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The examinations are what you're really paying for. You can sit through as many hours of lectures as you like, but you can't prove to others or yourself that yo

by hugh3 16y ago

The examinations are what you're really paying for. You can sit through as many hours of lectures as you like, but you can't prove to others or yourself that you actually understand it until you've sat and passed a set of examinations on the material. I'd be interested to know whether there's anyone out there successfully teaching themselves stuff from these online lectures. I've tried watching a few on various occasions, but all I learned was something I used to know as an undergrad but have forgotten: lectures are generally pretty damn boring. I wonder whether a recorded lecture is actually a better way to learn something than a book. I suspect that the best possible lecture is better than the best possible book, but the average book is better than the average lecture.

ezy 16y ago
Why can't you construct or find your own examinations? They are, after all, just a set of questions. In fact, even in school, this is the way I learned... You write down questions, put the materials (far) away and work on it until you get an answer in a reasonable amount of time. I'm with you on the lectures. I did actually learn a few things, but like actual schooling, I don't think you get much from just sitting and watching -- you have to work through it. I think the combination of the written materials, an explanation (lecture or just another more casually written piece) and most importantly application of the knowledge is how one learns (or how I best learn). You can do that outside of a schooling setting. Assuming your goal is not to be an academic, I think formal schooling is good for (a) the formal degree (b) access to resources you may not have access to normally and perhaps (c) access to a real human who knows their stuff -- assuming they are interested in talking with you -- which is not a forgone conclusion in a lot of schools. I don't think it is or was ever necessary to learn a topic you want to learn, however -- it even become and expert in it.
- qq66 16y ago
  You can find your own examination, it's called the GRE. You could self-study and then prove its effectiveness with the GRE.
NeilCJames 16y ago
I am learning things with moderate success. I double-majored in econ and physics, but want to add CS principles to my toolkit. I've been using open course material to do so, and I've found it very valuable. It isn't so much the lectures--they are useful, but only as valuable as a real lecture (utility varies with your learning style). It is the rest of the support material that makes sharing this stuff so valuable for independent learners. An example from iTunes U: Berkeley's CS61A has webcasts, but nearly the entire course is online. You have the textbook (SICP, available free online), and can download the lecture notes, homeworks, labs, old exams, and scheme libraries from the course website. You have most of the course (except the most valuable parts: office hours, discussion section, and no TA in your lab). But the value is in the structure of the material: learn this, build this, learn this, now build this, learn this, do this project. It slows you down, necessary because you can probably read much faster than you can 'do.' When just reading a textbook, it is too easy to burn through it and not force yourself to practice the material. With the course materials, you have a reason to pace yourself, test yourself, and have discrete goals to work toward. note: There are freenode channels (#sicp, #scheme), and StackOverflow that may give you help that approximates office hours.
- pdelgallego 16y ago
  Don't forget about, User Groups, Mailing lists and Coding Dojos.

by hugh3 16y ago

ezy 16y ago

Why can't you construct or find your own examinations? They are, after all, just a set of questions. In fact, even in school, this is the way I learned... You write down questions, put the materials (far) away and work on it until you get an answer in a reasonable amount of time. I'm with you on the lectures. I did actually learn a few things, but like actual schooling, I don't think you get much from just sitting and watching -- you have to work through it. I think the combination of the written materials, an explanation (lecture or just another more casually written piece) and most importantly application of the knowledge is how one learns (or how I best learn). You can do that outside of a schooling setting. Assuming your goal is not to be an academic, I think formal schooling is good for (a) the formal degree (b) access to resources you may not have access to normally and perhaps (c) access to a real human who knows their stuff -- assuming they are interested in talking with you -- which is not a forgone conclusion in a lot of schools. I don't think it is or was ever necessary to learn a topic you want to learn, however -- it even become and expert in it.

qq66 16y ago
You can find your own examination, it's called the GRE. You could self-study and then prove its effectiveness with the GRE.

NeilCJames 16y ago

I am learning things with moderate success. I double-majored in econ and physics, but want to add CS principles to my toolkit. I've been using open course material to do so, and I've found it very valuable. It isn't so much the lectures--they are useful, but only as valuable as a real lecture (utility varies with your learning style). It is the rest of the support material that makes sharing this stuff so valuable for independent learners. An example from iTunes U: Berkeley's CS61A has webcasts, but nearly the entire course is online. You have the textbook (SICP, available free online), and can download the lecture notes, homeworks, labs, old exams, and scheme libraries from the course website. You have most of the course (except the most valuable parts: office hours, discussion section, and no TA in your lab). But the value is in the structure of the material: learn this, build this, learn this, now build this, learn this, do this project. It slows you down, necessary because you can probably read much faster than you can 'do.' When just reading a textbook, it is too easy to burn through it and not force yourself to practice the material. With the course materials, you have a reason to pace yourself, test yourself, and have discrete goals to work toward. note: There are freenode channels (#sicp, #scheme), and StackOverflow that may give you help that approximates office hours.

pdelgallego 16y ago
Don't forget about, User Groups, Mailing lists and Coding Dojos.