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OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

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Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#91

A lot of comments are dismissing this because it doesn't provide a credential upon completion. But you don't get mad at a hammer for not putting staples in paper, nor get mad at a stapler for not putting nails in wood. This is a tool that gives empowers you to educate yourself, not a tool that gives you a credential. As someone with a deep love of learning and knowledge, I am delighted that this exists.

Speaking of the subject, if someone DOES want a credential and already knows a lot of CS, are there good online courses that provide sped up process? I have been programming since 20 years ago, am a lead developer at a large company, but have no degree. Sadly some companies like Google do require it to even consider submissions, so I wonder if I should enroll an online course just for the paper.

Check out Western Governors University. It is an accredited online university formed back in the 90's and I believe is non profit as well so it isn't like the University of Phoenix or those other scam schools.

They have a competency based model where if you can demonstrate competency by passing the test and/or completing the project you can be done with the class, whether that takes you 3 days or 3 months.

You also play a flat rate for the semester and complete as many classes as you want at a time.

I did it I loved it, I'd been in the field and was able to breeze through some of my courses while the ones I wasn't familiar with helped me.

They also have a lot of classes that the test is an industry cert, so it's a cheap way to get some certs under your belt as well.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#92
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Education and certification are decoupled. The problem is employers insist on the certifications. So why bother educating yourself with the same material and not just getting the certification at the same time? It’s more profitable that way if your goal is to get a job. If you want to just learn, there are no practical barriers for most people.

Formal education and certification are definitely not decoupled. You learn at the same university that gives you the degree. While I agree with the above that having them under the same roof can cause a conflict of interest. But we also know for a fact that having them decoupled can cause serious problems as well. For one you end up with brain dumps that study for the cert and not for the subject matter. We see this…

Well, someone has to certify the university. They wouldn't stay certified long if they just gave diplomas to anything with a pulse.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#93
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of comments are dismissing this because it doesn't provide a credential upon completion. Obvious solution would be decoupling teaching and certification. Actually, having both performed by the same institutions seems like a conflict of interest.

Another solution would be to have apprenticeship as you had them in olden days: You can become an apprentice at one or preferably a few craftsmen (IT companies) for a given number of years. They'd teach you, pay you and in the end evaluate you. You can do that in parallel to following something like the given materials in OSSU. Germany has apprenticeships as far as I am aware, I don't know enough about it though. edi…

This exists actually for software development. I went through the AWS Software Development Engineer Apprenticeship when I made a career change from Military & Government work into Software.

Similar programs exist at Google, Lyft, and a few other tech companies.

Apprenti, the non-profit that administers the AWS apprenticeship, is doing pretty great work getting people into tech form non-traditional roles.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#94
Was disappointed to see that an open source education project requires one to accept the terms of service of a proprietary, centralized, and privacy adverse service like Discord to be able to communicate with others.

This makes it hard to recommend to others.

I don't understand this trend.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#95
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self directed learning is an invaluable skill for anyone, credential or not.

While that's true, most of the valuable employees have 1 top skill: communication. That's neither trained nor witnessed by having gone through 2 years of I-did-this-alone-at-home.

Learning how to learn is more of a master skill, under which learning tech or communication falls.

Communication is critical but can lead to non-tech people talking about tech, too. Need both.

Theres nothing about self-directed learning that says one couldn’t do it on the job, or doing other things. Work integrated learning one example.

Conversely, suffering group work in post secondary doesn’t always guarantee excellent communication skills. It’s another way (for the few) to learn to work with people who might not be able to work with each other. There is lots of self directed learning needed in post secondary too, only they call it learning how to think.

This program in question appears to be part time.. which leaves time to not be alone at home and instead be scrolling the world through a little window.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#96

Nand2Tetris and Roughgarden, looks like an excellent syllabus tbh. Unfortunately it's pretty worthless without a paper degree. It's cool that Finland is now having open online registration for Finnish citizens to do online courses like https://fullstackopen.com/en/ It's a shame something like that doesn't exist in every country.

For a lot of positions, this is worth more than a paper degree. If I came across a candidate who did all of this, has a profile filled with visible projects, and was able to finish all of this course work self directed then they are going to be worlds better than most CS graduates.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#97
post #94

Was disappointed to see that an open source education project requires one to accept the terms of service of a proprietary, centralized, and privacy adverse service like Discord to be able to communicate with others. This makes it hard to recommend to others. I don't understand this trend.

> I don't understand this trend

Network effect. I don't like it neither. Many open source projects adopt Discord now, making it harder to be part of their community if you want to avoid non-free software / closed networks. (What next? Open source projects hosted on a non-free social network? /s)

From the outside, this is an impressive phenomenon, where in a very short time you notice everybody suddenly going to Discord and you don't understand what's happening / what's the deal.

But since nobody cares, it's not a problem.

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#98
post #94

Was disappointed to see that an open source education project requires one to accept the terms of service of a proprietary, centralized, and privacy adverse service like Discord to be able to communicate with others. This makes it hard to recommend to others. I don't understand this trend.

In what way is Discord particularly privacy averse?

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#99
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Education and certification are decoupled. The problem is employers insist on the certifications. So why bother educating yourself with the same material and not just getting the certification at the same time? It’s more profitable that way if your goal is to get a job. If you want to just learn, there are no practical barriers for most people.

Formal education and certification are definitely not decoupled. You learn at the same university that gives you the degree. While I agree with the above that having them under the same roof can cause a conflict of interest. But we also know for a fact that having them decoupled can cause serious problems as well. For one you end up with brain dumps that study for the cert and not for the subject matter. We see this…

Could you elaborate on the differences here with formal education (which I imagine you mean through a university) and certification? Why would you go to the university and complete all of the course load but then not get the certification?

Re: OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science

#100
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Formal education and certification are definitely not decoupled. You learn at the same university that gives you the degree. While I agree with the above that having them under the same roof can cause a conflict of interest. But we also know for a fact that having them decoupled can cause serious problems as well. For one you end up with brain dumps that study for the cert and not for the subject matter. We see this…

Could you elaborate on the differences here with formal education (which I imagine you mean through a university) and certification? Why would you go to the university and complete all of the course load but then not get the certification?

Coupled in the sense that it’s the university providing the certification as well. Contrast this with certain national school systems where local high schools provide instruction but your final exam papers are graded by a centralized national authority, which is what provides the certification. Alternatively, going to law school but getting certified by passing the bar, which isn’t under the direct control of your law school.
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