Online educational technology company Coursera is partnering with leading tech companies, including search engine giant Google, online marketplace firm Snapdeal and Facebook-owned Instagram, to provide learners with job-oriented courses.

Coursera is an educational technology firm established by former Google artificial intelligence (AI) chief Andrew Ng and AI Professor Daphne Koller from Stanford University's Department of computer science in the U.S.

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Andrew Ng was hired by Chinese search engine giant Baidu, Inc. last year to lead the company's AI research and development center in Silicon Valley.

He is known for leading the development of a computer that learns to teach itself how to recognize objects by watching videos.

Professional experts from Google, Snapdeal and Instagram will be the first to support and contribute to the Capstone Project for Coursera specializations.

They will be responsible for helping learners to develop and improve their skills.

"In a job market that is increasingly filled with job descriptions that didn't exist a decade ago or less, workers and employers alike are recognizing the value of online certificates," said Rick Levin, chief executive officer of Coursera.

"Approximately half of Coursera's learners come to us seeking knowledge to boost their careers, and that ratio is even higher in places like India where online learning certificates have gained early acceptance," Levin added.

Snapdeal and Shazam have partnered with The Wharton School. Instagram will be working with the University of California along with 500 startups with the University of Maryland.

"We are excited about our association with The Wharton School through Coursera to play a key part in building knowledge capital of the digital future on a global canvas," said Kunal Bahl, Snapdeal's co-founder and chief executive officer.

Google, on the other hand, is partnering with the University of Maryland, Vanderbilt University, John Hopkins University and iHeartMedia with Berklee College of Music.

Coursera provides many online courses including engineering, physics, medicine, biology, computer science, mathematics, business, humanities and social sciences.

Reports claim the online education firm had 10 million users from 2014, pursuing 839 courses.

TagsCoursera, Instagram, AI, Andrew Ng, Daphne Koller, Stanford University, The Wharton School, Online Courses, Certificates, Skills