5 ms·

Coursera to offer students free online textbooks, with conditions

79 points by sonabinu 14y ago

radicalbyte 14y ago
I've made a point of buying textbooks when they've been written by the person giving the course (and when they've taught me something). Like many here I can afford it, and it's my way of saying "thank you" for the effort.
- cstavish 13y ago
  That's cool, as long as the professor isn't a scumbag. A lot of my friends have been stuck with some dude who requires students to buy new editions of his book each year (he makes just enough changes to get away with it).
  - mtowle 13y ago
    Worst I've had was a chemistry 101 prof. With the knowledge, I'm sure, that chem 101 and bio 101 are far and away the most popular classes that fulfill science gen ed reqs, the professor chose not to write his own textbook but to create a (horrible) DVD with all the class content on it. Functionally, we're basically talking about chapters of powerpoint presentations with recordings by one of his T.A.'s explaining each diagram. This was a while ago, so I can't say how many sections of his 101 class there were (though he also taught 102), but we're talking in the neighborhood of 300-600 total students. $45 per DVD. Which you had to buy, because everything other than the exams (i.e. homework, quizzes) could only be submitted online...with a unique key from the DVD you bought. So assuming no royalties (he made the DVD himself), $45 * we'll say 400 students = $18,000 per semester. Minus the overhead of blank DVD's, to be fair.
pixelcort 14y ago
Wait, I'm confused. Isn't the whole point of free MOOCs is that their content is open source, freely modifiable by other teachers, or anyone? Or was I just under a rock when MOOCs were being popularized?
- devonbarrett 14y ago
  The way I understood this was to be that the courses are free and contain all the free 'open source' content needed for it; as they always have. However, the addition being, they will offer parts of selected published textbooks for free which would help with the understanding of the course - but were not produced as part of it.
- mcintyre1994 14y ago
  Hmm, not really. The current best-of-breed are taught by professors at big establishments, some of them basically mirror the university class they're currently teaching. They're usually videos too, so they're not exactly modifiable nope. They do tend to keep the content up after the classes though in my experience, so you could consider them open source.
  - fyi80 13y ago
    That's not open source at all. That's "freely available", and easy to redistribute (not necessarily legally)
- hmsimha 14y ago
  -Coursera and Udacity: platform and courses are proprietary -EdX and class2go: platform is open source, courses are not These are leagues ahead of platforms I've seen which are completely modifiable in content.
- PeterisP 13y ago
  Pretty much all [good] current MOOCs are free as in beer, but the content is not open source in any way. They have (yet) to monetize, and they most likely will do so. I'd seriously expect that they won't stay free as in beer, but either paid (though orders of magnitude cheaper than 'classic' courses) or freemium. Coursera Signature track (verification & official certification/uni credits for some courses) already can be considered as a freemium experiment.
dhawalhs 14y ago
edX's 6.002x: Circuits and Electronics also provides the textbook for free with similar conditions. The textbook in question is The Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits ($79.99 on Amazon) by Agarwal and Lang published by Elsevier
tokenadult 14y ago
This will greatly improve the appeal of Massive Open Online Courses for people like me who would rather read than listen to a lecture. I can read faster than almost anyone can talk. And a well selected set of readings by several authors provides more perspective on a subject than a lecture series by one lecturer. I really like the effort that Coursera, Udacity, edX, etc. are making to offer free online courses on college-level subjects. I will be better able to time-shift my studying and learn more faster if the courses include readings as well as video lectures. Three cheers for Coursera doing this.
- tjr 14y ago
  Genuinely curious, not trying to be snarky: why not just read a book then? What additional value do you get out of taking the course?
  - mapleoin 14y ago
    I guess interacting with other students, having assignments to complete and having someone else look at them, getting a sense of accomplishment after finishing it etc. That's why I sometimes take MOOCs.
  - SatvikBeri 14y ago
    For me, the automatically graded exercise and access to a forum of people who're working on the same information are two major bonuses. Add in the fact that more and more employers are recognizing Coursera courses and it's a huge value-add.
- SeanDav 14y ago
  I too can read faster than most people can talk, but I have the opposite view to you. If it is a technical subject and the lecturer is good then I get far more from a lecture than a book, in the same amount of time. Kahn lectures are an example and there are many, many other online lectures that I would rather watch than read a book about the subject and I love reading books :) Note that this is not an either-or. I will watch the lecture and still read the book as this is more efficient method for me. 1. Watch lectures 2. Browse book. 3. Focus in on areas of book I find interesting or relevant. 4. Do examples.

79 points by sonabinu 14y ago

I've made a point of buying textbooks when they've been written by the person giving the course (and when they've taught me something). Like many here I can afford it, and it's my way of saying "thank you" for the effort.

cstavish 13y ago
That's cool, as long as the professor isn't a scumbag. A lot of my friends have been stuck with some dude who requires students to buy new editions of his book each year (he makes just enough changes to get away with it).
- mtowle 13y ago
  Worst I've had was a chemistry 101 prof. With the knowledge, I'm sure, that chem 101 and bio 101 are far and away the most popular classes that fulfill science gen ed reqs, the professor chose not to write his own textbook but to create a (horrible) DVD with all the class content on it. Functionally, we're basically talking about chapters of powerpoint presentations with recordings by one of his T.A.'s explaining each diagram. This was a while ago, so I can't say how many sections of his 101 class there were (though he also taught 102), but we're talking in the neighborhood of 300-600 total students. $45 per DVD. Which you had to buy, because everything other than the exams (i.e. homework, quizzes) could only be submitted online...with a unique key from the DVD you bought. So assuming no royalties (he made the DVD himself), $45 * we'll say 400 students = $18,000 per semester. Minus the overhead of blank DVD's, to be fair.

pixelcort 14y ago

Wait, I'm confused. Isn't the whole point of free MOOCs is that their content is open source, freely modifiable by other teachers, or anyone? Or was I just under a rock when MOOCs were being popularized?

devonbarrett 14y ago
The way I understood this was to be that the courses are free and contain all the free 'open source' content needed for it; as they always have. However, the addition being, they will offer parts of selected published textbooks for free which would help with the understanding of the course - but were not produced as part of it.
mcintyre1994 14y ago
Hmm, not really. The current best-of-breed are taught by professors at big establishments, some of them basically mirror the university class they're currently teaching. They're usually videos too, so they're not exactly modifiable nope. They do tend to keep the content up after the classes though in my experience, so you could consider them open source.
- fyi80 13y ago
  That's not open source at all. That's "freely available", and easy to redistribute (not necessarily legally)
hmsimha 14y ago
-Coursera and Udacity: platform and courses are proprietary -EdX and class2go: platform is open source, courses are not These are leagues ahead of platforms I've seen which are completely modifiable in content.
PeterisP 13y ago
Pretty much all [good] current MOOCs are free as in beer, but the content is not open source in any way. They have (yet) to monetize, and they most likely will do so. I'd seriously expect that they won't stay free as in beer, but either paid (though orders of magnitude cheaper than 'classic' courses) or freemium. Coursera Signature track (verification & official certification/uni credits for some courses) already can be considered as a freemium experiment.

dhawalhs 14y ago

edX's 6.002x: Circuits and Electronics also provides the textbook for free with similar conditions. The textbook in question is The Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits ($79.99 on Amazon) by Agarwal and Lang published by Elsevier

tokenadult 14y ago

This will greatly improve the appeal of Massive Open Online Courses for people like me who would rather read than listen to a lecture. I can read faster than almost anyone can talk. And a well selected set of readings by several authors provides more perspective on a subject than a lecture series by one lecturer. I really like the effort that Coursera, Udacity, edX, etc. are making to offer free online courses on college-level subjects. I will be better able to time-shift my studying and learn more faster if the courses include readings as well as video lectures. Three cheers for Coursera doing this.

tjr 14y ago
Genuinely curious, not trying to be snarky: why not just read a book then? What additional value do you get out of taking the course?
- mapleoin 14y ago
  I guess interacting with other students, having assignments to complete and having someone else look at them, getting a sense of accomplishment after finishing it etc. That's why I sometimes take MOOCs.
- SatvikBeri 14y ago
  For me, the automatically graded exercise and access to a forum of people who're working on the same information are two major bonuses. Add in the fact that more and more employers are recognizing Coursera courses and it's a huge value-add.
SeanDav 14y ago
I too can read faster than most people can talk, but I have the opposite view to you. If it is a technical subject and the lecturer is good then I get far more from a lecture than a book, in the same amount of time. Kahn lectures are an example and there are many, many other online lectures that I would rather watch than read a book about the subject and I love reading books :) Note that this is not an either-or. I will watch the lecture and still read the book as this is more efficient method for me. 1. Watch lectures 2. Browse book. 3. Focus in on areas of book I find interesting or relevant. 4. Do examples.