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Yes it is, and you're absolutely right. Nobody is an expert straight out of school. But school lays the foundation for future learning, and if you look at the reviews posted, almost all the posts talk about how easy the class was. It didn't challenge the students. It didn't push them. It didn't teach them. If the foundation isn't solid, then how can you build anything on it?

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Remember, the people giving the reviews are stanford students. They are much better academically, and are used to much tougher courses than you're average college student.

On the other hand, i've seen a review from somebody in kenya i think, that said that those online courses are much much better than university courses offered in his country.

Also there are varying levels of difficulty at coursera,MITx and udacity. Someone in this thread said MITx course was challenging. So we still have to see if courses are challenging and to whom.

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