Back in the 20th century I enjoyed the typical
college campus experience, graduated, and, with much enthusiasm, pursued my
career. Landed a great job with a Fortune 100 company, which afforded me the
opportunity to pursue an MBA. It was a challenge trying to keep up with the
demands of work and attending classes at night. During this period, I probably
averaged four hours of sleep each night. The experience paid off, but physically took
a toll on me.
By my mid 30s, my focus turned to marriage and then
children. After an out-of-state move for my husband’s job and various detours,
I decided to put my career on hold. I left my job just as the technology
revolution was taking hold. A funny story:
While a marketing manager, I felt strongly about launching a website for our division.
My director was a bit resistant, responding: “I think this Internet thing is a
passing trend.” I had to make a side plea to our vice president to gain support
for this “crazy” venture.
In a blink of an eye, 12 years have passed… Now focused on
returning to my career, my objective is to update my frame of reference and upgrade
my technical skills. With children in private school and their college around
the corner, I feel guilty diverting funds to support my education. So with a
little sleuthing, I have uncovered a variety of quality educational
opportunities that are free for the taking.
Now in reality, I will probably need to invest in some specific skill
training; but in the interim, I am utilizing these resources.
I learned about one opportunity via Ravenscroft’s Jason
Ramsden’s technology and education newsletter, A Cup of Joe with CTO. In the September 15, 2012 issue, he cited the following article: College May Never Be the Same
by Mary Beth Marklein, USAToday.com (September 9, 2012). This article introduced
me to the Coursera program. As stated on
the Coursera.org website, “We are a social entrepreneurship company that
partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for
anyone to take, for free… Our technology enables the best professors to teach
tens or hundreds of thousands of students. Through this, we hope to give
everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available
only to a select few.”
A few universities participating in the Coursera initiative:
Brown University, Columbia University, Duke University, Ohio State University, Princeton
University, Rice University, Stanford
University, University of Melbourne, and 25 other outstanding schools. The
Coursera offerings span the Humanities, Medicine, Biology, Social Sciences,
Mathematics, Business, Computer Science, and more. Hey, you can even take a course in Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
through the University of Edinburgh – if only I had the time…
I registered for An Introduction
to Operations Management, a nine-week MBA course. The professor, a very personable
German native from the University of Pennsylvania, conducted weekly lectures
from his university office. I viewed them, at my convenience, from the comfort
of my laptop. There were periodic Q&A’s throughout the lecture to keep you
engaged – I later learned that they track the responses to these questions. The
professor spent an appropriate amount of time on each concept, was upbeat in
his delivery, and shared interesting anecdotes.
After watching the lectures, there were practice problems
with solutions and homework assignments, which could be worked offline but had
to be submitted online by the due date. When I had a question, I simply posted
it on the discussion forum and a teaching assistant or fellow student would
help me through it. The final exam was
broken into sections, which could be completed and submitted separately – it was
long, but not unreasonable. Midway through the course, our professor offered an
optional challenge, which gave us the opportunity to apply our knowledge to a workplace
or personal experience. This one-page submission was randomly distributed to at
least five other students for peer review. In turn, I had to evaluate at least
five papers.
The course outline estimated a weekly time commitment of five
to seven hours. I probably averaged eight hours per week. However, with a final
score of 97.8%, I received a Statement of Accomplishment with Distinction. According
to the professor, 87,000 people signed up for the course, about half
participated to some extent, 7,000 completed the course, and 4,000 received a Statement
of Accomplishment. Individuals from every continent, except Antarctica, participated
in this new-age classroom – half of the students live outside of North America.
I am the product of a brick and mortar education and have
always questioned the legitimacy of online education. This experience has changed
my opinion: it really seems to be a quality option for disciplined adults who are
committed to learning but limited on time. My Coursera endeavor provided me
with new business tools, exercised dormant parts of my brain, boosted my
confidence level (not too old to learn), and gave me something fresh to add to
my LinkedIn page. I would certainly recommend it – well worth the time, nothing
to lose. College students should consider this program prior to taking a challenging
course. I will no doubt take another Coursera
course; but at this time, I am focusing on my software skills using a free local resource.
Melinda Barber
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