
As Coursera Evolves, Colleges Stay On and Investors Buy In - jyosim4
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/as-coursera-evolves-colleges-stay-on-and-investors-buy-in/57267
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randomwalker
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 an instructor can log on and upload content. The interface is constantly changing, confusing, and buggy. 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.

Overall I'm glad that Coursera exists and is finding a revenue stream; my own
undergraduate education would have been vastly different if I'd had access to
the material that's available today.

[1] Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency technologies
[https://www.coursera.org/course/bitcointech](https://www.coursera.org/course/bitcointech)

~~~
fps
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/.](https://open.edx.org/.)) For your second point, EdX
Studio ([https://studio.edx.org/](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)

~~~
ChicagoBoy11
Out of curiosity: Any news on the hosted version of edX (mooc.org).?Site went
up quite a while ago, but I haven't heard any developments since.

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tboyd47
> 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 declined?

I recently tried a course hosted on Coursera from an Ivy League school, as
part of a business "specialization" that consists of 4 classes at $90 each.
The class was 4 weeks long and was taught by 3 different professors. The only
material provided was a series of video lectures (10-20 5-minute lectures per
professor) and a smattering of blog posts and news articles for optional
reading.

There was some discussion in the forums that the lectures seemed to jump
around, and didn't cover all the material represented in the final exam. Some
previous students were guessing that the gaps in instruction were because the
course used to be 9 weeks long before they started charging for it.

I enjoyed the class but didn't feel like I got my money's worth. In the end I
decided I could get more value by just buying and reading books on business
development on my own.

~~~
snake117
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](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 the same
physiology textbook used in a course and read it on my own. 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.

~~~
bunderbunder
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.

~~~
atmosx
It is okay for CS classes, but not for chemistry...

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wolfgke
I personally don't like that Coursera dropped free certificates of
accomplishments for many courses. While this might not be such a problem in
the US, I (living in Germany) see this as a serious problem in countries as
Germany, Austria or Brazil, where it is essential that you have some
certificate to prove that you really took the course.

What I'm particularly angry about is that in former days you could get a free
certificate of accomplishment for the courses from the Data Science
specification

>
> [https://www.coursera.org/specialization/jhudatascience/](https://www.coursera.org/specialization/jhudatascience/)

A few weeks ago Coursera changed the policy even for these existing courses.
That's why I completely lost any trust that I had in Coursera and will
actively avoid taking courses from Coursera (and instead look what edX has to
offer).

~~~
gavazzy
Do employers look at certificates at all?

~~~
kageneko
My current employer is requiring everyone to get Security+ certifications
because our clients are starting to require that.

edit: oh, certificate vs certification. I don't know of anyone who cares about
the Coursera certificates, but it seems certifications are still in vogue.

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bruceb
Shameless plug: MOOCs presented in a course catalog format
[http://www.coursebuffet.com](http://www.coursebuffet.com)

~~~
giech
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...](https://www.coursebuffet.com/course/1081/202-Logic:-Language-
and-Information-2) [2] [https://www.coursebuffet.com/course/1253/270-Digital-
Systems](https://www.coursebuffet.com/course/1253/270-Digital-Systems)

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

------
bunderbunder
Two anecdotes on this front: First, I'm currently pursuing a master's degree
because doing MOOCs left me hungry for more.

Second, a whole lot of the questions in the end-of-class survey for the most
recent MOOC I completed where things like, "My opinion of [University] has
improved since taking this course," and, "I am considering applying at
[University]."

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withzombies
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.

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

~~~
Nursie
Wait what?

I did't think crypto 2 had ever run?

I took the first round of crypto 1 and have been waiting for 2 ever since!

~~~
withzombies
He probably went to Stanford and took it in person.

~~~
Nursie
Ah, that would be the way to ensure you get to take it :)

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minimaxir
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 normal college curriculum.

I took the MOOCs mostly for context in areas where online tutorials are
terrible; at the least, it'll help lead to some sweet blog posts. :)

~~~
JamesBarney
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.

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doe88
It is maybe off-topic but few days ago I was lamenting to myself that I'd
hoped Coursera would stop sending spam or do a proper setting where I can
definitively opt-out from all their emails (and I'm not speaking about emails
for an enrolled course). This is really bad I think, especially from an
organization with such a noble cause.

------
stevesearer
Definitely had to google what a MOOC was: Massive open online course.

Even though this isn't the same thing at all, this reminded me of a course I
had in college where instead of attending in-person and in-class meetings, we
all had to create Second Life avatars and meet online.

The professor was doing research on the subject and I quickly found the online
meetings for 'educational computing' (Microsoft Office class) to be pretty
useless. Luckily this was long enough ago when it was possible to not have a
good enough video card for such an activity and I was allowed to not attend
those meetings anymore.

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picardo
I completed 23 courses on Coursera and I love the platform. But I don't buy
the notion that Coursera is becoming the lead generator for the traditional
universities. I would never trade in my learning experience with one where I
have to be physically present in a classroom to learn. And by and large most
universities are still organized around the classroom experience. Until that
changes, I don't think I'll be applying for a traditional college degree.

------
grayfox
Which University dropped out of Coursera, out of curiosity?

~~~
random_forest
UC Berkeley had a few classes on Coursera early on but transitioned to Edx
shortly after.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/education/berkeley-to-
offe...](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/education/berkeley-to-offer-free-
online-classes-on-edx.html)

------
6stringmerc
_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. Is it the
field for which it's known to be at the top? Uhhh, nope.

~~~
weej
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...](http://grad-
schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-
schools/computer-science-rankings)

~~~
6stringmerc
Yeah a bit harsh but with reasons. When I look over that list I see UT Austin
up at #9 in a tie. I've known for years that the UT Austin program was
worthwhile, because it is. I'll stand by the assertion that Rice isn't known
as a hotbed of tech, but it is a very fine institution with, I'm sure,
excellent metrics in the U.S. News & World Report scoring system...mostly
because it's expensive, small, and extremely picky with its applicants.

~~~
weej
Agreed, and this is coming from a UT Austin grad. Hook 'Em!

------
ilaksh
I feel like when I get time I should learn deep learning and agent-embodied
AGI stuff, business and management stuff.

I just can't see how taking online courses, especially for money, is a cost-
and time- effective way to do that.

I think I need to actually build an agent-based deep learning system and run
multiple businesses to actually learn those skills. How-tos and background,
reading, exercises etc. for all of those things is available online for free
for filling in gaps between trying things out.

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andrewstuart2
> The new investment ... would extend the company’s “runway” to try new
> experiments.

Is it just me, or is a plane on a runway a scary analogy for investment?

If being higher off the ground is better in this analogy, you're far better
off building a structure than flying a plane because that plane will only stay
aloft as long as it has fuel.

~~~
walterbell
A better analogy would need a self-sustaining stage, to reflect a profitable
business model with reduced need for external investment.

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wullynilly
I can't believe this. Where is digital education headed to?

