[intellegacy]

I've just finished Udacity CS101 and am about to finish edX 6.00x (both are intro to cs courses).

I've done a lot of thought and research into MOOCs and normal CS bachelor's programs. Initially I was really excited about getting a CS BS for free, online. The savings would be about $40000 compared with going to my local state school.

But the luster soon dulled once I realized that it will be some time before Universities accept MOOC certificates as credit (or never). So my self-study CS degree is really nothing more than cracking open textbooks and watching youtube videos as far as an employer is concerned.

We're at a strange impasse where MOOCs are free but are limited by the weakness of being no-credit, and Universities are outrageously expensive but provide the value of being for-credit.

Up until a week ago I had signed up for 7 or 8 courses, excited to further my CS education. I've since decided to cancel them all. Coursera's Data Structures course doesn't even give you a certificate! Even if you ace the course you get nada. zip. zilch.

Sorry but that's just too much of a downside for me. If you're going to spend 10 hours a week for 3 months (what's that.. 100-120 hours) you might as well get credit for it. Sad but that's how this world works. Either University prices need to be cut in half or MOOC certificates need to count for something. Something has to give. Until then I will be wary about putting my time into MOOCs.

The good thing is that with the flood of students to MOOC education, employers will soon be forced to take note of the courses these MOOC students have taken. This change in attitude will take some time to effect - 10 years before significant attitude shift and then 20-30 years before a complete attitude shift.

I'd rather not wait that long, but I may not have a choice, like many other people. The strange thing is that it's rational to eschew university and study MOOCs, but it's also rational to bite the high university tuition costs and get the degree. It's a very, very interesting time for education.

[ryusage]

For what it's worth, in my experience with programming jobs, no one really cares what your credentials are. Obviously, some places will, but you absolutely could get a job on skill alone. When I've been involved in hiring, no one paid much attention to the applicant's school - it was a side note, followed by the question, "Okay, so what can they actually do?" It's well known among developers that a lot of people with degrees are actually worthless, and many self-taught people are amazing.

[tcbawo]

It's extremely difficult to judge a software development candidate's abilities from a short interview. Every company I've worked for has used the school/degree/GPA as filtering criteria. Otherwise, it would be impossible to interview every candidate that applies for a job. This is most true for candidates without experience -- a university degree essentially becomes a proxy for ability.

[sonabinu]

With programming,the self-taught are wonderful. MOOCs are a place for those with motivation to start their learning journey. The continuity and application of that learning comes from individual drive.

[intellegacy]

If you stick to the programming world, what you said is true. Once you venture outside that world, employers value the degree.

[ryusage]

Absolutely. I only mentioned it since you were talking about CS classes, which are often taken with an aim towards a programming career.

[ph0rque]

But the luster soon dulled once I realized that it will be some time before Universities accept MOOC certificates as credit (or never).

Good news! http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680899/you-can-now-earn-real-col... Now you can get back to learning.

[intellegacy]

You still need to join a University for the credit to be worth something. So maybe students will be able to transfer in many credits, kind of like APs.

FWIW, my state school requires 45 credits to be taken at the Uni for a bachelor's in CS so the announcement is not too too helpful for me.

[barik]

> You still need to join a University for the credit to be worth something. So maybe students will be able to transfer in many credits, kind of like APs.

This is in fact exactly what I think people should do. MOOCs are not an either-or proposition. Many people do not know this, but you can take an AP exams without having actually taken the course [1]. If you do well on the AP exam, it will count as college credit. Good scores on all of the relevent AP exams can easily shave off a year, and possibly a little more.

I see MOOCs as an avenue for self-study that allows you to obtain most or the majority of your college course credits relatively inexpensively by augmenting what you have learned in the MOOC alongside traditional (and accepted) examination procedures. Then, the University environment can be better utilized for where it's really needed -- for access to research facilities, computational equipment, labs, and other technologies are extremely expensive to obtain as a single individual.

In addition, almost every University (though it's not well-advertised) offers credit-by-examination or some variation of it to skip courses. I know of two rare students from Georgia Tech who were able to obtain a 4-year BS in Computer Science in roughly 2-years through this approach. It turns out to be an extraordinary difficult feat to do, since academic performance is both a function of raw knowledge well as experience.

[1] http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about_faq.htm...

[intellegacy]

Hmm. This is excellent info. thank you. I wish you could have advised me many years ago :)

[Turing_Machine]

"Even if you ace the course you get nada. zip. zilch."

You mean other than the knowledge you've acquired? I guess it depends on your goal. :-)

[intellegacy]

Yes, the knowledge acquired is assumed :)

but really, I've realized there's no difference between MOOC and self-studying a textbook if the MOOCs don't provide credit.

[chii]

> I've realized there's no difference between MOOC and self-studying a textbook if the MOOCs don't provide credit.

MOOC is curated - it is much easier to learn via a MOOC than self study. THe credit/certs is only to "prove" to someone else who don't care about your actual person that you have the said skills. credit/certs are a poor proxy for skill and competency imho.

[Turing_Machine]

A MOOC (a good one, anyway) puts you in contact with many others who are studying the same material and can provide valuable insights on it.

You don't get that with a book.