As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In • Hacker News Board

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

#11

Post by bunderbunder » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:07 PM UTC

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…

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 since the class was shorter both in terms of number of weeks and time students could be expected to spend on any one week, it just resulted in a lot of very shallow treatment of an immense number of topics. Some lectures were barely more than a recitation of paper titles.

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

#12

Post by Osmium » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:11 PM UTC

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…

> But I'd never put it on a resume because that would imply mastery of the subject

Would it though? I think it at least demonstrates interest and a sufficient level of involvement to finish the course. I wouldn't assume it implied mastery, but I wouldn't assume that for college degrees either (even if they are better than MOOCs at present).

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

#13

Post by tonyedgecombe » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:14 PM UTC

withzombies wrote: post #9

I like Coursera, but I've been waiting on a class to happen for the past two years and they keep rescheduling it. I really wish they'd address it by either canceling the listing or actually making it happen. The class is Dan Boneh's Crypto 2 course.

I'm waiting for that course as well, the first was excellent but I would like to finish it.

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

#14

Post by BinaryIdiot » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:15 PM UTC

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…

> The credibility of a college education in the professional world can't be replaced as easily.

I think it depends on the industry. In software development I stopped even looking at the education of the person applying because I've never found any meaningful correlation between schooling and the capabilities of a developer. In fact at times I found a reverse correlation where the higher the degree the less able they were to code so I try to not even look at all to prevent as much bias as possible in either direction.

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

#15

Post by rndn » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:17 PM UTC

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…

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.

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

#16

Post by bunderbunder » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:17 PM UTC

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…

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. You could certainly learn them other ways, but probably more slowly. If you're trying to build a career there's an opportunity cost there.

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

#17

Post by JamesBarney » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:22 PM UTC

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…

If I were you I'd put it on a resume. Just be honest that you a MOOC course at Stanford etc.. When I'm looking at that resume I wouldn't necessarily think this is a guy who can lead a Machine Learning team. But it does tell some things I'm very interested in as an interviewer.

1. It shows the resume owner is a self-motivated autodidact which I think are some the most important skills a developer can possess.

2. It gives a great talking point for the interview. One of the ways an interviewer can gauge an individuals intelligence and communication skills is how well they can describe what they learned in a class.

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

#18

Post by new_hackers » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:25 PM UTC

withzombies wrote: post #9

I like Coursera, but I've been waiting on a class to happen for the past two years and they keep rescheduling it. I really wish they'd address it by either canceling the listing or actually making it happen. The class is Dan Boneh's Crypto 2 course.

I can testify to the quality of this course. I completed both Crypto 1 and Crypto 2. Both were very well presented.

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

#19

Post by new_hackers » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:27 PM UTC

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…

I would list it under my "Hobbies, Interests, Activities" section if I had taken it recently. It might be a good topic of light conversation during the interview.

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

#20

Post by tboyd47 » Tue, Aug 25, 2015, 3:32 PM UTC

bunderbunder wrote: post #11

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…

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.