| Hmm - your experience seems different from mine; but maybe you've taken more courses - or more recently? My first experience with MOOCs was the Fall 2011 Stanford courses (AI Class and ML Class) - which ultimately spawned Udacity and Coursera (respectively). I wasn't able to finish the AI Class, but I did complete the ML Class. In the spring of 2012, Udacity announced their "CS373 - How to Build a Self-Driving Vehicle" course, which was supposed to be what Thrun could offer as comparable to the old AI Class (CS373 became the AI for Robotics course, IIRC). Later Udacity was able to offer the AI Class content. Coursera from the beginning offered the ML Class content. In both of these, I don't know how they each compare to the inaugural Stanford courses. I want to note here that when I say "Stanford", I am not meaning to imply that Stanford offered them, or you got credit or anything like that - it was just that these courses were initially linked to them, via the instructors and the "experiment" in MOOCs. The response was so large, that the spinoff of Udacity and Coursera was the result. Anyhow - I found that the CS373 course was really tough for me, though I was able to complete it fully. For me, it really help to open my eyes and mind more on how certain things worked (Kalman filters, PID, etc), and expanded on things I learned in the ML Class (ANNs especially). It also highlighted areas I needed help with (probability and stats, mainly). Coding wasn't the issue, as I has been employed as a software developer for over 20 years. When the Self-Driving Car Nanodegree popped up, I jumped at the chance. I got in, I paid my initial money. I guess we'll see if it is worth it. I have no illusions that I am going to "land a new job" from this - if I do, great. I do hope that it will further my knowledge and understanding though in this field, and maybe it can help me with other things (I dabble in hobbyist robotics, for instance). So yeah - one could say I am spending $2400.00 on a lark, but I have wasted similar large amounts for less on the payback end (worst one was paying for a year at TechShop - which I only went to a few times - but I know how to use a laser cutter and 3d printer now - w00t?). I am trusting that the level of the course will be on par with the CS373 course; I guess we'll see. |