Has Anyone Tried Coursera?

[Freedomelf]

I am in the midst of my first course with Coursera, the free online university. I started a course on Fantasy and Science Fiction in late January and am now about half-way through it. So far, it's fantastic. I will receive a certificate of successful completion at the end of the course. The teacher is extremely experienced and has won quite a few awards. The course is conducted by the University of Michigan.

Of course, with 40,000 students taking the free course, there are a few drawbacks. The grades are peer-reviewed; the teacher never sees your work. You have five peer reviews for each lesson, and they average the grades you get from them. I find that peers are very, very hard on you, and it's difficult to get fantastic grades. But all you need is an average grade to pass, and I've gotten at least that or a little better, so that's okay. Some of the reviews have been utterly stupid, but most people are pretty good. I have learned to ignore the fools and just be happy with it.

The video lessons are very, very good, and they deepen my understanding of the material. You know, conceivably, one could take this course online for free, just to get a feeling for it, and then if they want to get full college credit, they could then take the same course in the university, with the same teacher, and pay for it.

Although you get a certificate of successful completion, you do not get actual college credit toward a degree. However, certificates would look good on a resume. On the bright side, this is COMPLETELY FREE. They even provide the course materials, such as online links to the books that you need to read for the course. I haven't had to pay a thin dime.

So anyway, I'm happy with it. Any other Coursera students out there? I'm wondering if your experience is as good as mine. As I said, this is my first course and I am only half-way through it, so I'm wondering if I just got lucky or if they are all good. I'm going to be taking another course when this one ends. It's about global warming and it is coming out of the University at Melbourne, I believe. All great schools; no fly-by-night places.

I just thought I'd ask how anyone else likes it.

 

[BSM1]

I was considering taking a course. Any catches or surprises so far? Any hidden fees?

 

[apophenia]

I signed up for a course in developing android apps months ago. Still waiting for it to begin. I'm wondering if it's going to happen. Or if I missed it somehow.

 

[Freedomelf]

No catches, BSM1, no hidden fees, no nothing. I was surprised because I thought there would be some kinds of fees or requests for donations or something. No requests at all, just totally free.

That sounds like a cool course, apophenia. They just added about 300 courses to their lineup for the next year. There's plenty to choose from.

 

[Breathe]

On it. Keep forgetting to use it. Only listening to lectures though to learn. Not really after any certificates from them.

 

[Freedomelf]

I just found out that they offer actual credit on some courses. Right now there are only five that you can get credit on when you transfer to a different college, but they are hoping to have more courses for credit soon. Can't get better than this; I love it.

 

[Breathe]

Oh nice. That's pretty cool.

 

[Freedomelf]

Yep, I am now exactly half-way through the course and have just signed up for another one after this one is done. They currently have 325 courses available for free, according to the catalog. I especially like the fact that you don't have to buy books or other supplements. I would like to see this become really successful so that they can expand their course offerings. My son got me interested in this; he's taking computer programming courses to keep his skills sharp. I'm taking a course in literature to do the same. Whatever you like, you'll find something available.

 

[Reptillian]

I've taken a few courses on there so far. It's an excellent site.

 

[Breathe]

I really hope they put a language up on the site. Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Spanish, Italian, Dutch or whatever. Would be good.

 

[Freedomelf]

Oh yeah, I haven't spoken German in decades and would love to brush up on it.

 

[Draka]

I'm taking a course now and have another starting in a little over a week. The one I'm taking now has the option to seek actual credit for it but the credit is only transferrable to certain schools and none would be ones that interest me anyway so I didn't bother going for it. Just brushing up some long forgotten alg/calc skills anyway. It is convenient though.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I've never heard of it but I'm looking into it now.

 

[Freedomelf]

Great, Shadow, I think you'll like it.

 

[Freedomelf]

They are hoping to change that, Draka. They are still new and they have big plans for future credits. I hope those plans work out; it would be a tremendous boost for students who don't have the money to get all their credits at a traditional college.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I signed up for a guitar class to have my first actual lessons in playing, a course on the ancient Greeks, and quantum mechanics (although I don't have the math background for it, but I can still learn some things, if not even pick up on some of the math). I wanted to take a course of classical musical composition and how to write like Mozart, but they had already started. I just hope I don't get too caught up in these courses and neglect my real college studies, but all I really have left for the semester is finite math, so I should be ok.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

They are hoping to change that, Draka. They are still new and they have big plans for future credits. I hope those plans work out; it would be a tremendous boost for students who don't have the money to get all their credits at a traditional college.

That would be great if it happens, as I would be able to take my music to a whole new level, and even start on launching my own record label that is backed by real college credit hours and not just certificates. And not just the cost of a real college, but there are just too many interesting classes to ever actually pay for.

 

[Freedomelf]

That sounds cool, Shadow, what kind of music do you write? I can tell by your religion that it must be rock and roll, but just wondered about the sound.

 

[Iti oj]

Do all courses have a certificate? And how do jobs and schools and such view this certificates? Beyond that simply sounds awesome thanks for the heads up

 

[Shadow Wolf]

That sounds cool, Shadow, what kind of music do you write? I can tell by your religion that it must be rock and roll, but just wondered about the sound.

Rock and Metal mostly. I've been wanting to learn classical composition, if that course is offered again I'm going to take it.

Do all courses have a certificate? And how do jobs and schools and such view this certificates? Beyond that simply sounds awesome thanks for the heads up

I would imagine it would show you like learning things, and while it isn't a real credit it shows knowledge. It would be pretty cool if this starts a model for free universities that give real credits and degrees.