can learn for free from the experts, is a dream come true.
I'm not sure that's what they do though. Learning "from the experts" means they are there to help you, understand where you're coming from, and correct you along the way. Just watching a video of someone with recorded slides is something we could have done 20 years ago.
I was excited about the PGM class, but my interest dropped after the first few videos (100% comic sans slides, poor video quality, poor audio quality).
Just because you are an expert in some field has zero bearing on your ability to teach or convey information. I'm not sure a "let's imitate college lecture formats" site founded by smart people understands that. They fall into the trap of "smart people can do EVERYTHING!" There are a lot of very smart people who have negative presentation skills. There are a lot of very smart people who have excellent presentation skills too.
Solution: have the smart people write the script, but have people excited about presenting show it to the world.
Why not just learn from a textbook? It's extremely concentrated, written by an expert, and you don't have to deal with any of that "teaching." Loads of problems to work out too.
I do like the programming interface that these sites use, to work out problems and get instant feedback.
Would you consider yourself an auditory learner? If that's your preferred learning style, I guess I see the value in these recorded lectures.
I signed up for a Coursera class (just started today, actually), but this has been my line of thinking. I find value in attending classes in person, as being there and interacting adds to the learning experience. But an online class? Wouldn't a textbook be just as beneficial?
Anyway, I wanted to see what one was like. Since it's free of charge, no big deal if I don't care for it. But I'm curious.
That's what I've been thinking: why not replace (or supplement) the videos with plain old html with embedded pictures/video/response forms as necessary?
In a Udacity course I took (the driverless car one with Thrun), they did have a (community-generated) html version of the lectures, but you would still have to go back to the videos to get credit for having watched them and answered the questions -- and, of course, it was always a work in progress.
The advantage over textbooks would be in a) hyperlinking, and b) a known group of people doing it at the same time as you so you can discuss the material and get answers from the professor on the most common questions.
The main reason was that the timing of the videos and the deadlines for the exercises actually made me do it. I would probably be less committed to a text book.
Having said that, I prefer learning from notes. Not text books, because they are usually way too verbose, but during my studies, I would usually skip lessons (and save 1.5h on commute), and study using my classmates' notes.
I am so with you on this. I actually bought the PGM book about a year before PGMClass but just stalled out in chapter 5. Without some kind of externally enforced schedule for learning I'm hopeless.
udacity has gone too far the other way for me. It seems very slick but I switched off after a couple of minutes because I felt like I was watching a kids tv show.
I am taking the udacity statistics 101 course and while I agree with the statement you make, if you visit the forums there are plenty of people having trouble with the current material itself. The last assignment had a fill in the blanks proof of the maximum likelihood estimator. Some people were complaining on the forum that it did not belong to a 101 course. Either ways I am glad that the course is being offered. It may not be the best introduction to statistics I get but it at least pushes me into starting to read about statistics.
That wasn't supposed to be a comment on the material, simply the way it's being presented. This was a discrete mathematics course, don't have time to look it up right now. (edit: Relatives are faffing - here it is: http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs221/CourseRev/1)
I personally think there's room for many services like coursera and udacity to serve different levels of academic experience and expectations.
I realise my initial comment might have come across as more confrontational than I intended. I definitely agree that there's room for services catering to different academic experience and exceptions. What I wanted to highlight was even the hand-holding approach of the udacity instructors might be to cater to absolute beginners.
Great to know. I've been working on a third option that's less lecturey and less condecending. People can complain about it profusely next month when it launches.
I watched most of Daphne's videos and had the opposite reaction - I was blown away at how good they were. I felt as though I had a world class expert standing there in front of me explaining things very clearly. I particularly enjoyed that I never felt like things were being "dumbed down". I didn't notice the comic sans - actually maybe I did subconsciously and maybe this even improved the impression on me "how quaint - someone who is so into their work they don't even realize people make fun of you for using that font". There were video and audio issues, but to me they were secondary.
I'm not sure that's what they do though. Learning "from the experts" means they are there to help you, understand where you're coming from, and correct you along the way. Just watching a video of someone with recorded slides is something we could have done 20 years ago.
I was excited about the PGM class, but my interest dropped after the first few videos (100% comic sans slides, poor video quality, poor audio quality).
Just because you are an expert in some field has zero bearing on your ability to teach or convey information. I'm not sure a "let's imitate college lecture formats" site founded by smart people understands that. They fall into the trap of "smart people can do EVERYTHING!" There are a lot of very smart people who have negative presentation skills. There are a lot of very smart people who have excellent presentation skills too.
Solution: have the smart people write the script, but have people excited about presenting show it to the world.