Coursera: Dozens of Free, Massive, and Open Online Courses 101
Titus Andronicus writes "Professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng of Stanford University announced a major expansion in the catalog of free, massive, open online courses being offered by the company they founded, Coursera. The subject areas include computer science, mathematics, and business. The providers include Stanford, Princeton, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. Even more courses are expected to be announced by competitors such as Udacity, MITx, Minerva, and Udemy — perhaps soon. Is this the future of education?"
Not the entire future (Score:5, Insightful)
I've tried to learn online, and I've tried to learn in a classroom. I've also tried to teach both ways. Nothing beats a teacher who can interact with a student in person. Now, this may transform teachers into the people who answer questions students have after watching the videos, and it can certainly expand the reach of quality courses to low income and low population areas, which is a good thing (because reaching more students is always a good thing) but some elements of our education system survive because they work.
Now, in the long term, coupling this with live teachers and individualized, adaptive education content can really change the world...
its a massive opportunity (Score:3, Insightful)
Took Ng's Machine Learning class last year (Score:5, Insightful)
And I can honestly say it was great. I learned a lot, and it was structured in such a way that I learned much more quickly than had I just gone out and purchased a book and tried to learn it on my own. The homework assignments were great too - more real-world than theoretical. Thinking back to college, I wish my classes then were more like the ML class. Perhaps it was because I was taking it merely for personal enrichment and wasn't at all stressed about homework, exams, grades, etc. but the class was very enjoyable. All of that, and it was free.
Obviously I can't speak for these new class offerings with Coursera, but what have you got to lose? If nothing else, it's a great way to expand your horizons.
Wow! (Score:4, Insightful)
I am so lucky to be living in this era. I have so much access to information and knowledge, more than the richest person of a century ago could even imagine. I did the Stanford AI thing, and despite not having time to really devote to it (I was pursuing a Master's at the time), it was a good experience. Now that I am through with the Master's I intend to sample from the buffet.
We live in a wonderful era, tens of thousands of years of civilization and I think we are less than a century away from becoming a Type I civilization...
I love this trend. (Score:5, Insightful)
I love this trend. Free online courses make perfect sense with the internet's information distribution model, and if the coursework can be properly accredited there's no reason to have to pay absurd sums to proprietary universities. Plenty of people have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to get an education that was supposed to ensure they'd have a well-paying job, never mind that they'd had to mortgage the rest of their working lives to pay off the student loans. Now, they find they can't get work anyway.
In addition to online courses, I think gameification would be such a great match with online learning. There are plenty of unemployed game designers and teachers; there's no reason they shouldn't pair up. Learning shouldn't be a chore; if we stop accepting the low standard that it's acceptable for it to be, we'll have a society where learning happens painlessly.
There's also no reason online learning games couldn't lead directly to great jobs or cash incentives. Remember Rock Band and Guitar Hero? I kept waiting for a version that would gradually teach you to play an actual guitar. Pitch sensors would pick up the notes, and as your skill increased your online ranking would as well. The highest-ranking players could get a recording contract.
It's not like the world is suffering a shortage of guitar players, but it's good proof-of-concept. There has to be a way to implement the various sciences and technologies into games; I spent hours playing CellCraft [cellcraftgame.com] without realizing I was picking up basic cellular biology.
Re:Maybe (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you are confusing a degree with education. Education can be had for free. A degree is part of a formal program. There is intersection but the two are not mutually inclusive.
Re:New York Times article link + 1st paragraph (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Maybe (Score:2, Insightful)
What's wrong with riding a recumbent bicycle to work? Really, the only problem I can kind of see is that he could be sweaty when he gets in. Is that the only problem? As someone who plans to start biking to work, I'd like to know.