Review: Coursera

[jessicasteiner]

I had a crazy day, today, so I suspect this post is going to be pretty short. Oh well.

A couple of months ago, I made a post about Coursera, a website where one can take free university courses on a variety of subjects. I was pretty excited about the idea, and I'd signed up for a half a dozen different courses. The courses are taught primarily through the watching of videos, the doing of small assignments and the taking of quizzes.

Now I've completed four courses, and I thought it was time to talk about it again.

Overall, I'm really pleased about this discovery, and I think I'll continue to take Coursera courses for as long as it holds my attention.

I've taken a course on pharmaceuticals, a course on genetics, one of international criminal law, and one on nutrition. In all four courses, I've learned some pretty amazing things.

I wound up quitting the Pharma course halfway through, because I found that I'd learned the few things I wanted to learn, and the requirements for course completion were far too rigorous for it to be worth it to me to actually get the certificate of completion. But the other three courses I stuck through and received certificates for.

There's really no downside to Coursera. If you're not enjoying the course, you can always quit. There's no cost and really no spam. The courses range from sciences to computers to social subjects, and more.

The main thing to be cognizant of is checking the syllabus to see what the completion requirements are and taking a realistic look at your life. There was a period when I felt pretty overwhelmed, which was part of why I quit the one course. I don't think I could ever manage more than 2-3 courses at a time. The nutrition course was a huge time suck, because there were so many videos, but I stuck it through because I was learning so much that was really valuable to me. Right now I'm in the midst of a science fiction and fantasy literature course, which is also a big time investment, since I'm having to try to find time to read all these great stories. But I'm enjoying it and trying not to stress about being constantly behind.

Be aware of your limits and don't attach too much importance to it, and I guarantee you'll learn a lot.

Comments

[leia_solo]

Thank you so much for linking to this! I've already found two that really interest me. Damn I really love the internet sometimes.

[jessicasteiner]

Love and hate, haha. It sure does easily give me more stuff to spend my time on!

[kay_brooke]

I'm starting my first Coursera class next Monday, so thank you for this. I'm glad to know it's worth the time.

[jessicasteiner]

You're welcome! I hope you have fun.

[clare_dragonfly]

I'm glad it's been valuable to you! And good to know you can drop without penalty. I've signed up for two courses, but both of them have had their start dates postponed and now they start at the same time. I think I can view the videos for one of them ahead of time, though.

[jessicasteiner]

Oh dear, haha. There's definitely no penalty for dropping, or even for staying in the course and not actually doing the assignments. That's what I'm doing with the Fantasy and Science Fiction literature course because I can't be bothered doing the essays.

[clare_dragonfly]

Ha, I might well end up doing that. I love learning stuff but I have no particular need for a certificate that says I did.

[jessicasteiner]

I hear you XD I got the certificate for most of the courses I've taken, but if it's too much of a hassle, it's really not worth it. The certificates don't actually do anything for you.

[spaceoperadiva]

My fifteen year old daughter took an Economics class on Coursera that she really liked. She didn't quite make a high enough grade to get the certificate of completion, which bummed her a bit. I told her it was great she had a pretty good grade ( a high C average, almost a B, just missed the cutoff) in a course designed for college kids and to not sweat it. When I have some actual free time, I'm going to see if there's anything for me!

[jessicasteiner]

I'm sure an Economics course would be pretty challenging, and plus you're doing it on your own time.

[bookblather]

The good review just makes me even more interested in this site. Thanks for the rec!

[jessicasteiner]

I hope you have fun with it!