Forwarded w/ a technical glitch.  --gw

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2012 11:34:33 -0400
From: "Leibowitz, Faye R" <[log in to unmask]>
To: 'Open Lib/Info Sci Education Forum' <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Coursera: Think again

I'm currently enrolled in the University of Toronto's "Learn to Program: 
The Fundamentals" Python programming course through Coursera. I expect to 
learn something in this course, but it won't be easy. As expected, the 
course material is challenging. The major drawback to the MOOC platform is 
that there is no way to get help from an instructor. There are thousands 
of students enrolled in the course. Students can post questions to class 
discussion lists, but there is no guarantee that all questions will be 
answered satisfactorily. Generally speaking, though, it is a good 
"no-risk" way to learn something new. Homework is assigned and graded, but 
no college credits are involved. And you can review the recorded lectures 
as many times as you need to in order to learn the concepts. Just be aware 
that if you have questions, you are pretty much on your own. Maybe 
humanities/social sciences courses are different than math/science 
courses.

Best wishes,

Faye Leibowitz
University of Pittsburgh
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