complaining about a free online class

I took ai-class and am currently taking saas-class.  In the forums, I feel like there as been an inordinate amount of complaining.  In ai-class, it was about the grading of homeworks/exams “not being fair.”  In saas-class, it is about being expected to learn Ruby and having deadlines.  And technical issue during the quiz.

Both classes are free and you don’t get university credit.  Which means any grade you get is just for you and has no impact.  So why all the discontent?  If you get something wrong without actually being wrong or mis a due date, your “grade” goes down, but not your knowledge.

In college, I liked taking my liberal arts classes “pass no credit.”  As a good student, I wasn’t worried about failing.  Knowing I’d get a “pass” let me enjoy learning and not having to think about the grade.  That’s the feeling I get in the classes online now.  Enjoyment learning.

I bought the book so none of these classes was free per se.  But it was the absence of a grade that counted that mattered.  In a way this is similar to why coding on your own is different than the coding you do at a job.

Thoughts?

2 thoughts on “complaining about a free online class

  1. I had a 25$ Amazon gift card which I hadn’t used for almost 4 years, and I used that to buy the Kindle version of the book. ( I really find it hard to read the ebook). But again the Alpha edition of the book has lot of chapters missing. Ok I am not complaining about that.

    I agree with what you have said in the post. In such courses where the courses dont count towards a degree requirement, the onus is on the individuals participating to learn from the courses. Assignments are just to help us apply what we have learnt and the deadlines are to keep us on track all the time.

    I have taken up one such course in a university in Bangalore- its about Data Mining offered as part of Continuing education, its been a good exposure to the new area, and with tests, assignments- its like a complete learning process. I know a student there who hasn’t attended the test, assignment but still has attended all the classes. It all comes down to individuals interest.

    When one is coding at work there is a sense of responsibility and one can be held accountable, but coding for self- we are all free to make our own schedules and in the end it never goes on to completion.

  2. Pingback: udacity and coursera – python editor, peer reviewing and complaining | Down Home Country Coding With Scott Selikoff and Jeanne Boyarsky

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