31–40 of 90 posts
Rice University, for instance, reports that it is getting more applicants — and higher-quality applicants — for its computer-science masters’ degree after offering a CS course on Coursera, he said. This is a completely personal, liberal arts-educated perspective and anecdote, but going to Rice University for a Computer Science degree is akin to going to MIT for an English Literature degree. Prestigious school, sure.…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly, I think that's the best way to learn. A lot of great programmers/entrepreneurs end up taking an autodidactic approach to learning whatever they need to learn to become successful. I always use Sean Parker as an example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Parker I don't buy into the belief that the only way to learn something is by taking a course or getting a degree. I can buy the same programming book or t…
It depends on what you're learning. I wouldn't want to waste my time on a class that just teaches you how to use Hadoop. On the other hand, there are some topics that I'd have a much harder time believing can be treated well outside a classroom setting. Classes that deal with softer skills such as project management strategy or research design really seem to benefit quite a bit from the group learning environment. Yo…
I'm the instructor of an upcoming Coursera course [1]. A couple of observations from my point of view: * I wish there were a way to fund online education through philanthropy/donations. Coursera being for-profit leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. At a practical level, it complicates what images I can use in my lectures and qualify as fair use. * After several years the site is far from being at a point where a…
Regarding point 1, my understanding of Fair Use within an Education environment is that an instructor using protected material in the context of a lecture or assignment is, by default, an instance of Fair Use. A lot of the pivot relates to the scope of the use - as in, photocopying an entire chapter or short-story is okay, but photocopying the entire book is not. With images, I think you're well in the clear. I can understand where you're coming from with your concern, I just don't believe it to be material.
My university has a dedicated team who help out instructors with putting their material online and even they are often confused about how to edit this or upload that.
This scenario strikes me as counter-intuitive from a savings perspective, because now there's two layers involved: Instructors and IT Support. Actually, it sounds like a terrible waste of overhead and expense the University is laying out. Will Coursera reimburse your institution for the burden, or is it so small compared to the revenue brought in through Coursera that the expense is immaterial?
I get a macabre laugh out of learning Coursera actually kind of sucks at its main value proposition of being a technology platform for education, in that it's not user friendly for actual educators. Yeah it's a 'disruption' platform, sure. Just seems to me like throwing a Basball into an Olympic Swimming Pool.
I'm the instructor of an upcoming Coursera course [1]. A couple of observations from my point of view: * I wish there were a way to fund online education through philanthropy/donations. Coursera being for-profit leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. At a practical level, it complicates what images I can use in my lectures and qualify as fair use. * After several years the site is far from being at a point where a…
(I work for EdX.org as a developer)
Rice University, for instance, reports that it is getting more applicants — and higher-quality applicants — for its computer-science masters’ degree after offering a CS course on Coursera, he said. This is a completely personal, liberal arts-educated perspective and anecdote, but going to Rice University for a Computer Science degree is akin to going to MIT for an English Literature degree. Prestigious school, sure.…
Also, Chomsky is a professor in MIT, so I would give a shot in their linguistic courses.
Rice University, for instance, reports that it is getting more applicants — and higher-quality applicants — for its computer-science masters’ degree after offering a CS course on Coursera, he said. This is a completely personal, liberal arts-educated perspective and anecdote, but going to Rice University for a Computer Science degree is akin to going to MIT for an English Literature degree. Prestigious school, sure.…
A bit harsh. You might want to check your perception. According to U.S. News and World Report its graduate school ranks #20. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-gradu...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've only taken a couple courses from one of these mini-degrees. I did feel like the quality was iffy, but I don't feel like I've seen enough to make a call on whether the problem was the instructor or the mini-degree. The main problem was that the course was unfocused and rushed. It felt like the instructor was trying to touch on every single thing a person might learn over the course of a graduate level course. But…
Agreed. The courses seem to lack depth. And the video-only method of instruction makes it feel like an infomercial. It's a shame, because the Coursera platform has a lot of potential. Andrew Ng's machine learning course was as good as a real university course. To be fair, the specialization I was on included a final project which could have been cool.
I'm the instructor of an upcoming Coursera course [1]. A couple of observations from my point of view: * I wish there were a way to fund online education through philanthropy/donations. Coursera being for-profit leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. At a practical level, it complicates what images I can use in my lectures and qualify as fair use. * After several years the site is far from being at a point where a…
To address your first point, Edx.org is very similar to Coursera, but is a non-profit organization that releases all it's software as open source ( https://open.edx.org/. ) For your second point, EdX Studio ( https://studio.edx.org/ ) is focused on being accessible and easy to use for instructors - we hear good things from course staff about usability compared to Coursera. (I work for EdX.org as a developer)
Rice University, for instance, reports that it is getting more applicants — and higher-quality applicants — for its computer-science masters’ degree after offering a CS course on Coursera, he said. This is a completely personal, liberal arts-educated perspective and anecdote, but going to Rice University for a Computer Science degree is akin to going to MIT for an English Literature degree. Prestigious school, sure.…
Actually, this may be exactly the point of the quoted text: people don't know Rice for their CS department, but a high quality course could change this view. Also, Chomsky is a professor in MIT, so I would give a shot in their linguistic courses.
In fairness I do know Chomsky's work and his prestige in the field. Personally as an artist and student of language, and as a working professional who employed an English degree for my income year after year in business environments, I am not a fan. At all. I'll just leave it at that.