8 ms·

Udacity offers new classes from this summer

83 points by fnaticshank 14y ago

see all the courses here -- http://www.udacity.com/courses

moistgorilla 14y ago
Wow, these classes actually look interesting. I'm glad they aren't just sticking to computers. It would be neat if they could somehow tie up all of the subjects together. Such as a course on computing applied to physics.
- paradoja 14y ago
  Certainly not what you asked for, but maybe you'll be interested in this: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicm/ http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicm/ .
jaysonelliot 14y ago
I've been having a lot of discussions with friends about open courseware lately. I love what Udacity, MIT, Stanford, Khan Academy and others are doing, but I can't wait until students can earn degree credit from OCW. For millions of people, a four year degree isn't an option because they can't go to the school's physical location, pay the tuition, and either work part-time or not at all while studying full-time. People in that situation aren't going to put in the time and effort for OCW classes that don't count towards a degree, and they end up missing out on a ticket to a better life. Some people will, of course, and obviously already do, but for the vast majority, it's not the same incentive as the opportunity to actually get a degree. Of course there's a lot of value in the education itself, but once open courseware becomes accepted as a legitimate way to earn a degree, we're going to see a radical change in humanity's future. As soon as people around the US and the world can afford the time and money to earn Ivy League-quality degrees from wherever they live, they'll flock to them, and we'll see the benefits of an educated society around the globe.
- moistgorilla 14y ago
  It would be awesome if some sort of body was able to release a syllabus with the information you are required to learn and some course materials. Then, after a certain time period, they would give a standardized test that determined if you passed the course or not. It would motivate people to go out on their own and learn things their way. The only disadvantage is that they wont have the social interaction component associated with college.
  - jaysonelliot 14y ago
    That's very true. You can get some level of social interaction online, but it's not a substitute for the college experience. It would still be amazing for people who otherwise had no chance at a degree to be able to do so through OCW. Even the ability to earn some degree credits online, and then apply them to a shortened on-campus degree program would be a huge leap forward.
  - TheCount 14y ago
    Yes, this seems like a much more appropriate progression than imposing the credit-degree system on online education. A standardized test would assess the depth of one's knowledge, with proper validation and scoring to allow one to compare any one test-taker to another. It's also more meritocratic, because as it is, one might be forced to compare the grades of say, a Stanford grad with that of a Cal State grad, and there's no easy way to compare the two given the potential differences in course content, difficulty, grade inflation, peer competitiveness, etc. With a way to objectively compare students, the value of a prestige degree, decoupled from the implied intellectual capacity of its holder, might decline. We already do this with Advanced Placement tests, although it would make sense to have more granular grading, to distinguish say the top .1% from the 1% from the 10%. The most important part of this, for it to gain mainstream credibility, is for employers to actually hire people on the strength of these qualifications, as well as their interviewing skills, demonstrated work ethic, etc. Most people are going to school to get a good job, and if online education can provide that cheaper and faster, then brick and mortar schools will lose a lot of their advantage. The optimistic scenario: employers, entrepreneurs and teachers get together to decide what they want potential employees to know, and go about writing a test that covers that material. Then the educators write courses that cover that material. In turn, these schools might even publish their student passing rates, pointing the way to the best teaching resources and methods. While there'd be a certain amount of teaching to the test, if the tests are written well, that's not such a bad thing - the student would ace the test by knowing the material.
ivan_ah 14y ago
The physics syllabus looks quite good. Let's hope they go into the details. Physics is quite simple once you know what derivatives and integrals are. Then you get to understand where the equations come from. F=ma, so given F_net, you can find a of an object. And a is def as dv/dt. So if you integrate a, you get v(t) = at + v_o, where v_o = v(t=0). And v is def as dx/dt, so we integrate v(t) to get: x(t) = 0.5*a*t*t + v_o*t + x_o. They should use Feynman's lectures on physics as the course textbook. That stuff is gold. @moistgorilla yeah some code along with each lecture would be really cool. You explain theory in four pages, then you say "check out these functions" and you show for each equation in the theory sections is implemented in code. For example. x(t) = int( int('a',t,initval=v_o),t,initval=x_0). can simpy do the int part?
ph0rque 14y ago
Anyone know if premiere means non-free? If they are free, what's the difference between premiere and non-premiere?
- xi 14y ago
  I'd guess premiere just means offered for the first time.
  - ph0rque 14y ago
    Thanks, my sleepless brain interpreted premiere as premium.
damian2000 14y ago
Get into them now before these companies start charging for these, which they probably will at some point in the future. Personally I'd be more than happy to pay something, but I know that there are a lot of people around the world who would be excluded if any fee was charged, even a small nominal fee.

83 points by fnaticshank 14y ago

see all the courses here -- http://www.udacity.com/courses

Wow, these classes actually look interesting. I'm glad they aren't just sticking to computers. It would be neat if they could somehow tie up all of the subjects together. Such as a course on computing applied to physics.

paradoja 14y ago
Certainly not what you asked for, but maybe you'll be interested in this: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicm/ http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicm/ .

jaysonelliot 14y ago

I've been having a lot of discussions with friends about open courseware lately. I love what Udacity, MIT, Stanford, Khan Academy and others are doing, but I can't wait until students can earn degree credit from OCW. For millions of people, a four year degree isn't an option because they can't go to the school's physical location, pay the tuition, and either work part-time or not at all while studying full-time. People in that situation aren't going to put in the time and effort for OCW classes that don't count towards a degree, and they end up missing out on a ticket to a better life. Some people will, of course, and obviously already do, but for the vast majority, it's not the same incentive as the opportunity to actually get a degree. Of course there's a lot of value in the education itself, but once open courseware becomes accepted as a legitimate way to earn a degree, we're going to see a radical change in humanity's future. As soon as people around the US and the world can afford the time and money to earn Ivy League-quality degrees from wherever they live, they'll flock to them, and we'll see the benefits of an educated society around the globe.

moistgorilla 14y ago
It would be awesome if some sort of body was able to release a syllabus with the information you are required to learn and some course materials. Then, after a certain time period, they would give a standardized test that determined if you passed the course or not. It would motivate people to go out on their own and learn things their way. The only disadvantage is that they wont have the social interaction component associated with college.
- jaysonelliot 14y ago
  That's very true. You can get some level of social interaction online, but it's not a substitute for the college experience. It would still be amazing for people who otherwise had no chance at a degree to be able to do so through OCW. Even the ability to earn some degree credits online, and then apply them to a shortened on-campus degree program would be a huge leap forward.
- TheCount 14y ago
  Yes, this seems like a much more appropriate progression than imposing the credit-degree system on online education. A standardized test would assess the depth of one's knowledge, with proper validation and scoring to allow one to compare any one test-taker to another. It's also more meritocratic, because as it is, one might be forced to compare the grades of say, a Stanford grad with that of a Cal State grad, and there's no easy way to compare the two given the potential differences in course content, difficulty, grade inflation, peer competitiveness, etc. With a way to objectively compare students, the value of a prestige degree, decoupled from the implied intellectual capacity of its holder, might decline. We already do this with Advanced Placement tests, although it would make sense to have more granular grading, to distinguish say the top .1% from the 1% from the 10%. The most important part of this, for it to gain mainstream credibility, is for employers to actually hire people on the strength of these qualifications, as well as their interviewing skills, demonstrated work ethic, etc. Most people are going to school to get a good job, and if online education can provide that cheaper and faster, then brick and mortar schools will lose a lot of their advantage. The optimistic scenario: employers, entrepreneurs and teachers get together to decide what they want potential employees to know, and go about writing a test that covers that material. Then the educators write courses that cover that material. In turn, these schools might even publish their student passing rates, pointing the way to the best teaching resources and methods. While there'd be a certain amount of teaching to the test, if the tests are written well, that's not such a bad thing - the student would ace the test by knowing the material.

ivan_ah 14y ago

The physics syllabus looks quite good. Let's hope they go into the details. Physics is quite simple once you know what derivatives and integrals are. Then you get to understand where the equations come from. F=ma, so given F_net, you can find a of an object. And a is def as dv/dt. So if you integrate a, you get v(t) = at + v_o, where v_o = v(t=0). And v is def as dx/dt, so we integrate v(t) to get: x(t) = 0.5*a*t*t + v_o*t + x_o. They should use Feynman's lectures on physics as the course textbook. That stuff is gold. @moistgorilla yeah some code along with each lecture would be really cool. You explain theory in four pages, then you say "check out these functions" and you show for each equation in the theory sections is implemented in code. For example. x(t) = int( int('a',t,initval=v_o),t,initval=x_0). can simpy do the int part?

ph0rque 14y ago

Anyone know if premiere means non-free? If they are free, what's the difference between premiere and non-premiere?

xi 14y ago
I'd guess premiere just means offered for the first time.
- ph0rque 14y ago
  Thanks, my sleepless brain interpreted premiere as premium.

damian2000 14y ago

Get into them now before these companies start charging for these, which they probably will at some point in the future. Personally I'd be more than happy to pay something, but I know that there are a lot of people around the world who would be excluded if any fee was charged, even a small nominal fee.