The lure of online learning

I have had to put up with wankers at work with their dismissive attitudes and their petty university snobbery. Coming from a technical trades background and working my way through the ranks, at age 44, I finally gained a university degree, a major bricks and mortar establishment mostly done online. Not that has ever really been an issue, my technical expertise has been more than generous supporting a reasonable lifestyle, life could be better or worse depending on your outlook - no complaints. But as you get older, less hands-on is desired and the step from supervisory to management level is warranted.

The federal government opened the higher education market setting targets of 40% of 25 - 34 year old workers holding a bachelor's degree by 2025. I wanted to make sure that while I had plenty of on-the-job experience, I wasn't going to be automatically overlooked for positions because I didn't meet the selection criteria. Even though at 2025, I will be nearing the end of my working life. You have to keep pace, the job market is changing and you need to remain contemporary, being seen as a first adapter is important for new technologies and methodology. 

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are now offering online courses through edX, two of the most prestigious learning institutions in the United States have now gone online. Berkeley in California, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and McGill in Canada are world renown institutes worldwide have also signed to edX.

This is fantastic, this legitimises online education, leading educational institutions are rewarding first adapters utilising the skills of their best and most innovative professors. One imagines, these institutions want to ensure their best talent is on show, not handing off development to adjunct lecturers reaffirms their commitment.

Richard NG and Daphne Koller from Stanford University, teamed up with the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, and Princeton to offer high quality free online education. Coursera is a for profit organisation though, I presume revenue is gained through sale of course verification certificates, I am even unsure if graded assessment is offered or just a pass/fail. I have undertaken my first offering at Coursera, so far it looks pretty good but lets see.

Udacity is the third major provider; I had a short look at their course offerings and are yet to commit to any, one suspects they will be aggressively expanding in the future. The future on online learning is looking bright, with the universal acceptance of online courses, current and potential employers should credit this as a legitimate form of learning.