Stanford's Free Computer Science Courses

mikejuk writes "Stanford University is offering the online world more of its undergraduate level CS courses. These free courses consist of You Tube videos with computer-marked quizzes and programming assignments. The ball had been started rolling by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig's free online version of their Stanford AI class, for which they hoped to reach an audience in the order of a hundred thousand, a target which they seem to have achieved. As well as the previously announced Machine learning course you can now sign up to any of: Computer Science 101, Software as a Service, Human-Computer Interaction, Natural Language Processing, Game Theory, Probabilistic Graphical Models, Cryptography and Design and Analysis of Algorithms. Almost a complete computer science course and they are adding more. Introductory videos and details are available from each courses website."

Comments

Future of education

[Azureflare]

With the power of the internet and technology rapidly replacing traditional classrooms and workplaces, this seems to be the most cost effective and efficient way to educate those who are young. When employment is no longer an incentive for going to college, we have to find ways to provide education or our entire country (And the world) will suffer when we have a nation of troglodytes.

Re:Future of education

[geekoid]

Employment should have never been the incentive for going to college. Learning should have been.

Of course, it's hard to feel bed for someone who can't get a job based on their BA degree in 'History', or 'art lit'.

Seriously, their great programs, but how many time have you seen 'History' major wanted listed on craigslist?

Re:Future of education

[PopeRatzo]

That will happen just after social networking replaces meeting people in bars

That's already happened, sometime early in 2009.

Where you been?

Re:Future of education

[Fned]

If going to bars leaves you 100k in debt and bereft of any employment opportunities, you're either doing it wrong, or doing it very, very right...

Re:Future of education

[larry bagina]

In a bar, wondering why he's not meeting people.

Re:Future of education

[White Flame]

That's what licensing is for. If they're properly licensed to do the job, does it matter whether they went to learn?

Re:Future of education

[scottbomb]

That's because no one else will hire them.

Re:Future of education

[TheRaven64]

You know the old saying: those who fail to learn from history are doomed to forever work in the private sector.

AI Class

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm taking the AI class right now. While there are constraints on the complexity of questions they can ask and what they can expect to teach online, it's still very interesting. At the very least it presents an involved beginners guide as a starting point in this field.

I've never taken any other online courses, but having quizes mixed into the lectures is a really good idea. Makes you really think about the material as you are going through it.

Re:AI Class

[mrchaotica]

I'm taking all three courses being offered right now: AI, machine learning, and intro to databases. The AI class uses its own unique software platform, while the other two share one (which will presumably be used for most or all of next quarter's classes).

I like the other two much better than the AI class for several reasons: first, because they make those mid-lecture quizzes optional and also allow the lectures to be downloaded instead of streamed. Second, I like how, unlike the AI class, the other two have actual programming exercises. Third, I like how the homework questions for the other two are presented in a normal web form format (whereas the AI class "homeworks" require you to watch a video of the instructor reading the questions) and also allow multiple submissions.

Re:AI Class

[mrchaotica]

By the way, as a concrete example of what I dislike about the AI class: we just took the midterm (I got a 96%!), and I'm trying to find out which of the 15 questions I missed. To do so, I have to go re-stream each question video in turn until I figure out which one I got wrong.

In contrast, when I took the database class midterm, immediately upon submitting the web form containing my answers, I was served a page containing my score, the questions, my responses, and an explanation of each -- in a few kB of HTML, not a tedious half-hour of video.

Re:AI Class

[Just Some Guy]

To do so, I have to go re-stream each question video in turn until I figure out which one I got wrong.

No you don't. Click the "Progress" navbar link. Click Homework / Exams. Click the right-pointing arrow on the left edge of the Midterm header to expand a list of questions and how many sub-questions you got correct out of the number possible. Say you missed a part on Question 01. Click the Question 01 link. It will take you directly to the answer page and show your wrong answers in red.

I only got a 91%, but seem to have scored higher on the "using the web interface" section. ;-)

Amazing Stuff

[hellkyng]

This is the way education should be, available to anyone with an interest. MIT has a similar program with content freely available I believe: http://ocw.mit.edu/ . IMHO this is what libraries will eventually evolve into. This type of knowledge sharing is the root of a libraries books are about, and getting that content from the expert source in the field is hard to beat. Definitely cool stuff.

Re:Amazing Stuff

[fliptout]

The last time I looked, MIT does not have lectures online. On the other hand, all the free (and not free) Stanford lectures I've seen have been wonderful.

Re:Amazing Stuff

[mrchaotica]

The difference between these classes and MIT's OpenCourseware is that these classes have a schedule with assignments and grades.

For many people, such as procrastinators and those motivated by competing with the other students (since participants get a class ranking at the end), that makes a huge difference.

Re:Amazing Stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

MIT has some lectures online. For example, Gilbert Strang's excellent linear algebra video lectures are available, as well as some other classes he's taught.

Re:Amazing Stuff

[angry tapir]

MIT has videos of lectures online. But unlike Stanford it's more a "work at your own pace" style thing instead of actually signing up for a course.

Re:Well, how about reading up on it first?

[Azureflare]

Registration for the current AI course is closed, but I'm sure they'll be running it again. Also you can see the lectures on youtube.

Credit

[Niris]

Now I just wish they'd find a way to make it possible to receive credit in those courses. Would be great to substitute one of the lower core CSCI courses with an online version from Stanford.

Re:Credit

[Anonymous Coward]

You can receive credit. Look into Stanford Center for Professional Development @ http://scpd.stanford.edu/.

NOTE: This cost 4k+ per 4 unit course.

I'm confused.

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't find the P.E. or the basket weaving courses anywhere.

A step on the good direction.

[Ardyvee]

I believe this will be helpful for many that are willing to learn but can't go to a university (for a variety of reasons). Teenagers that want to go ahead and learn more and faster than what their high-school teaches them will be able to do so, at a low cost. Those who simply want to expand their knowledge will also be able to do so at a low cost and in a flexible time.

Re:A step on the good direction.

[digsbo]

I twisted my office mate's arm to take the Database course. He's a web designer with a print layout background, and has been trying to get into programming to expand career options (he's maxed out as a designer).

The class has been hugely challenging and rewarding for him - he's not had math above Algebra II before, and that was over 30 years ago, so it's hard, but he is starting to truly understand SQL instead of just guessing, and he's understanding the concepts of abstract types, formal grammars, and so on.

Really a tremendous improvement over the video lectures and static course materials offered from other online courses. The quizzes and interactive exercises are superb. I can't say enough about the class, and will be bashing his head in to take the intro to CS class.

Re:100,000?

[Tasha26]

It's just like posting a Youtube video in Facebook or embedding it in a blog. Those views get counted too. Also the more ambiguous the video, the higher is its view count!

Re:100,000?

[mrchaotica]

Also the more ambiguous the video, the higher is its view count!

LOL! That's a great observation; I hope they use that to help evaluate their lecture quality.

Now, here's a question: is the view count heuristic admissible? ; )

All degree holders are employable

[perpenso]

Of course, it's hard to feel bed for someone who can't get a job based on their BA degree in 'History', or 'art lit'. Seriously, their great programs, but how many time have you seen 'History' major wanted listed on craigslist?

All degree holders are employable, just not necessarily in their fields of study. I once sat in on a presentation named something like careers for history majors. Basically the speaker said that many jobs require a 4-year degree, any degree will do. Typically these are entry level managements jobs.

Keep in mind that while a degree demonstrates some level of knowledge in a particular field, it also demonstrates the ability to complete a long, boring and bureaucratic process. There is value in the later.

Re:All degree holders are employable

[scottbomb]

I think it's just an easy way for the HR people to say, "Yep, Sally can read, write, and do basic math. We know because she has a college degree." It's a hell of a lot easier than testing everyone who applies. Thanks to the modern public school system using "social promotion" and graduating everyone who doesn't drop out, employers have no idea who they're looking at when you walk in the door. Years ago, a high school diploma actually meant something. Nowadays, in the spirit of "inclusiveness" and self-esteem-masturbation, the standards have fallen far from where they were, say, 50 years ago. If you need proof, try reading a book written in the 1800s. The grammar and vocabulary was far more complex. What we now call "college-level reading" was 6th-grade material back then.

Re:All degree holders are employable

[LordLimecat]

Employers also get a huge number of applicants. Quickly reducing that number by simple filtering-- degree, certs, etc-- narrows the list quite a bit.

Re:All degree holders are employable

[FrootLoops]

the standards have fallen far from where they were, say, 50 years ago. If you need proof, try reading a book written in the 1800s.

Actually, you may have provided some proof yourself by implying that content in a 200-year-old book proves that standards have fallen in the last 50 years--unless you're in your seventies, I suppose.

In all seriousness, though, I would like to see some proof that educational standards have dropped in the last 50 years

I somewhat agree with your point about material from centuries ago, though it seems to me that rote memorization was much more common in the past. Many of the questions on this purported "8th Grade Examination from late 1800's" are superficially impressive, but really amount to rather useless memorization:

Give the epochs into which U. S. History is divided.
Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall & Orinoco.

The arithmetic section I linked mostly consists of unit conversions, which are again superficially impressive. In 8th grade my classmates were covering conic sections, which are less "mechanical" than plugging numbers in to conversion formulas, and I would say they're more difficult. Oddly enough, in this UPenn catalog from 1852, conic sections were a junior level (in college) topic. To be fair, that catalog also lists basic calculus (I imagine the equivalent of Calc 1 and 2) in addition to a dizzying number of topics on history, philosophy, Greek, Latin, "natural philosophy", and chemistry.

Today, there's just far too much information to absorb. Learning how to understand things quickly as they come up is more important than memorizing small chunks of human knowledge, even if it's less impressive. Perhaps students in the past were more studious as well, though things aren't all bad.

Re:high edu should not be a piece of paper to get

[FrootLoops]

I find it a little ironic that your error-ridden post advocates less classroom theory. "lot's" doesn't mean anything and should be "lots"; it's "hands-on", not "hands on"; it's "classroom", not "class room"; and your statement should really be two sentences, rather than one with two halves smashed together with an "and" thrown between.

(To be clear, I'm not judging the content of your post--I don't have enough experience with IT education to pass judgement--I'm just commenting on its irony.)

Re:high edu should not be a piece of paper to get

[somersault]

I liked the guy commenting on the usefulness of PhDs the other day using "then" instead of "than". Actually, I hated that, but I liked the irony.