Universities Team With Online Course Provider

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8. I have and am taking courses on Coursera

One was a master's level class in strategic innovations in organizations taught by a well-known Vanderbilt U. professor and professional engineer. The other one is a law class taught by a Emory U. professor on the history of nationality and citizenship laws in the U.S.

I was also taking an introductory class on learning to play the guitar from Berklee College of Music, but had to drop it (not enough time).

I was a 'professional' student at the college level for 10 years of my life at brick-and-mortar institutions, one of which cost an arm and a leg (and now costs two arms and three legs) - our basketball coach is expensive .

Comparatively speaking, I got more out of the Coursera classes I've taken than many of my freshman and sophomore year prerequisite classes which were no picnic as I was then an engineering and biochemistry double major (advanced levels of calculus, differential equations, statics, thermodynamics, etc.), when I was in a huge theater-like classroom with 200 of my closest classmates and some poor graduate student teaching assistant.

On occasion, the TA would not be exactly fluent in English - as luck would have it, I tended to have these TAs in some of the more difficult classes, which made translating what the TA was saying half the fun.

Anyway, Coursera has some excellent universities that already provide some great courses. They have started a fee-based 'signature' option if you want an employer to actually verify that you did take a class.

I also like the fact that there are students from all over the world, that I can view the lectures and take the quizzes in my little spare time and that I can participate in discussions with the other students, in ways that I would not be able to do if I had to go to campus and manage my very busy full time job (DU notwithstanding .

Don't knock Coursera till you try it. I personally find it a very useful tool for lifelong learning or to brush up on stuff I learned a long time ago, or even to learn something new.

Education should be free and freely available. Coursera will not replace a campus or the campus experience or even the one-on-one interaction with a professor and classmates, but it certainly levels the playing field for those who can't afford higher education.