Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

chronicle.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 90 posts

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#41

Post by tboyd47 »

bunderbunder wrote: post #38
tboyd47 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah, the video-only thing is problematic. But I think they're stuck there. If you're having a hard time convincing students to pay $50 for the class, can you really ask them to buy a $200 textbook?

Fair point. I just don't think they've found product-market fit yet. Before, they were giving too little value to the schools, and now they're giving too little to the students.

Maybe if they switched to selling textbooks and bundle the video course with the textbook. I would never go out and buy a $200 textbook to something I have no foundation in, but if I'm getting a video course with it, maybe.

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#42

Post by hackuser »

rndn wrote: post #15
snake117 wrote: post #10

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…

I think a difficulty with this approach is that a textbook often contains more information than you actually need. In that regard a class is better because you have more guidance. The best way is possibly to look through the syllabi of classes at various top universities to get an idea of what is important.

Also, a textbook doesn't have everything you need, and knowledge and technology change; there's no substitute for a human with expertise.

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#43

Post by sanderjd »

bunderbunder wrote: post #38
tboyd47 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah, the video-only thing is problematic. But I think they're stuck there. If you're having a hard time convincing students to pay $50 for the class, can you really ask them to buy a $200 textbook?

I think the "only" part isn't referring so much to the exclusion of a textbook as the exclusion of projects and exercises. Videos and textbooks are both too passive. The biggest issue with MOOCs in 2015 is the relative lack of active engagement with the material through checked exercises and with teachers, tutors, mentors, and peers through one-on-one engagement (whether in person or via phone or chat) rather than one-to-many forums. Both issues are more expensive to solve, but I'm disappointed that Coursera hasn't used their paid courses to attack them. I suspect that the price of those courses isn't high enough to justify it.

I think that while we've added a couple educational tiers above reading books and articles on one's own, we're still missing one or more between paid MOOCs and "real" higher education.

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#45

Post by jamra »

minimaxir wrote: post #8

Do people typically put qualifications from a Coursera class on a resume? The credibility of a college education in the professional world can't be replaced as easily. I've taken a few Machine Learning / Big Data courses using MOOCs and done enough homework such that I get a certificate. But I'd never put it on a resume because that would imply mastery of the subject, and no MOOC is as sufficient in coverage as a nor…

In what way is a MOOC less sufficient in coverage than a normal college course?

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#46

Post by giech »

bruceb wrote: post #2

Shameless plug: MOOCs presented in a course catalog format http://www.coursebuffet.com

Thanks for this! It's really hard to browse/search for MOOCs.

That said, looking at your site now it does seem to have a problem with courses being listed as "always available". A couple of examples:

[1] https://www.coursebuffet.com/course/1081/202-Logic:-Language... [2] https://www.coursebuffet.com/course/1253/270-Digital-Systems

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#47

Post by zhte415 »

minimaxir wrote: post #8

Do people typically put qualifications from a Coursera class on a resume? The credibility of a college education in the professional world can't be replaced as easily. I've taken a few Machine Learning / Big Data courses using MOOCs and done enough homework such that I get a certificate. But I'd never put it on a resume because that would imply mastery of the subject, and no MOOC is as sufficient in coverage as a nor…

Absolutely put it on a resume.

If, on the off-chance, your interviewer is into MOOCs, this is a plus.

If not, there's also an off-chance they're curious 'what is this'?

And if not, then educate then on it. Done on personal time because of personal/professional interest.

No downside to MOOCs there. Perhaps that is the ace in the pack - that they should, by existence, become required (hence a ranking-up in push for certification by Coursera recently).

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#48

Post by a2tech »

tboyd47 wrote: post #5

> The company has created a series of courses that add up to mini-degrees that students can earn quickly, and pay a small fee to certify that they successfully completed them. “It’s mostly people in their 20s and 30s who are interested in learning more skills and making themselves prepared for better jobs,” said Mr. Levin. Has anyone else noticed that since this recent pivot, the quality of Coursera's classes have de…

If you want to see a well done business class, check out these classes from the University of Michigan (disclaimer-my wife was involved in the creation): https://www.coursera.org/specialization/valuation/45

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#49

Post by jimbokun »

snake117 wrote: post #10
tboyd47 wrote: post #5

> The company has created a series of courses that add up to mini-degrees that students can earn quickly, and pay a small fee to certify that they successfully completed them. “It’s mostly people in their 20s and 30s who are interested in learning more skills and making themselves prepared for better jobs,” said Mr. Levin. Has anyone else noticed that since this recent pivot, the quality of Coursera's classes have de…

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…

"The only problem is that, unless you really do something outstanding to prove that you know the material, its not something you can put on an application/resume."

Which is why the Education industry is really the Accreditation industry.

Re: As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In

#50

Post by bruceb »

giech wrote: post #46
bruceb wrote: post #2

Shameless plug: MOOCs presented in a course catalog format http://www.coursebuffet.com

Thanks for this! It's really hard to browse/search for MOOCs. That said, looking at your site now it does seem to have a problem with courses being listed as "always available". A couple of examples: [1] https://www.coursebuffet.com/course/1081/202-Logic:-Language... [2] https://www.coursebuffet.com/course/1253/270-Digital-Systems

Thanks for letting us know. We are working on a new way of updating courses dates/course status.
Post reply on HN