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Comment by clavalle | Hacker News Reader

I love this. I really do but I do have a fear:

There is beginning to be too much fragmentation in subject matter.

There is no discernible ultimate goal (degree or overall subject matter certificate) or any kind of solid path to coalesce all of the work a student puts into the classes into a coherent structure -- a well defined learning path.

I am hoping this is part of a strategy to gauge demand for different subject areas and, from there, create a cohesive program because if it is going to be more or less random offerings...I don't know how that is going to remain relevant or viable.

It just seems confusing as to what their intentions are.

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Conceivably, there could be a complementary movement focused on designing curricula based on such freely available courses. These curricula could even be based on offerings from several services.

Companies can set curricula based on what their requirements are. And I can see possible demand for influential people to create and share curricula related to their areas of expertise.

Yes, imagine a website where you post step-by-step instructions to a goal. The work of discovery is done by the curator and the student can wander through the paths just a link away from the necessary material. Match that with a quora-like information architecture and you've got something going.

Gradesquare (http://gradesquare.com/) was launched with the idea that folks would want to plan and track their (perhaps diverse or fragmented) online learning experiences.

I tend to think about learning in two different categories:

1) Learning for the sake of the subject itself: the goal is simply to learn - no need to specifically prove competence to a third party.

2) Learning for credential. We need to pay the bills - or want bragging rights. Credentials are required to signal that we have obtained competency in a subject area.

For myself (not-quite-youngish with a BA, MA, other graduate work/certifications) , I sign up for online classes with 1) primarily in view. For my kids (high-school age and younger) 2) is also a concern.

It is likely that Coursera (or Udacity or MitX) will eventually create certifications based upon groups of programs. A third party might well group classes in logical sets across institutions. So I hope you are not too fearful - change may bring about some remarkable new opportunities :).

I like Skillshare's approach in this regard of being the basic class unit through which teachers can weave curriculums. I've been looking for an education startup that was literally a step-by-step guide to learning a subject. Like a curated curriculum to acquiring a skill or learning a certain point of view about the world.

Why would it be better to have an ultimate goal? The intentions are clearly just to give people who are hungry to learn about some subject matter a great place to go learn it. That's a fantastic service.

While the typical answer of "to prove your time investment to a third party" is a good one, I don't think that aspect would be relevant for me.

For me the answer would be so I know where I stand.

e.g. I come back after a year or two and I know what material I have covered and what steps are next in the learning journey. I don't want to get three lectures or more in and realize I'm rehashing material, or, alternately, that I am hopelessly lost because I've skipped a pre-requisite and have to go digging for the missing piece.

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