Free online college courses (no, this is not spam).

[akelman]

This (http://www.openculture.com/2012/06/a_master_list_of_500_free_courses_from_great_unive rsities.html) seems like the kind of thing that should appeal to a lot of people here. For what it's worth (nothing), I can tell you that several of the people whose courses are listed are top notch.

[akelman]

Actually, looking at my own field, the people listed are almost all outstanding.

[tuxbailey]

Thanks. that looks like a great list of classes.

probably a good way to spend over lunch break.

[NHAero]

MIT is a pioneer - check out
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

[Louis]

MIT is a pioneer - check out
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

Great, now I can take some more Partial Differential Equation Math classes. Those were always my favorite. (NOT)

[Ahneida Ride]

Actually ... a FULL math program from 1st grade to second year grad school.
Could go online and be done with once and for all.

Going to class and copying down notes is a waste of time.

Have 10 people teach the same PDE class. So if you don't like one
lecturer, you have 9 others to pick from.

This ain't Radio City Music Hall Rockkette Science.

and you get talented people to teach, so it ain't boring !
Cause most teachers suck.

[Ahneida Ride]

Great, now I can take some more Partial Differential Equation Math classes. Those were always my favorite. (NOT)

I thought your favorite was Vector Analysis !

[happycampyer]

Actually ... a FULL math program from 1st grade to second year grad school.
Could go online and be done with once and for all.

Going to class and copying down notes is a waste of time.

Have 10 people teach the same PDE class. So if you don't like one
lecturer, you have 9 others to pick from.

This ain't Radio City Music Hall Rockkette Science.

and you get talented people to teach, so it ain't boring !
Cause most teachers suck.Check out the Kahn Academy:

http://www.khanacademy.org/about

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Here's the backgroung how the Academy was started:

"In August 2004, Sal Khan began remotely tutoring his cousin, Nadia, who was struggling with “unit conversion”. This “swiss-cheese” gap in her knowledge was not allowing her to be placed in the more advanced Math track. Since Nadia was in New Orleans and Sal was in Boston working at a hedge fund at that time, Sal started tutoring her via telephone and Yahoo Doodle after work. *As Nadia improved in math class, Sal began tutoring her brothers Arman and Ali. *Eventually, word got around and he was tutoring a handful of his cousins and family members. Scheduling became a real issue and Sal started recording videos and posting them on YouTube in 2006 so everyone could watch on their own. *More and more people kept watching, and Sal has continued to make videos ever since.

The organization was incorporated as a 501c(3) non-profit in 2008. *Sal continued to work on Khan Academy during his spare time until the fall of 2009, when he quit his hedge fund job and decided to pursue the endeavor full-time. *He lived off of his savings for the first 9 months until he received his first significant donation from Ann Doerr. *In September 2010, Khan Academy received large grants from Google ($2 million) and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation ($1.5 million) and began to build out an organization. *Sal called on Shantanu Sinha from McKinsey & Company to join as President & COO. *They were former high-school math competitors in New Orleans, freshman-year roommates at MIT, and long-time friends. *They immediately hired Ben Kamens and Jason Rosoff both from Fog Creek Software to head up software development and design. *The small team moved into office space in October 2010."

[Dekonick]

MIT is a pioneer - check out
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

Yup - I am a HUGE fan of the MIT opencourseware - MIT and Stanford started it all. Good stuff - I just wish they would re-record some of the lectures in higher quality...

:hello:

For anyone who is afraid of physics you MUST watch Walter Lewin - he makes it EASY. MIT is lucky to have him. The world at large is lucky to have him. One of the true great teachers.

[akelman]

For anyone who is afraid of physics you MUST watch Walter Lewin - he makes it EASY. MIT is lucky to have him. The world at large is lucky to have him. One of the true great teachers.

Agreed. He's fantastic.

[Jaq]

Online college is the future, for better or worse. Better because more people will have more access to exceptional teachers, worse because we lose something of the Socratic method.

My wife just completed her AA degree, preparatory to transferring to UCLA. Easily 60 percent of her classes were on-line, and most of the course work. She bought text-books directly from other students via Amazon, sold them the same way.

[MattTuck]

Yup - I am a HUGE fan of the MIT opencourseware - MIT and Stanford started it all. Good stuff - I just wish they would re-record some of the lectures in higher quality...



It's the fremium model! Give away the basics, and make people pay up (ie. full tuition) for the premium level product ;)



To the O.P. Thanks! This looks really interesting. I've been toying with the idea of doing a class at night or something, this looks like it might be easier and less of a time commitment!

[akelman]

To the O.P. Thanks! This looks really interesting. I've been toying with the idea of doing a class at night or something, this looks like it might be easier and less of a time commitment!

My pleasure. Depending on the subject you have in mind, I might be able to recommend an instructor.

[Dekonick]

It's the fremium model! Give away the basics, and make people pay up (ie. full tuition) for the premium level product ;)



To the O.P. Thanks! This looks really interesting. I've been toying with the idea of doing a class at night or something, this looks like it might be easier and less of a time commitment!

It is AWESOME! For people like me... who just like to learn, read, etc... it is perfect. I can get pretty much all of the knowledge I would get if I returned for a second degree. I know I have no future as a 50+ y/o new grad in physics... but I love it. This allows people like me to learn and grow - even if I will never set foot inside CERN. For anyone with desire, passion, and persistence opencourseware and it's ilk are wonderful. Better than auditing courses... and free!:banana:

[Dekonick]

Check out the Kahn Academy:

http://www.khanacademy.org/about

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Here's the backgroung how the Academy was started:

"In August 2004, Sal Khan began remotely tutoring his cousin, Nadia, who was struggling with “unit conversion”. This “swiss-cheese” gap in her knowledge was not allowing her to be placed in the more advanced Math track. Since Nadia was in New Orleans and Sal was in Boston working at a hedge fund at that time, Sal started tutoring her via telephone and Yahoo Doodle after work. *As Nadia improved in math class, Sal began tutoring her brothers Arman and Ali. *Eventually, word got around and he was tutoring a handful of his cousins and family members. Scheduling became a real issue and Sal started recording videos and posting them on YouTube in 2006 so everyone could watch on their own. *More and more people kept watching, and Sal has continued to make videos ever since.

The organization was incorporated as a 501c(3) non-profit in 2008. *Sal continued to work on Khan Academy during his spare time until the fall of 2009, when he quit his hedge fund job and decided to pursue the endeavor full-time. *He lived off of his savings for the first 9 months until he received his first significant donation from Ann Doerr. *In September 2010, Khan Academy received large grants from Google ($2 million) and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation ($1.5 million) and began to build out an organization. *Sal called on Shantanu Sinha from McKinsey & Company to join as President & COO. *They were former high-school math competitors in New Orleans, freshman-year roommates at MIT, and long-time friends. *They immediately hired Ben Kamens and Jason Rosoff both from Fog Creek Software to head up software development and design. *The small team moved into office space in October 2010."

Yeah - I was watching a few math video's on the Khan Academy last night. I believe the internet will change the world - especially where education is concerned. All you need is a computer... and an internet connection. :eek:

[djg]

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[djg]

-- deleted -- sorry for the waste of space