MASSIVE OPEN ON-LINE COURSES (MOOCS)
For centuries, people traveled to school to take courses from professors. About 30 years ago, though, some companies started taping courses and selling the results as VCRs. They were relatively expensive (hundreds of dollars for a course), but they required significantly less money than attending a university. Some had homework, but most did not. There were no tests, and you could listen to the recordings whenever you wished, or listen to them multiple times. Some years ago, VCRs were replaced by CDs and then by DVDs.
About 5 years ago, the paradigm changed once again. Now, courses are recorded and provided through the internet, usually with quizzes and tests. I have taken a dozen courses on CD or DVD through The Teaching Company and another dozen as MOOCs. Quality is somewhat variable, but the companies selling these products are quite discriminating, and, as a result, the quality is excellent. I have obtained The Teaching Company courses through my local library, and because the libraries are linked, nearly all of the courses are available.
- Of course there are also a lot of courses on DVD from The Teaching Company’s “Great Courses” series, and the library has (or has access to) all of them–500 at this time. http://www.thegreatcourses.com/
- There are also many MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) available–more than 3000. The first course I knew of was on Artificial Intelligence given by Stanford which was made available through Coursera. Over 100,000 people signed up for it. (I have heard that only 5-10% finished the course–but that is still over 5000 people.) I have taken technical courses like MIT’s course on Genetics (from edX, the Science of Cooking from Harvard, and two courses on the Civil War. Visit the following sites to see what they have available.
A longer list can be found at https://beebom.com/sites-like-coursera/
A long-time computer expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature. In the comment box below, provide questions or comments for John on any computer/tech topic.
john.rudy@alum.mit.edu (781-861-0402)