How would you feel if you‘d know that you have the chance, from your home’s convenience and no matter where you are located, to take classes in one of the world’s most prestigious universities? Either you are an undergraduate, postgraduate student, educator, or even self-employed being able to “consume” your spare time by learning from the top instructors in your field, is something quite unique! Stanford’s free of charge online course program makes all these possible!
The list of World’s top 50 Engineering and Technology Universities for the year 2010-2011 encloses Stanford University at 3rd place! Not bad, don’t you think…?! Apart from numbers, Stanford has been active for over a century pushing the limits of human knowledge.
What’s really amazing though is the free of charge classes being offered this fall semester to students and educators around the world. I am talking about Stanford’s offered free and on-line classes in 3 engineering courses: artificial intelligence, machine learning, and databases. People across the globe had the opportunity to view lecture videos, take quizzes and tests, access reading lists and other course handouts or communicate with other students. This pilot project was successful if you consider the high volume of active members around the globe watching the classes. And that was only the beginning…
Computer scientists have always been early adopters and the first who get interested in new challenges as quick responders. Following this success, Stanford is considering more diverse fields. So, amongst a number of new classes like technology entrepreneurship, anatomy etc, there’s the “Making Green Buildings” course. Sustainable buildings are constructed using higher environmental standards by minimizing energy requirements and using environmentally friendly materials or reducing water consumption etc. The instructor of this class, Prof. Martin Fischer is well known for his leadership in developing virtual 4D (time plus 3D) modeling methods to improve project planning, increase the productivity of project teams, and further the sustainability of the built environment. Intriguing, don’t you think?
Check the other classes as well and see what best matches your interests. See you on February 2012!
elen
Ola oraia kai kala, alla grapse kai ena arthro gia to pos tha ginoume fully admitted sto stanford. Pera apo ti plaka poly kali prospatheia, Elen. Keep up the good work!!!
Haha…poso tha thelame!! Thanks…stay tuned 😉