That's really cool. Unfortunately, I'm not willing to drop $400 for an online course of unknown quality, with uncertainty about accredidation, when coursera is free. How do you plan to attract your initial users?
If you look at the value proposition for a student, our web app class is extremely high. The material covered in that class can have a direct impact on job prospects, billing rates, or internal promotion opportunities, and it is such a difficult area to self teach that saving tens or hundreds of hours fighting though online tutorials is well worth the $200 or $400 that the class costs.
I'm not slagging you, by the way. Just offering my initial reaction as someone who would be interested in such a class, who is doing a CS degree at a traditional university, and who would like to see someone disrupt the higher education model.
Other than user reviews (and the free preview and money back guarantee), what could we do to convince you (or other prospective students in your position) that it's worth the risk? Would a google hangout with Dr. Ostrowski (something we have been talking about) make a difference ?
Make this more prominent; I didn't see any mention of it. Just "Give us $400 for our awesome class".
>Would a google hangout with Dr. Ostrowski make a difference ?
Absolutely. An AMA wouldn't hurt, either. Also, sign me up for your newsletter. Email's in my profile.
I've been considering an AMA on Reddit, even though I actually had to quit the site three months ago to get to where we are. AMAs on HN are a little tricky as the commenting system is so...unique.
Either way, I'll add your email and keep you updated.
I like your idea, and I love your goal, but it's going to take more than that to make me a customer who forks over hundreds of dollars. You've got the attention of the technorati; I'd first focus on how you can convert them to paying customers, then deal with the plebs later.