Re: [OT] "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence"course from Stanford
- Posted by jimcbrown (admin) Oct 15, 2011
- 36146 views
1. I was NOT making it out to be a free credit course. It is a very good learning exercise from a a good university. Those who want to take it should take it.
It is NOT from a university. It is from only these two people who teach it.
Who are, apparently, professors at Stanford. I don't think anyone believes they'll get Stanford credit or anything, but you make it sound like it's something that has absolutely nothing to do with Stanford, which seems misleading to me.
Matt
To quote that article:
All three are being offered in partnership with the Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD)
And to quote the website of SCPD at scpd.stanford.edu
The Stanford Center for Professional Development connects professionals worldwide to the research and teaching of Stanford University faculty in the School of Engineering and related academic departments. Qualified individuals may study for master of science degrees on a part-time basis, pursue graduate certificates and professional certificates, take individual graduate courses and professional courses, participate in workshops, view free online seminars and more. Courses are delivered online, on the Stanford campus in the heart of Silicon Valley, and at the work site.
And here is their address:
Stanford Center for Professional Development Stanford University 496 Lomita Mall, Durand Building 3rd Floor Stanford, CA 94305 Telephone: 650 204-3984 scpd-customerservice@stanford.edu
From this I conclude that SCPD is at least akin to a branch of Stanford.
Think of it this way: this class is to Stanford as OOEU is to Euphoria.
Isn't OOEU a superior object oriented superset to Euphoria? Something that's better in every possible way?
Or this way: {two professors} != {entity Stanford}
Or this way: Derek != OpenEuphoria
I think there are some very good arguments to refute your last example. ;)
Anyways, you are right. Those two professors are not the same as Stanford. I'll go further and concede that SCPD is a different entity than Stanford itself as well.
There's certainly a difference between these classes and the Stanford Engineering Everywhere courses that are offered by that university for free (at http://see.stanford.edu/see/courses.aspx ).
Still, you are wrong. This class is offered by more than just "only these two people" - they are offering it in partnership with Stanfordian entity which implies they get to use Stanford's brand and money.
Someone might attempt to argue on a technicality, that despite getting Stanford's brand and funding, these classes are technically not offered by Stanford itself.
To quote Matt's article again
The new courses are only the latest effort by Stanford to share information and ideas with the public online.
So Stanford is claiming that these classes are part of Stanford's efforts, or offerings. I think that Stanford should be the authoritive entity for that kind of claim.
(Like most, if not all, free online courses, you don't get the accreditation and other benefits from being admitted to a college. That doesn't change the fact that these classes are being offered by Stanford.)
