News article about online classes from Harvard and MIT

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NobleMetalWorks

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I am currently working my way through the MIT Chemistry courses that are offered free of charge, on the MIT website here:

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemistry/

However, I just read a news article about Harvard and MIT making these courses available to earn a degree. Here is the news article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18191589

Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have formed a $60m (£38m) alliance to launch edX, a platform to deliver courses online - with the modest ambition of "revolutionising education around the world".

I am going to find out more information on this, although you do not obtain a degree for completing the course, this is what was said in the article:

The online courses are promised to be as rigorous as anything else from MIT or Harvard - but successful students will get a "certificate of mastery" and not a degree or any formal university credit. It's being set at arm's length from what's on offer for the paying customers.

For me this sounds like a wonderful idea, I am more interested in the education than the degree.

I thought I would post this here for anyone else that is interested.

Scott
 
very nice idea
im way to dumb to make it to the mit standard but i wish i could, an if i have had the potential, i would have certainly apreciated that someone show me an oportunity like that :mrgreen:
 
I took the first course that MIT offered free online (in March thru June)- it was "Circuits and Electronics", with material covered being the same as that offered in an undergrad course at MIT. I liked the format - short (<10min) video lectures with some quizes mixed in. Homework problems were due weekly along with a circuits lab. Grades were based on the homeworks, labs, midterm and a final. I would estimate I spent 5-10 hrs per week on the course. I liked the fact that I could fit the short video/quiz format into my family life schedule.

No course listings have been made yet, but they are planning to begin more courses in the Fall. One can register for course notifications at Edxonline.org. I have also recently taken courses on Udacity.com - they offer mostly programming related classes, but just recently added physics and statistics. There is also a Princeton/Stanford free online course program at Coursera.org.

The best part of all of these are that they are free. EdX and Udacity are talking about finishing a course by taking a final exam at a testing center for a small fee, but currently all you get is a certificate that you print yourself, so it is not something that would have much clout on a resume.
 
Merle said:
The best part of all of these are that they are free. EdX and Udacity are talking about finishing a course by taking a final exam at a testing center for a small fee, but currently all you get is a certificate that you print yourself, so it is not something that would have much clout on a resume.

I agree the sad thing is too many companies place faith in a persons ability to remember rather than their ability to understand and do the job required. I know several very well qualified people who would struggle to get dressed but could tell you the molecular structure of their underpants :shock:

I think the forum is made up of mainly hardworking practical people with a few very clever chemists with a grip on reality and an ability to turn all that knowledge into a practical use, I flunked chemistry badly even after two attempts to pass the basic exam but made a very good living from using chemistry practically to run my own refinery, even now I struggle to follow many of our clever members discussing chemical reactions and how and why they actually occur but I learnt two good things if it works do I need to understand and, if it's promoted on here I'm sure it's right.
There's nothing wrong with wanting more knowledge but don't get blinded by the necessity and if it's to further your own refining studies make sure it's got a practical application, personally if I had plenty of material to refine and little time I'd be recovering and refining and only reading for better methods and processes and the best news is.....it's virtually all here 8)
 
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