I really would like us, the community of Enlightened Monkeys, to discuss this topic and share our thoughts on a 21st century experiment.
Harvard, MIT and many, many other respectable Schools of Business as well as other Faculties in all spaces have launched the initiative of spreading knowledge online with virtual classrooms and programs as well as the option of earning what they refer to as “Valuable Certificates”.
You can check out https://www.edx.org/schools-partners or Coursera as two of many new platforms involved in this initiative.
It is definitely very valuable to have such resources at our disposal nowadays and this has a positive effect on the planet in all dimensions and I am not here to discuss the Educational impact.
For the majority of programs, you can take the courses / programs for free or decide to take the same with a Certification process and gain a Certificate by the end of the program. In some cases, those certificates cost a hefty fee in thousands of dollars like Harvard’s HBx program.
The other issue is that for some reason, in some instances, those certificates are being perceived exactly the opposite way of how those who completed the programs want them to be perceived. Mentioning Harvard Business School Core X Program on your CV might give the Employer the wrong perception and in other instances, some are intentionally mentioning it the wrong way to make it seem they went to the actual HBS and thus driving the whole image of the program down.
As I have a Masters in Finance and was always interested in Computer Science, I was thinking of enrolling in a couple certification programs from MIT in CS/Coding which would complement my background nicely.
It is still unclear what value these certificates bring & what they can evolve to in the future, what’s your thoughts on this?
Let’s discuss.
It's a quick and more convenient way to get up to speed on a new topic, or brush up on items you haven't touched on in a while. Free MOOCs are also available from many Universities and you can often choose the non-certified path on the overall program. Paying for any course really only provides you a way to prove you completed it, if you end up attempting to leverage your experience - which likely doesn't provide a significant return compared to the associated costs. Their largest benefit had been the ability to learn from prestigious institutions for free. To me, paying for a certificate defeats the purpose of why MOOCs were created. The value they bring us is directly correlated to the amount of time you put into them.
It's great if you want to learn something new for your own benefit. Given the nature of these programs you can't really list them on your cv anyhow, at least not in a way That'll fool anyone.
They are valuable, and you can apply it as relevant education as opposed to a degree requirement. However, for STEM, if you want to be an engineer or that sort of path, you will still need the math and upper division classes or should you elect to do a graduate degree program.
I think they are definitely valuable but yes when taking the courses online it requires a great deal of self discipline and self teaching. Its something that requires commitment and motivation to learn that new skill since you are more so doing it on your own. I think with many of the courses you can enroll and pay the fee but then just not do the assignments. I think when you put it on a resume at the end of the day it will always be tested in interviews so then they really know if you know your stuff. At the end of the day it all comes down to practice and completing as many projects as you can so you can really get a great foundation and I think hiring managers or developers just want to see that you know your stuff more than a degree.
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