Lots of universities have free on-line courses, but often
they are nothing more than the lecture notes being made available to all and
sundry and the subject matter is a bit esoteric. So it was not just a case of
finding any institution which offered free on-line courses but finding one that
offered a topic or subject that I was interested in. So eventually I found five
which looked promising and then spent the time to do at least do one lesson in
each, and then to revisit each and log back in or find the same course. My
experiences are detailed below.
The website has lots of ads down the right hand side which does
overwhelm some of the content and is distracting. You also needed to sign up to
do any of the courses.
The course I chose was mainly in the form of slides with
many, many words and few graphics. The interactive graphic I looked at was
pretty poor. However, the topic was covered well with clear outline of modules
covered and you can exit and go back to it or even redo it. There was no
testing of the subject before moving on to the next module.
I did encounter a few problems when returning to the site
because the way to restart the course was not obvious but once I found out how,
I could see my progress and move on to the next module in the course.
Verdict - NOT TOO BAD
http://www.openculture.com/free_french_lessons
from which I selected
Open Culture has links to hundreds of free on-line courses,
so I decided to see about improving my French language skills.
There were lots of iTunes apps and some university level
courses, but I thought the BBC course “Ma France” looked interesting. It
consists of 24 video lessons as well as a range of activities to test your
language skills. While the lessons are aimed squarely at tourists, the web site
also offers syllabus details for teachers.
The two lessons that I watched proved engaging and you can
get subtitles in both French and English if you had trouble following the
video. You can also use the BACK button to repeat a sentence and each module
offers a mini lesson for those without much time.
The Open Culture website was not awash with ads and I found
the BBC course very easily. The course has its own homepage and was easy to
navigate.
Verdict – FUN & USEFUL
Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organisation offering free
materials and resources for self-paced learning with an emphasis on Maths and
Science. I decided to go with something I know a bit about and chose Art History.
At first glance, the Art History course looked comprehensive
but I found as I checked it out that the amount of material in each module
varied considerably. Many of the notes accompanying lessons within the modules
seemed a bit light and the length and quality of the videos also varied. Some
videos were lengthy conversations, while others were short and sharp. There was
little interactive content.
I was a bit disappointed but I suppose for a beginner this
would be all new and offer up lots to learn. Some of the individual videos
within the modules might also be useful for serious students of Art History as
the speakers in most cases are academics or critics.
Verdict - OK
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of many
well-known US institutions which offer free on-line courses.
Lots of the offerings were in very specialised subject areas
like Aeronautics and Engineering so I thought I would go to a subject that I
have an interest in – Architecture. I actually looked at two courses offered at
undergraduate level and was not really impressed by either.
The first one offered audio/video lectures of not very good
quality. Noise levels were often high and drowned out the speaker. The second
course looked promising, but lecture notes were minimal and you obviously need
to buy a textbook. If you were serious about studying the subject, you would no
doubt download everything and buy the book, but I was unable to participate in
this course.
I must say that I was disappointed with the offerings from
such a prestigious institution, but perhaps other departments offered better
resourced courses.
Verdict – NO GO
Carnegie Mellon University offers fewer courses than others
but they seem to have been tailored specifically for on-line use. Participants
can sign in to keep track of their progress or can enter the course at any
time.
The Anatomy and Physiology course that I looked at was very
comprehensive. It looked at all of the major systems of the body over fourteen
(14) modules. Interspersed amongst the notes are questions and activities which
give real time answers and test your knowledge. The pages are clear and easy to
read.
After my experience at MIT, Carnegie Mellon was a joy – it’s
just a shame they don’t have more topics.
Verdict – A DEFINITE YES
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WEBSITE NAME
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Alison
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Open Culture / BBC
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Khan Academy
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MIT Open Course Ware
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Carnegie Mellon
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WEBSITE LAYOUT
(* poor, ***** great)
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**
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****
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****
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****
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****
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LESSONS
(* poor, ***** great)
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***
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*****
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***
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*
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*****
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COVERAGE OF TOPIC
(* poor, ***** great)
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****
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****
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***
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**
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*****
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LEVEL
(Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
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Intermediate
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Beginner to Intermediate
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Beginner
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Advanced
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Beginner to Intermediate
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RECOMMENDATION
(* no, ***** definitely)
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***
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*****
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***
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*
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*****
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OVREALL RATING
(* poor, ***** great)
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***
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****
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***
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*
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*****
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