MIT Is Offering All Of Their Courses Online, To Anyone, For Free

Thank you for your post!

It may not improve one's resumé to take these classes, but it would greatly improve one's knowledge base to do work on one's on or start or expand a business.

If someone had some basic knowledge of computers to help boomers in their community, they could expand their business to hardware and computer repair for example.

So I do believe this has very practical application, and it I truly hope it becomes a trend for all universities.

originally posted by: Shugo

But yeah, all they'd do is irritate your potential employer, and honestly...would probably move you farther to the bottom of the candidate list. You don't get any certification for these classes, therefore they're not something that's really applicable on a resume.

Exactly.

As an employer, if I had an applicant who spent all that time and energy for zero accreditation...

...I'd think he was an idiot with serious time management and task prioritization issues. The piece of paper is the only thing matters. If you're not smart enough to realize that college is simply another hoop to jump through in the pursuit of "joining the Club", and still thought that your knowledge and work ethic themselves would make you successful...

"Next, please." I admire a man who can take the bull by the horns, but not while he's being gored up his a#.

Of course there's no credits issued or accreditation for the courses offered for free online.

That would cut into their profit margin and would set a bad precedence accross the country. Imagine a world where a person didn't have to pay $20k+ for a piece of paper that says that they're better. It would be disastrous.

a reply to: EternalSolace

Someone give this person their doctorate in sarcasm, please. I will pay all of the monies in the world for it!!!



Our schools over here are in some kind of poor state sadly. But as I've said, it's good to see them at least putting knowledge out there for people to look through. Sadly, I don't think it will save the "ask Google/Wiki" Generation that we have right now.

Coursera.org

This is great for review or staying on top of your field or maybe even retired people that still enjoy learning.

However, As long as education is a big business no free courses will be equivalent.

Many large Corporation that I have worked at already provided internal learning resources and courses that allowed you to stay updated and relevant in your field that weren't accredited. This isn't a new thing, but its also not a bad thing for the majority.

a reply to: interupt42

It's great for the majority, but there has got to be some incentive before the majority will participate. Unfortunately, the pursuit of knowledge over recreation and just getting by isn't a widespread aspiration.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Most courses on coursera will give a certificate of completion if the course is completed with a passing grade. They also offer what's called signature track, for some courses, where you pay a small fee (usually between $40 and $80 depending on the course) and your identity is verified for each assignment and quiz / test by your computer's Webcam and your state ID. When completing the course with this option you will get a legitimate statement of accomplishment from the actual university. While it is not actual college credit, it does hold some weight on a resume.

I think I just had a mental orgasm.
I didn't know about this.
Looking through the courses available, my only question is- which one will I do first???
My brain is like a starving person just invited to an all you can eat banquet.

Is there another link with more classes? The program I am looking at has a very limited list, compared to the schools actual curriculum. When they say "almost all classes," and I only see a very small fraction of them listed, I guess I am missing something.

a reply to: wasaka

There is also "coursera.org" that offers courses from top universities around the world...but you should know, you can't get credit for them.

Here are some other links for people interested:

UC Berkeley UniX
HarvardX

Then there's The EdX Page which combines many of these EdX courses into one single page. The universities actually do the management themselves. Unlike Coursera, the EdX group is a non-profit group that focuses entirely on push education, rather than haphazardly issuing trivial certificates. It's primarily run by Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, and Texas Systems.

I knew getting a degree for free in the states was too good to be true

a reply to: wasaka

There has to be a catch some where.

a reply to: TealFox

As long as things stay as they are in the U.S., that won't be changing. Private institutions in particular are really reaping the monies of students.

originally posted by: staticfl
a reply to: wasaka

There has to be a catch some where.

No catch, they're just not for any course credits.

Now, let's get started.