What Is A MOOC?

In another example of how the Internet is changing our lives, there are currently more than 10,000 college-level courses available online from over 800 universities that are partially or completely free.  They are called MOOCs — Massive Open Online Courses, and the idea has exploded over the past six or so years.  Subjects include Computer Science, Mathematics, Programming, Data Science, Humanities, Social Sciences, Education & Teaching, Health & Medicine, Business, Personal Development, Engineering, Art & Design, and Science.

Your first step should be visiting a tracking website,  Class Central, that is a good starting point for planning your academic goals.  (I think “Quantum Mechanics For Everyone” sounds particularly alluring.)  And if all of this sounds daunting,  here’s a link to an article on how to sign up.  Remember, there’s no harm in trying, especially since many of these are self-paced.

I’m tempted to say the sky’s the limit, but with the Internet, there may not be any limits.

Adapted from “190 universities just launched 600 free online courses. Here’s the full list.” by Dhawal Shah, founder of Class Central ( https://qz.com/1437623/600-free-online-courses-you-can-take-from-universities-worldwide/? ).  The photo came from that article.

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