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I don't know much about this class, so I can't really say what's the difference between this class and watching a video on YouTube, but I took a couple of courses on Coursera and I have to say, there's a big difference (generally speaking). I'm not an MOOC expert, but some differences that I've noticed from my experiences: - You can engage with people who want to learn the same thing as you do via discussion forums. Those people are basically your class mates. You have the same teacher, same assignments, you get to watch the same lectures etc. If you have a question you'd like to ask, you get to ask those questions to your class mates and you can have discussions on that very subject. Sometimes teachers get involved too and if they don't, you can ask them to get involved. - Teachers provide course materials. Some of them are transcripts of video lectures but some of them contain some really good information that you probably can't find anywhere else, because they're mostly written by your teacher specifically for that class. - Sense of accomplishment. Now this may differ from person to person, but it's nice to get some acknowledgment once you finish your course. - Quizzes. You actually get to test your knowledge. If the course requires an assignment for you to finish the course, that's even better. For example, you take a class on International Law, you may be required to write an essay on the subject with X amount of word limit. They give you a hard deadline and that becomes your homework. You actually feel like you're a student. Plus, teachers actually read what you've written and some of them even give notes. - You can get verified certificate, but I believe they announced that fairly early and I'm not exactly sure how that works. But seems self-explanatory. - And the best thing is, I get to have all these things for free. I'm thousands of miles away from the US or the UK, but I can still take classes from Princeton University or University of Edinburgh, and that's just so cool. I realize the quality of education is not the same as taking an actual class by attending the school, but who cares? You watch the same lectures from the same professors (most of the time) and it's for free, in the comfort of my home and at my own convenience. |