MOOCs and other free courses of possible interest

[saving-10-years]

Coursera is not the only MOOC provider and there are some interesting options in the UK coming from universities working within the FutureLearn consortium.

Some of you who are looking to writing might be interested in the one on fiction writing - it will focus on character development according to the trailer. Futurelearn also offer one on Climate Change (University of Exeter) which started last week. You may still have time to start, but if not they seem to come around a couple of times a year at least, depending on interest.

LINKS: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses for the list and https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/sta ... ng-fiction for the fiction one.

There is quite a lot of 'open education' happening at the moment which is worth picking through for things of interest. A less structured, more anarchic experience in digital storytelling comes through ds106 (based on the campus-based course at Mary Washington University) http://ds106.us/open-course/.

Upside of MOOCs is a lot of freedom and opportunity to learn new stuff at no cost (how ERE is that?) but the downside is that they have a reputation of now offering the best student support (that sort of thing costs money) so the student who is motivated to do things for him/herself and work independantly is an ideal fit. Sounds pretty INTJ/P to me.

[21stCenturyKid]

Would you spend $40 or $50 per class to get a certificate?

[saving-10-years]

@21stcenturykid That is an interesting question. The answer will depend on why you are engaging with the learning. Learning for personal gratification - no certificate required. The bigger question is whether its worth your time.

[steveo73]

Would you spend $40 or $50 per class to get a certificate?

I don't see the point. I think you learn for its own sake.

[jacob]

Would you spend $40 or $50 per class to get a certificate?

Only if someone else (employer, professional organization, ...) demanded to see such a certificate. There's a very tricky gap between college and employment that's currently bridged by certificates and degrees. Once you've been hired once, sheepskins matter much less than "previous experience". So I'd get it if the hiring manager asked (have asked) to see it. Otherwise not.

It seems to vary by field. In some cases, everything is done by the book and you have to provide documents and credentials 10 years back. Stupid stuff like providing your high school diploma as part of the hiring process as a research scientist. In other fields, they don't care at all "since you've worked with chronometric warp field inducers I presume you're educated...".

Any chance you can pay later on a need-be basis?

[workathome]

Facebook should fire Zuckerberg, I mean - he doesn't even have a college degree!

I agree with the sentiment that credentials are pointless unless there is a specific person/hurdle which makes it necessary, unless you enjoy collecting them like baseball cards or something.

[5to9]

If there is any scenario where the certificate on your resume would add any value, the price is quite cheap. But if it isn't career relevant, probably a waste.

I could see it helping in small course changes in a career. For example an experienced developer adding a different domain exposure...

[saving-10-years]

If there is any scenario where the certificate on your resume would add any value, the price is quite cheap. But if it isn't career relevant, probably a waste.

Great example of that here ...http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/n ... 45.article

1000 students started the course, 31 completed. None of them opted for a certificate. Not sure which career this might be relevant to?

[Gudrun]

Thanks saving-10-years for the FutureLearn info. It sounds really interesting. I hope I'll get really, really old so I have time to learn lots of different stuff

My favourite free online learning resource is itunesU. You can get to it through the (free) itunes programme, then go to itunes shop and on the right hand side or the top menu bar you can access itunesU. It stands for 'itunes University' and you get an endless supply of free international university courses either audio or video and sometimes with addition materials. To me it is absolutely amazing as to what is on offer.

However, as noted before, there is no interactive learning environment...

[Joggernot]

If there is any scenario where the certificate on your resume would add any value, the price is quite cheap. But if it isn't career relevant, probably a waste.
...

This was in Excel and nicely formatted. This forum takes out the formatting, so...imagine two columns. End result is that getting the certificate pays long term, even if you have to pay your own money for the certificate.

Assume two people start with $3,000 in savings. One goes to work. One goes to work, but also pursues a certificate at night and on weekends.

1) Hold the money in a savings account 2) Spend the money getting a certificate (truck driver CDL, computer science, Cysco, etc.)
$3,000 Savings $3,000 Savings
0.015 Annual interest rate $1,000 Spent on certificate first year
$3,045 Amount after one year $2,030 Savings after one year
$3,091 Amount after two years $1,000 Spent on certificate second year (if required)
$3,137 Amount after three years $1,045 Savings after two years
The next two are for column 2.
$5,000 Raise in pay after getting certificate
$1,061 Savings after three years


$3,137 Total after three years. From here on it is just interest on account $6,061 Total after three years
.
$2,924 Extra amount at end of three years gained by getting the certificate
$5,000 Extra amount you receive every year after getting the certificate