Anyone use MOOC's, EdX, Coursera for some high school courses?

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I noted several members here use MOOC's such as Amplify AP Computer Science and Shakespeare. I would love to hear about what is good out there for high school students in this format with a video based and interactive formats. Any info on AP courses and foreign language courses would be great as well.

 

I appreciate any info.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Anyone? :lurk5:

[Brad S]

There is currently a free EdX.org course on Spanish Language and Culture which at least partially prepares or familiarizes the student with the corresponding AP exam. It appears that EdX has had a similar course(s) in the past.

 

We've used Coursera's Think Again, which we thought was very good (It's a course on informal logic).

[mumto2]

We have used Coursera quite a bit to explore different interests and to improve the level of understanding my dc's have. Sometimes it is hard to tell from the description, especially the computer related ones, just how good of a fit they will be. My kids have tried the first week or two of many classes they decided not to complete.

 

Both kids have done their economics and calculus via Coursera. Great experiences overall. Dd is going to take the AP in Calculus next week after doing Coursera's reveiw class.....she finished Calculus over a year ago. They have both done some other finance related classes.....these have been useful for determining where their interests really lie. Dd definitely enjoys finance and is planning on a career in that field.

 

 

Dd has done a couple of literature classes. U of M's Fantasy/Sci Fi was one. One tough class, peer graded papers were a bit brutal in her session. She is very proud to have survived with a certificate. Not sure how many made it to the end with the necessary scores.

 

University of Singapore has a Forensic Science class that was fascinating. Also a good dinosaur class from a Canadian University. The Duke Chemistry class was great.

 

I really can't say enough about how much Coursera has enriched my kids lives. Currently ds is doing a Bioinformatics computer class. Absolutely fascinating.....combines programming skills with a bit of biology. He is reaching really far ahead of himself to do this course and loving it. He has always wanted to program games, now he is searching DNA sequences witg his code looking for the SARS virus and is fascinated.....no way could I provide this experience any other way. A normal school couldn't either. He found it on Corsera all by himself.

[cbollin]

My oldest used

1.Introduction to Python from professors at Rice University.

2. the Ohio State Calc 1.  (our goal with high school calc was not to place out of it in college or to take AP, so I have no clue how this course would or would not prepare.  Taking Calc 1 as freshman at her college as an engineering major was a good thing to do for her and the coursera class was a great intro so the material wasn't overwhelming as new to college student.  she got an A for when it counted. and is on track to get A or high B in Calc 2 at her college.  good prep and lower stress in terms of permanent record to take the coursera class)

3. Intro Physics with Lab (GaTech, Michael Schatz).  I think the best experience she got from that was making the videos of lab and doing audio lab reports.  She also had to write lab report before audio recording.  that was good for her.

 

 

We've also used Nutrition Health and Lifestyle, from Jamie Pope of Vanderbilt for part of our Health class.

 

and we've done a writing workshop on the Stanford U platforms. Adventures in Writing.  I thought it was good for keeping sharp on drills of basics. change up for workbooks.  not a huge time committment at all. I think we spent 5 hours on it.  I could see it as end of year review or a small part of test prep.   Just a different format.  graphic novel style.  not a full course.  nice for the purpose of drill on skills in writing.

 

 

[chiguirre]

The Algebra 1 class on EdX's high school page is super. They're pulled from this website:

 

https://schoolyourself.org/

 

so even if you've missed the MOOC, you can give it a try.

[Chrysalis Academy]

We're not in high school yet, and I've done more pre-viewing of courses on Coursera and other MOOC's than dd has at this point - checking out future things for her, and filling in some of my own knowledge gaps for teaching.   We'll continue to use it, no doubt.  We are both doing the Algebra 1 and Geometry classes on Edx right now. They have been absolutely fantastic. Dd has done The Horse Course and The Way Things Work in their entirety. We're planning on doing Shakespeare in the Community on Coursera starting next week.

[abdesigns]

My 9th grader did "Our Earth: Climate and History"  and "Astronomy: Exploring Time and Space".  The "Our Earth" class was very boring for him, he got his certificate, and never looked back.  Completely opposite with the Astronomy class, he LOVED it!  It was considerably more work than the Earth class, but, he enjoyed it.  It was taught by Chris Impey from Univ of Arizona.  It was absolutely amazing.