Coursera...

[dave4shmups]

So I found out about this Google IT certificate that the company Coursera offers, but the deadline to sign up for it was October 8th, and the courses look right up my alley.  The problem I'm having is how the heck to contact Coursera, so that I can find out when they'll be offering this certificate program again.  This is the only contact information that they have on their website:  https://www.coursera.org/about/contact     

Seriously?  I know they have a physical street address in Mountain View, CA, and at this point I'm almost thinking of sending them snail mail.  It really shouldn't be this difficult to contact a tech company located in silicon valley.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[Guest]

I’d say do udemy instead. 

Coursera has just been getting more and more complicated & nonuser friendly over the years. 

 

Additionally i doubt coursera certifications are recognized. 

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, fpo said:

I’d say do udemy instead. 

Coursera has just been getting more and more complicated & nonuser friendly over the years. 

 

Additionally i doubt coursera certifications are recognized. 

I see Udemy ads all the time on YouTube.

 

Looked interesting at first... until I got one advertising a course in actual crystal healing bullshit.

 

Soooo, yeah. Udemy doesn't seem the curate their courses.

 

Will. Never. Use.

[Guest]

Just now, dalekphalm said:

I see Udemy ads all the time on YouTube.

 

Looked interesting at first... until I got one advertising a course in actual crystal healing bullshit.

 

Soooo, yeah. Udemy doesn't seem the curate their courses.

 

Will. Never. Use.

All online lessons are kinda terrible. Udemy for some electronics classes seemed not as bad as many others at least in paid courses. 

[dave4shmups]

Well, how bad could they be if it’s sponsored by Google?  I mean Google’s not perfect, but they are a major tech company.

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, dave4shmups said:

Well, how bad could they be if it’s sponsored by Google?  I mean Google’s not perfect, but they are a major tech company.

It’s your money; I used coursera a few times before they made it seem like they’re entirely paid. 

Theyre okay, but if I remember correctly you’re basically paying for YouTube videos & due dates. I don’t think the teachers grade your assignments. 

I learned most of my computer knowledge from college classes, YouTube, google & forums. (This Forum.) 

 

Colleges and companies don’t typically recognize certifications unless it’s from a federally recognized academic institution or a company that manufactures software/hardware. (Cisco A+, Microsoft, so on.) 

theres also a ton of free classes online & “open source textbooks.” 

 

 

Im more into Programming than IT, so i learned most of my programming from codecademy.com. Additional knowledge came from YouTube videos & websites like microsoft’s C# documentation. 

 

For IT related stuff, I think there’s the A+ certification. That’s like the high school diploma of IT if I understand. Everyone has it, it covers most of the basics & it’s not too hard in terms of IT. (If I understand it.) that has official textbooks and study guides. If you don’t like reading, (which you’ll learn to like because 90% of computer stuff is text based) there’s some videos on YouTube and stuff. Eli the computer guy has hour long videos on networks and stuff on YouTube. Additionally MIT (Massachusetts institute of technology) has free videos online of lectures called open course ware. 

 

In conclusion, paid courses are OKAY, and some people find them helpful; personally I found the free resources available way more useful. If you’re going to pay for lessons/certifications though, I’d say pay for recognized certifications or accredited academic institutions. Even a textbook from an official certification collective would be leagues better. 

 

If some IT guys can chime in, maybe they can help you find your footing. I don’t remember who’s IT, but I think 

@Zando Bob

might know some stuff. If he does, he’ll comment. I can’t remember the username of some others I suspect to know some IT stuff. 

 

Edit:

@LoGiCalDrm might know some IT stuff too. I can’t recall any other users that might know IT. 

[LogicalDrm]

3 hours ago, fpo said:

Edit:

@LoGiCalDrm might know some IT stuff too. I can’t recall any other users that might know IT. 

 

I have no idea where you got that idea from. I've got Masters in Geology and Mineralogy and I'm getting Engineering BA to add that in land surveying (gotta improve my GIS skills). I have no experience nor real interest of professional IT. Maybe learning some Pearl or Python at some point as those are used in GIS software. I never reply to those posts in here.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

 

I have no idea where you got that idea from. I've got Masters in Geology and Mineralogy and I'm getting Engineering BA to add that in land surveying (gotta improve my GIS skills). I have no experience nor real interest of professional IT. Maybe learning some Pearl or Python at some point as those are used in GIS software. I never reply to those posts in here.

Sorry, i thought I recalled you posting in an IT thread. Sorry for mixing you up. 

[HuskyLogic]

11 hours ago, dave4shmups said:

Well, how bad could they be if it’s sponsored by Google?  I mean Google’s not perfect, but they are a major tech company.

Are you referring to the 5 course Certification program "Google IT Support Professional"?  I'd sign up anyway. I just tried and it says the course starts today but it allowed me to sign up.