What I Learned From Completing the MIT xPro Data Science Course: Part 3

The modern way of learning, about online learning platforms

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Part 3: What about MIT? How does it compare to a course on say the Udemy, which costs a fraction? Is it worth it?

The choices

Online learning has really exploded, even without the COVID. There are a myriad of choices.

• The MIT course costed US$764 (~A$1100), for 12 hours of video, learned over 7 weeks, with 200+ students. The recommended hours of learning is about 30–40 in total.
• In comparison, for A$19, you can get a course from Udemy, like the Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp by Pierian Data Inc, with 25 hours of video, rated 4.6 stars from 360K students.
• Or for A$15, you can get The Complete 2020 Data Science & Machine Learning Bootcamp by the London App Brewery, with 41 hours of video, rated 4.4 stars from 14K students.
• Or there are 10+ week diplomas from a range of universities and tech academies for A$5000 and up.

The differences

The Udemy courses certainly look competitive, which I partially completed in preparation. The differences I find are 4,

1. Content selection,
2. Communication style,
3. Peer interaction,
4. The deadline.

1. Content selection

• The MIT course is more of a 3000 feet birds-eye view of the topic and the skill. You get to see a wide range of data applications, presented by a truly interdisciplinary panel of professors, from computer science, to engineering, maths, biosciences, and economics.
• In contrast, the Udemy courses are presented by skilled programmers and will make a coder out of you, albeit within a narrower set of ideas and problems.
• The important thing is, I found it difficult to focus on coding the details without the bigger picture first. So the MIT course was a life saver.

2. Communication style

• In human-centred design, there is a saying, it is not the job of the human to understand the machine. I find in good communication, this similarly applies. Speaking to the listener is important. And it takes work and a genuine desire to help people understand.
• If you hired me to help you learn, say some west coast swing dance, as an interested newcomer, and I say to you, “Start with a Left Side Pass, followed by a Tuck Turn, and add a French Cross variation. Did you get all that? Probably not.” You might ask yourself, “Did I pay for this?”
• The expertise on display in the MIT course is truly impressive. And you do experience a full spectrum of commuication styles. The assumed audience is perhaps less general. Nonetheless when good communication happens, it feels like the best meal on earth. It did make a dramatic difference to how well and how fast I learned. There are some great lessons in the MIT course, but in general the Udemy courses feel more human-centred, perhaps due significantly to its user rating based incentive system. MIT by nature is a different institution, its culture and language come across strongly about cutting edge research and advancing expertise.
• Another interesting observation is, on the popular online learning platform, MasterClass.com, across 9 categories of skills, presented by masters of both their crafts and of communication to a general audience, Science & Technology is the least represented category. Is that odd or not? Is it a long bow to draw that this may have something to do with the lack of a STEM workforce? In addition, there is hardly any representation of financial thinking skills either, barring Paul Krugman’s great presentation on economics, where he wisely pointed out the communication problem of the economics profession.

3. Peer interaction

• Compared to traditional classrooms, the lack or difficulty of human interaction in online learning is the most different and most missed.
• But in the MIT course, there is the interesting activity of a Peer Review. This is where students of the course mark each other’s work according to guidelines, where you create work worthy of review by any other.
• After having completed 32 peer reviews, the key advantage of this I find is, you get to “see” more intimately than ever, a wider field of people. And that enables you to see in fascinating new ways what makes you different. And that, is priceless =)

4. The deadline

• The best thing about Udemy is the courses are self-paced. The worst thing about Udemy is the courses are self-paced.
• The worst thing about the MIT course was the deadline. The best thing about it, was the deadline. Because you end up finishing =) And that gives you much more than just a certificate.

In conclusion

• Courses compared here from MIT and Udemy are complimentary. It’s the difference between top down vs bottom up. To get genuine hands on understanding, both pieces of the puzzle are needed.
• In both cases, expect hours of learning around 3x the hours of videos. Or a factor of 10, for some personal bests which I experienced in the MIT course. It is true again that you get out what you put in.
• In any case, it would have been better to do the MIT course first, especially if you have a top down thinking preference. With a great big picture, I now know where and why to spend more time. Very exciting.
• And lastly, how can I forget, MIT was of course an eye opener, a challenge, and a worthy brand to experience!

The series

This is the last of a 3-part series. For the summary post, and the other two parts, please find their links below.

• Summary post,
• Part 1: The personal insights, on taking up a challenge and a new learning project; and
• Part 2: The professional insights, on data science and machine learning.