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I wish one could get credit for these classes? They’re awesome but it would be more awesome if you could earn towards a degree.

PunchTornado 3y ago
Why would you need it? How would you pass exams? Who would pay for a teacher reading your exam and ensure you don't teach.. etc.
mathgeek 3y ago
You can, but the catch is getting accepted to MIT first.
- voisin 3y ago
  And the tuition and time out of the workforce, which puts it out of reach for many, many people.
  - mathgeek 3y ago
    I'm pretty sure getting accepted to MIT also puts it out of reach for many, many people.
tourmalinetaco 3y ago
That’s called going to college. You can however earn certificates for courses through services such as EdX: https://www.edx.org/school/mitx https://www.edx.org/school/mitx Although it appears as though you need the “Certified” premium status to achieve certification, which is almost $200USD.
- ekianjo 3y ago
  > That’s called going to college. And thats too expensive for most people. Which is funny because knowledge is mostly free.
  - a_bonobo 3y ago
    Knowledge is free; the time of people pushing the knowledge into you is not free. (Self-taught in my eyes usually means 'i've picked out the things that interest me and then learned those' - it's the job of the the paid people to force you to learn the things that don't directly interest you)
  - chongli 3y ago
    Going to college is only nominally about acquiring knowledge. In reality it’s about acquiring a credential. All of the gatekeeping involved in admissions and examinations is to protect the value of the credential. The reason MOOC certificates are largely worthless as a credential is because there are NO safeguards against cheating.
    - gumby 3y ago
      There’s a lot more to an MIT education than the credential. I won’t argue that the credential isn’t useful in that certain people are more willing to consider taking you seriously the first time they meet you (foot in the door), but people with that credential do still fail. And seriously, when does where you went to school even come up, except on a resume (that “foot in the door”)
      - tjpnz 3y ago
        >And seriously, when does where you went to school even come up, except on a resume (that “foot in the door”) Ever met someone who went to Harvard?
        deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
        gumby 3y ago
        ha! As they saying goes: "Harvard people boast that they 'went to school in Cambridge' because they're embarrassed they couldn't get into MIT"
      - 3y ago
- happytiger 3y ago
  > That’s called going to college. This is legacy thinking. There’s no reason that in the Internet age this should be necessary anymore. The current college system is simply a tradition from a bygone era that hasn’t really adapted to the 21st century yet.
_uoud 3y ago
In Finland this is commonplace with ”open university” courses which are just the typical unis offering single ECTS credit courses for a small fee or for free. They are fully fledged courses though. See for example: https://fitech.io/en/ https://fitech.io/en/ or https://www.mooc.fi/en/ https://www.mooc.fi/en/ It’s no MIT, but they can count towards an eventual completion of a degree, and if completed with good grades, after 20-40 credits or so you can get admitted directly into a full-time program without any entrance exams or such.
- happytiger 3y ago
  That’s amazing. Thanks for letting us know how it should be done. Hope US Universities are taking notes.
credit_guy 3y ago
These are not quite serious classes, they are fun experiments. They have a bit of educational value, but it looks to me the professors just put them together just for kicks. If you want to take MIT classes for credit, you can go to EdX. https://www.edx.org/school/mitx https://www.edx.org/school/mitx?
- kragen 3y ago
  many mit opencourseware classes are serious classes, not just fun experiments
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
foooobaba 3y ago
If you are willing to pay, some of the courses and programs like micro masters, micro bachelors on edx can count for credit, which is not necessarily cheap, but may be cheaper than it otherwise might be [1], also see [2] as example. All though even then, it may be cheaper to just enroll in some local or online classes at a community college in your state for a couple hundred dollars. [1] https://support.edx.org/hc/en-us/articles/206501438-Can-I-receive-college-credit-or-credit-hours-for-my-course-%20%0A https://support.edx.org/hc/en-us/articles/206501438-Can-I-re... [2] https://www.edx.org/masters/micromasters/purduex-nano-science-technology?webview=false&campaign=Nanoscience+and+Technology&source=edx&product_category=micromasters&placement_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.edx.org%2Fmasters%2Fmicromasters https://www.edx.org/masters/micromasters/purduex-nano-scienc...

PunchTornado 3y ago

Why would you need it? How would you pass exams? Who would pay for a teacher reading your exam and ensure you don't teach.. etc.

mathgeek 3y ago

You can, but the catch is getting accepted to MIT first.

voisin 3y ago
And the tuition and time out of the workforce, which puts it out of reach for many, many people.
- mathgeek 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure getting accepted to MIT also puts it out of reach for many, many people.

tourmalinetaco 3y ago

That’s called going to college. You can however earn certificates for courses through services such as EdX: https://www.edx.org/school/mitx https://www.edx.org/school/mitx Although it appears as though you need the “Certified” premium status to achieve certification, which is almost $200USD.

ekianjo 3y ago
> That’s called going to college. And thats too expensive for most people. Which is funny because knowledge is mostly free.
- a_bonobo 3y ago
  Knowledge is free; the time of people pushing the knowledge into you is not free. (Self-taught in my eyes usually means 'i've picked out the things that interest me and then learned those' - it's the job of the the paid people to force you to learn the things that don't directly interest you)
- chongli 3y ago
  Going to college is only nominally about acquiring knowledge. In reality it’s about acquiring a credential. All of the gatekeeping involved in admissions and examinations is to protect the value of the credential. The reason MOOC certificates are largely worthless as a credential is because there are NO safeguards against cheating.
  - gumby 3y ago
    There’s a lot more to an MIT education than the credential. I won’t argue that the credential isn’t useful in that certain people are more willing to consider taking you seriously the first time they meet you (foot in the door), but people with that credential do still fail. And seriously, when does where you went to school even come up, except on a resume (that “foot in the door”)
    - tjpnz 3y ago
      >And seriously, when does where you went to school even come up, except on a resume (that “foot in the door”) Ever met someone who went to Harvard?
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - gumby 3y ago
        ha! As they saying goes: "Harvard people boast that they 'went to school in Cambridge' because they're embarrassed they couldn't get into MIT"
    - 3y ago
happytiger 3y ago
> That’s called going to college. This is legacy thinking. There’s no reason that in the Internet age this should be necessary anymore. The current college system is simply a tradition from a bygone era that hasn’t really adapted to the 21st century yet.

_uoud 3y ago

In Finland this is commonplace with ”open university” courses which are just the typical unis offering single ECTS credit courses for a small fee or for free. They are fully fledged courses though. See for example: https://fitech.io/en/ https://fitech.io/en/ or https://www.mooc.fi/en/ https://www.mooc.fi/en/ It’s no MIT, but they can count towards an eventual completion of a degree, and if completed with good grades, after 20-40 credits or so you can get admitted directly into a full-time program without any entrance exams or such.

happytiger 3y ago
That’s amazing. Thanks for letting us know how it should be done. Hope US Universities are taking notes.

credit_guy 3y ago

These are not quite serious classes, they are fun experiments. They have a bit of educational value, but it looks to me the professors just put them together just for kicks. If you want to take MIT classes for credit, you can go to EdX. https://www.edx.org/school/mitx https://www.edx.org/school/mitx?

kragen 3y ago
many mit opencourseware classes are serious classes, not just fun experiments
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

foooobaba 3y ago

If you are willing to pay, some of the courses and programs like micro masters, micro bachelors on edx can count for credit, which is not necessarily cheap, but may be cheaper than it otherwise might be [1], also see [2] as example. All though even then, it may be cheaper to just enroll in some local or online classes at a community college in your state for a couple hundred dollars. [1] https://support.edx.org/hc/en-us/articles/206501438-Can-I-receive-college-credit-or-credit-hours-for-my-course-%20%0A https://support.edx.org/hc/en-us/articles/206501438-Can-I-re... [2] https://www.edx.org/masters/micromasters/purduex-nano-science-technology?webview=false&campaign=Nanoscience+and+Technology&source=edx&product_category=micromasters&placement_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.edx.org%2Fmasters%2Fmicromasters https://www.edx.org/masters/micromasters/purduex-nano-scienc...