MOOCs - college courses for free

[Texas Proud]

I saw this on TV and then again when reading about the Masters degree thread...

It is college online courses that are FREE... you get the knowledge, but not the credits...

Here is an article.

Online Education (MOOCs) - The New York Times



Here are the providers they mentioned...

MOOC providers like Coursera, Udacity and edX.

 

[Marathoner]

I've taken a lot of courses from itunes U and the open courses from Stanford and MIT, and I also listen to a lot from the Teaching Company (which are not free, but are available from major libraries and tend to have better production values. I buy them.) It has greatly enhanced my life!

My dad is the person who first recommended them to me, and I have about 5 friends who have started doing this after I've loaned them a lecture series. It really helps make driving more interesting!

 

[pixelville]

DH and I have taken several courses at Coursera and also enrolled in courses at edX. We have used MIT's OpenCourseware and iTunes U in the past. Great Courses from the Teaching Company have been very high quality. I really liked their Big History series.

fyi
"Univ of Wisconsin will award a bachelor's degree based on knowledge—not just class time or credits.... Now, educators in Wisconsin are offering a possible solution by decoupling the learning part of education from student assessment and degree-granting..."


College Degree, No Class Time Required - WSJ.com

 

[gardenfun]

I'm taking a great history course from Coursera right now. And a physics course from Udacity. Take 'em now before they start charging for them.

these companies seem to be the darlings of the media and venture capitalists. But they don't make a dime, and neither do the universities/professors they work with. Not sure how long that can last.

that reminds me--I'm behind in my history class--gotta study tonight!

 

[ERhoosier]

Lots of great ideas for life long learning.
Thanks!