Thanks for the notes. I did first week and honestly felt it was too slow and somewhat discontinued. I am going to read your notes :)
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That's about how I feel about most of Coursera's offerings. Check out some other MOOC providers, there are other players like EdX, Udacity, Udemy.
I've had good results with EdX, but my one positive experience with them ('Introduction to Biology - The Secret of Life') is much more anecdotal than my multiple very poor experiences with Coursera. It's gotten me excited about the potential of online classes again, though!
Thanks for the recommendation! I've been interested in getting reviewing some basic biology and never really thought about looking for a MOOC..
Sure thing - go for it! It's a great class, and it actually covers a solid grounding in genetics, including some pretty modern concepts. That's an exciting field right now.
The great thing about video lectures is they can usually be sped up 1.5-2x. For many lecturers, that makes it easier to concentrate on what they're saying since the pauses in their speech get reduced.
I found that too! I can concentrate much better on a lecture with an increased speed. Never really thought about it but it makes sense that less pauses mean less occasions for the mind to wander.
It's been a gripe I've had with the Andrew Ng ML class: the audio is so bad that increasing the speed sometimes makes the lectures unintelligible. I appreciate lessons being offered for free but lecturers should really put more effort into the recording.
You may try what I did: speed up the video, I don't remember the specific increase but for Dr. Oakley I think I did speed up by around 50% but a little less for Terrence Sejnowski. It helps a lot to not get bored because they speak to slow for you.
I think their audience (i.e. style) are new college students.
I dunno, as a new college student I wasn't terribly impressed with Coursera's offerings as compared to the (half-hearted) online classes I've taken from my local community college. Despite many of the professors not knowing how to work Canvas, often the courses are engaging enough to get me to actually complete said coursework.