from reading a textbook or a set of televised lectures.

There is no way these are equivalent to being in an actual class at one of these universities, where the students have the opportunity to engage in give and take with the professors and teaching assistants and to produce original, in-depth work.

This looks like spam to me.

i have learned more from self studying things because i did it on my own time and had interest in it. i valued learning in itself.

in class sometimes you just slack off and only worry about passing without really putting much into it.

What looks like spam to you? My font? Did you go there and look at it, apparently not. How can you be so negative about free education?

It is tough to get around DU the first 100 or so posts, where the old timers like to pick on the newbies. Thanks for the link.

at least some classes in distance learning. I think I actually learned more by having to do it more or less on my own. I only went to the college for one class to take tests.

I don't know the college, but it is not free.

free and are the "real deal."

MIT has been at this for awhile, actually.

It's a cool thing if you've got that "Love of Learning" thing going on! Also, if you want to take a class but have been out of the educational loop for awhile, it's a good way to dip the old toe back in.


Edited to add a link to an article talking about EDx--which is nothing more than a partnership agency for these universities:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/edx-faq-050212.html

and she is watching a series of lectures from MIT that are very good. Between that and me working with her I think she can duplicate the experience of the university or do even better (not have some foreign TA who cannot speak English teach her like I had happen for Calculus III). I have to admit my Calculus I and II lectures were great, but we were crammed into huge lecture halls. The recitation sections were so so.

were cheating by finding the answers to the problems on help sites online. (You could buy an answer for $6 -8 dollars.) He told his professor about this and the professor answered "you'd be sick if you knew how common this was."

What a joke.

This is the 2nd negative thing you've said. Read the descriptions. I know two people who have taken these classes and I have signed up as well. Just because it's too hard for you, don't call it a joke.

is equivalent to taking the same coursework in a classroom situation with the give and take of other students and the professor; and individually graded essays, research papers, and lab projects.

You need a "lab" to study mathematics? Anthropology? Architecture? English literature?

Please.

You're the one joking here--you have absolutely no idea, not one tiny clue, what the program is about, and you're dissing it with ZERO knowledge.

Have a look at what's on offer...or don't. I've no time for Negative Nancys--this is a GOOD thing they're doing.


http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/

and other junior high and high school students.

They really learned the science (and math), yo.

Labs are not all that important, even in chemistry, until you get beyond the undergrad. level. A student would spend a very limited amount of time in the lab and the experiments are very contrived, simple and short. I'd be hard-pressed to even remember any of my undergrad labs.

Also, access to professors outside of the class is restricted, TA's are usually overworked and often have issues such as poor communication skills, study groups can be hit or miss.

The bottom line is that someone who puts effort into paying attention to the lectures, buys the corresponding textbook and works through the homework problems, and takes advantage of other resources such as discussion forums and youtube tutorials, etc. could absolutely learn the material as well as any MIT student. There is no doubt in my mind.

I am going to look further into this.

Thanks!

You have my attention. Several topics from there I would love to sit in on.

Thanks for this. k&r and bookmarking.

on-line version of reading the textbook. It can be useful to prepare for an actual class or to satisfy simple curiosity, but is no substitute for the "real deal".

opportunity. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/education/mit-expands-free-online-courses-offering-certificates.html

entirely online. It suits him--he pays better attention, he learns quicker, and he's on the dean's list.