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Comment by mk3 | Hacker News Reader

I have a big problem with edx and coursera courses. As I have a need to work a day job, sometimes rushed projects come in, and these two platforms are offering courses with tight schedules. It would be nice if they would adopt Udacity model, which is more loose. Also the same applies for 10gen education of mongodb which is also made into tight schedule.

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The schedule of the courses is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the schedule actualy made me do the courses, as opposed to doing them "some day", i.e. never getting around to it.

On the other hand, if you are working full time and have a family, it is a real challenge to fit the required work in.

I have taken two courses from Coursera, Intro to Databases (8 weeks), and Algorithms part 1 (5 weeks). A shorter course is definitely more managable in terms of time-commitment.

I written about my experience in more detail here: http://henrikwarne.com/2011/12/18/introduction-to-databases-... and here http://henrikwarne.com/2012/05/08/coursera-algorithms-course...

I just finished Udacity's CS101 course and the lack of deadlines was good for me. I started it months ago and only found time to finish it over my Christmas break, because just watching the videos took me a whole evening per section, and then there are quizzes and homework. And that's to someone who wasn't new to CS but was doing it mainly as an introduction to Python.

I was somewhat surprised, though, to find that the final exam also has no time limits. I couldn't get one of the 12 exam questions right, but apparently I can come back at any time I feel like another go at turning that last question into a green tick. I'm not even sure if there's anything to stop me reading the "spoiler" forum questions about it first.

The course has been excellent and has some respected names behind it, so I had thought that the transcripts and certificates offered had some sort of credibility, but I guess I was wrong expecting my end grade to be any more credible than how many Codecademy badges I have. (Codecademy is good fun too!)

> I'm not even sure if there's anything to stop me reading the "spoiler" forum questions about it first.

There isn't, except your own drive.

> I had thought that the transcripts and certificates offered had some sort of credibility

The certificates as they are now are more for your self as a proof of accomplishment thing. I have heard that they may be moving towards a real closed exam provided by something like Prometric, like any number of IT certifications, that would be something that could be pointed to in a more credible manner.

It is worth noting that the material stays online, so you can always learn at your own pace - just without the certificate. I agree that it can be difficult to fit to a schedule, but one other advantage is that with a schedule the community taking the course can grow and learn at roughly the same pace, and it can help foster further discussion. Both approaches have their pros and cons.

For anyone who has taken both 'tight schedule' and 'anytime' MOOCs -- if possible, preferably relating to the same subject and difficulty -- are there any differences between the two aside from scheduling? For instance, I would imagine the discussion boards are more active at a given moment for a 'tight schedule' course, but there may be more discussions on an 'anytime' course due to accumulation.

I can totally understand as I have experienced the exact same thing. But... I do believe that this is the way to go, because, imo the difficult part for a working professional is to get into a schedule.

I am in the same boat, and in the end, I simply ended up becoming a statistic (dropped out). I agree with you on the Udacity point. I found the lack of tight schedule a blessing, actually.

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