroll in as many courses as they like and earn a completion certificate for each one they finish. Instructors and trainers who already teach can bring their material to the platform and publish it to a wider audience. Everything is free to the learner, and the FAQ is direct about it: all courses on Coursat are free "وستبقى كذلك" (and will stay that way).

The catalog

The home page gives the size of the library in four figures: 322 courses, 168.7 thousand students, 14.4 thousand lessons and 3.2 thousand hours of teaching. The courses are video lessons, grouped into categories for programming, design, languages, computer networks, information security, databases, operating systems, web development, management and economics, computer science, sciences, mathematics, software and self-development.

The featured courses on the home page show the range and depth. Each card names the instructor, the language, the total running time and the number of lessons:

• ActionScript 3.0 by Alawi Al-Habashi, in Arabic, 16 hours 51 minutes over 71 lessons.
• Python Django Web by Mohamed Issa, 19 hours 19 minutes over 160 lessons.
• Oracle 11g by Teknawi, 20 hours 43 minutes over 47 lessons.
• Turkish for non-native speakers, level one, from Al-Darayn Academy, 11 hours 28 minutes over 10 lessons.
• Principles of Accounting 101 from the Open Courses channel, 12 hours 36 minutes over 104 lessons.
• Adobe InDesign at basic to intermediate level, 21 hours 44 minutes over 57 lessons.
• An Adobe Illustrator course by Mohamed Ibrahim Hassanein, 9 hours 29 minutes over 71 lessons.
• Arduino programming basics by Bareq Hossam, 7 hours 7 minutes over 50 lessons.

Most of the catalog is taught in Arabic, but not all of it. The instructor page for thenewboston lists ten English-language courses, including Python projects for a network packet sniffer, a website scanner and a reverse shell, Metasploit for network security, Nmap for beginners, Linux for beginners, Python 3.4 programming, the Ruby programming language, iOS development with Swift, and Adobe Illustrator CS6 for beginners at 8 hours 33 minutes over 79 lessons. Their lengths vary a lot: Nmap for beginners takes 24 minutes in 5 lessons, the Python reverse shell project 1 hour 52 minutes in 15 lessons, Linux for beginners 2 hours 32 minutes in 23 lessons, Ruby 2 hours 44 minutes in 32 lessons, iOS development with Swift 4 hours 51 minutes in 40 lessons and Python 3.4 programming 5 hours 20 minutes in 47 lessons. On the language side, Easy Lingos teaches Russian, German and English to Arabic speakers, each course running a little over three hours in 33 lessons. Instructor pages like these let a learner see everything one teacher has published in one place.

How learning works

The home page opens with a search prompt, "ماذا تريد أن تتعلم ؟" (what do you want to learn?), and closes with an invitation to "سجل الآن وابدأ في بناء مستقبلك المهني" (sign up now and start building your professional future). Signing up takes a few steps through the registration button in the top bar, and learners then log in with an email address and password. Once registered, a learner opens any course page and presses "التحق بالكورس الآن !" (enroll in the course now!). There is no limit on the number of courses a learner can join, and enrollment is not tied to dates: the FAQ says a learner can join any course at any time, including one that has already started. Learners can also withdraw from any course whenever they want.

Enrollment matters beyond bookkeeping. The FAQ says it lets the learner follow the course, ask questions and raise queries about it, and receive a completion certificate at the end. A learner's courses and certificates are collected on a "كورساتي" (my courses) page.

Learners also shape the catalog. The footer links to a page for suggesting a course and a page for requesting one, so someone who cannot find a topic can put it forward.

Certificates

Coursat issues a "شهادة إكمال" (certificate of completion) once a learner has enrolled in a course and watched all of its lessons. The FAQ explains that a learner who finished a course without receiving a certificate should check that every lesson shows a green play icon beside it. When the last lesson is done, an email arrives with a link to the certificate, and all certificates stay available on the my courses page.

The FAQ is candid about what the certificate is worth. It says the certificate comes from the Coursat platform and is "شهادة غير رسمية" (an unofficial certificate), not endorsed by any official body, local or foreign, and that a learner can still add it to a CV to show the skills gained through self-study. Each certificate carries a verification code printed at the bottom "لضمان عدم تزوير شهادات المنصة" (to make sure the platform's certificates are not forged), and anyone can check a certificate's authenticity on Coursat's verification page. Learners can change the name printed on their certificates through their account settings.

Teaching on Coursat

The instructor side is described in the FAQ. If you teach or train students in a field and want to bring your material to a wider audience, Coursat says it provides "المنصة المناسبة لك لجعل العملية والبيئة التعليمية ممتعة وسهلة جداً" (the right platform to make the teaching process and environment enjoyable and very easy). Instructors apply through a "انضم إلينا كمحاضر" (join us as a lecturer) link in the footer, and each published instructor gets a public page listing their courses, as thenewboston and Easy Lingos do.

The featured list shows a mix of teachers: individual programmers and designers, a language academy, and thenewboston, which teaches in English. Because every course on Coursat is free, the platform is a home for teachers who want reach rather than a storefront for paid courses.

Who it suits

Coursat suits Arabic-speaking learners who want free, self-paced video courses in programming, web development, databases, networks and security, design software, accounting or languages, and who are happy with a completion certificate they can verify and put on a CV. The unlimited enrollment, open start dates and freedom to withdraw make it easy to try several courses and keep the ones that fit. Learners comfortable in English also get thenewboston's security and programming courses.

It suits teachers and trainers who already have course material in Arabic and want a larger audience for it. Learners who need an official or employer-recognized qualification should take the FAQ at its word that the certificate is unofficial, and creators who want to earn from their courses will need a paid platform alongside it.