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  • Author Author: rscasny
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Poll: What Online Class Are You Excited About Taking NEXT? (64% of Goal)

There is SO MUCH to learn in the world of engineering and technology. and there are plenty of online classes to take. While the element14 Essentials provides a vehicle to learn many topics of interest to engineers, more in-depth and hands-on classes with labs can also fulfill this thirst for technical knowledge and skills improvement.

 

Poll Question: If you were take an online class what would you enroll in. (I've listed a few classes I had in mind. But you can offer topics in the comments section below. Thanks.

 

I am aiming to get 50 members to vote in this poll.

  • All of these topics sound at least interesting.I would like an exciting course to prepare for the EIT or PE certification tests. I would love a class that crams all of the information needed(and its a lotimage) into an ongoing online class.

  • in reply to clickio

    Ionut,

     

    Sounds good. I will work through the Python Course I have started (it is now week 3 but I haven't done week 2 yet!), but I think I will also have a go at the Java Course, just to see if I can get some better understanding of what it can do.

     

    Dubbie

  • in reply to dubbie

    Learning Python after so many other computer languages will be easy-peasy. I also think that you'll hate Java compared to Python.  And Python is here to stay, it's only getting bigger/more popular, I think it's unofficially the most popular language right now and you can do everything with it: data science, robots & IoT programming, web development, machine learning etc.

  • in reply to fmilburn

    There are many many free python learning resources: youtube videos - even microsoft has a dedicated video series on python!!! - udemy free courses, edx courses, and last but not least, free books.  Al Sweigart just launched the second edition of his popular Python book for beginners - available for free here: https://automatetheboringstuff.com/ and there are more...

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Yes, I agree. They do require a fair amount of time and effort to gain the best benefit.

     

    Dubbie

  • in reply to shabaz

    Hi Shabaz!

     

    I don't really recommend books, as the software changes more quickly than the books can be written and published.

    You might try CS193p (iTunes-U, I think?) as a general iOS dev course, but I'm not sure if that includes any Swift fundamentals.

     

    I noticed that Coursera.org offers a handful of iOS and Swift courses.

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Hi Nico,

     

    Any Swift with iOS for mobile book you recommend? For a complete novice to the Apple development tools..

  • in reply to Jan Cumps

    I've had good success with online courses too.

     

    The first one I took was about a decade ago: Apple University teaching iOS development. That first one, taught by Apple devs, was terrible; but the second one they did was partnered with Stanford and was excellent (I think they still run updated ones every year). I later took an Android course that way, U of Maryland I think, which was also excellent.

     

    I've had a few more online courses since then. As I don't need the credentials I'll take the free ones, which also gave me the freedom to drop the ones I just didn't like after starting.

     

    You definitely have to be self motivated and self starting to be successful at these kinds of courses.

    That also means committing the same amount of time you would for regular in-person courses.

  • I have just started a free online course from FutureLearn on Python. I agree with earlier comments that sometimes they are a bit superficial but I do find that when you don't know any of the subject, something simpler is a good starting point. I do not know any Python but I hope to get to the point where I can write programmes that control robots by the end of the course.

     

    I do not want to get too involved in the complexity of the language, because before long there will be another one. I forget how many languages I have learned over the years (assembler - several processors, Basic, Pascal, C, Basic again, more assembler) some others I've had a go at without much success. I spent an entire week learning Z many years ago. I wonder if that language still exists.

     

    After the Python course I am going to do a Java course, also from FutureLearn, which is promising to enable me to create a simple game by the end of the course - which is also something I have been tinkering with all my life. I started with Basic in my first year at University using punch cards to enter the code for a computer game. I had to give up when the time taken to read the pack of punch cards exceeded the time slot length undergraduates were given. This was in the day when programmes were read and executed overnight and you could pick up the printed output the next morning.

     

    Dubbie

  • I picked Embedded Linux, but I would also like to see mesh networking, fpga programming, and UI design.