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Online education just for the hell of it

Discussion in 'Tilted Life and Sexuality' started by redux, Aug 6, 2012.

  1. redux

    redux Very Tilted

    Location:
    Foggy Bottom
    A colleague turned me on to Coursera this morning, a free online education program offered by a consortium of highly regarding universities and I'm browsing through the catalog looking at taking a course just for the hell of it. She is mid-way through the course on the Affordable Care Act and is impressed with the quality of the presentations.

    Coursera.org

    It is too late for Fantasy and Science Fiction: Human Mind, Modern World or Listening to World Music

    So I'm looking at Gamification - applying digital game design techniques to non-game problems, such as business and social impact challenge. Or Securing Digitial Democacy.

    Anyone heard of this program?
     
    redux, Aug 6, 2012
    #1
    • Like Like x 1
  2. martian

    martian Server Monkey Staff Member

    Location:
    Mars
    I haven't heard of this one specifically, but it seems to be a trend to offer free online coursework lately. A trend I fully support -- I like the idea of making education freely available to those who want it, and the internet provides a unique vehicle to do so.

    What's interesting about this one is that it does provide "certificates" upon completion of the course. Exactly how much weight those certificates hold in an academic sense is an open question, but I'm guessing not a whole lot. It's still a nice gesture, though.

    I'm looking at some of the computer science coursework. It could be a good way for me to build career-relevant skills. I'll have to give it some thought; I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to something like this at the moment, but it's a novel concept at least.
     
    martian, Aug 6, 2012
    #2
  3. Bodkin van Horn

    Bodkin van Horn One of the Four Horsewomyn of the Fempocalypse

    Location:
    Inside The Nucleus of Feminism
    I registered for a cryptology class through coursera a while ago, then got busy amd failed to do anything with it. I love the idea though.
     
    Bodkin van Horn, Aug 6, 2012
    #3
  4. CinnamonGirl

    CinnamonGirl The Cheat is GROUNDED!

    Location:
    Central Republic of Where-In-The-Hell
    I stopped counting when I got to ten courses I'd like to take. I'm not a huge fan of online courses, but the fact that they're free means I'll probably end up trying at least a couple of them.
     
    CinnamonGirl, Aug 6, 2012
    #4
  5. Shadowex3

    Shadowex3 Very Tilted

    Shadowex3, Aug 7, 2012
    #5
  6. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    I also think this is great.
    I bought on a course on DVD a couple of yeas back, from the Great Courses company.
    It has Alex Fillippenko teaching Astronomy. Love it. And now lots like it will be available for free.
    I don't have the time on my life to take a course now but really look forward to doing it in the future.
     
    fflowley, Aug 7, 2012
    #6
  7. Japchae

    Japchae Very Tilted

    I like MIT's open source courses as well. I like to learn.
     
    Japchae, Aug 7, 2012
    #7
    • Like Like x 1
  8. CinnamonGirl

    CinnamonGirl The Cheat is GROUNDED!

    Location:
    Central Republic of Where-In-The-Hell
    I officially signed up for Learning to Program: the Fundamentals. Very basic, for people who don't know anything at all about programming. Like me :) It'll be nice to try it out, see if I like it before actually paying money to take certificate/degree courses somewhere.
     
    CinnamonGirl, Aug 7, 2012
    #8
  9. redux

    redux Very Tilted

    Location:
    Foggy Bottom
    I'm leaning towards the Securing Digital Democracy for both personal and professional interest. The fact that it is only five weeks is a plus.
     
    redux, Aug 7, 2012
    #9
  10. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Awesome find.
    Thanks.

    I've never been about the piece of paper...but teaching myself anything that catches my interest and delving into things is in my nature.

    Although, I'm not the most disiplined or goal intensive...doing it while having no obligation or schedule is my perfect thing.
    My brain works when it wants to work.
    Or it's forced to by work...

    And free is always a nice thing too.
     
    rogue49, Aug 9, 2012
    #10
  11. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I have a bunch of resources related to this that I will dig up off my blog when I get a chance. I just finished a course titled "Internet for Educators" and one thing I focused on was professional development for educators. This can mean a lot of things, and one of them is increasing depth abd breadth in subject area via online courses.
     
    snowy, Aug 11, 2012
    #11
  12. Avestruz

    Avestruz Vertical

    Location:
    Montreal
    I see my alma mater will offer Intro to Philosophy, which I wanted to take when I was there but could never make work with my timetable.

    I've got some downtime coming up over the next few months so this is a great thing, thanks for posting.
     
    Avestruz, Aug 15, 2012
    #12
  13. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    I just applied to get my teaching degree from an Australian University. It will be done via distance learning. Fingers crossed that I can get accepted.
     
    Charlatan, Aug 15, 2012
    #13
    • Like Like x 1
  14. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    Online learning is great if you can learn to structure your time effectively. I use a variety of methods to ensure I sit down in the evenings and put in my time on schoolwork.
     
    snowy, Aug 16, 2012
    #14
  15. ROSSBRENTWOOD

    RossBrentwood New Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I recently went through a MITx course and was really impressed with the quality of material. The forums were crawling with TAs as well offering to answer questions and such. Really a great experience, and you can't beat the cost (free).
     
    RossBrentwood, Aug 29, 2012
    #15
  16. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    snowy, Aug 29, 2012
    #16
    • Like Like x 1
  17. evaderum

    evaderum Getting Tilted

    Location:
    California
    I've heard of Coursera, but I've never used it. But I am currently in the process of watching lectures of a computer science course from Berkely and a Human Behavioral Biology course from Stanford. I also happened to see the new Lifehacker post for the new semester on my Google feed today which led me to the free courses on MIT's website, which looks like it has a few I might be interested in. At this point I'm not too serious about any of it though, it's just something I've done casually.
     
    evaderum, Aug 31, 2012
    #17