An Introduction to Computer Networks
class.stanford.edu
class.stanford.edu
As a network engineer, unfortunately it sounds like this course will likely be rather detached from the knowledge required for day-to-day enterprise or carrier networking, such as how to set up redundant network links or allocate IP space. I'm not saying Stanford needs to offer a free Cisco CCNA bootcamp, but there is an opportunity for a balanced course. I find a surprisingly high number of "network engineers" who can't explain how DNS name resolution works, or the purpose of an IP subnet mask.
What I have found to be an EXCELLENT intro to practical networking is Juniper's Networking Fundamentals self-guideed online training. Although offered by Juniper, it's 100% vendor neutral. Details at https://learningportal.juniper.net/juniper/user_activity_inf...
Being a CS graduate myself, I can say that your concerns about being detached from knowledge required for day-to-day enterprise is something I can totally relate to. I clearly remember that a LOT of my classmates had paid for a separate set of a classes focused around teaching more practical and hands-on networking stuff. Certainly there's a gap here and it would be great if Coursera comes out with some course which addresses this.
As for literature, is there any text that most people agree is a good start into networks? I'm interested in the OSI model and other network architecture and design principles.
(http://www.charlespetzold.com/code/)
The Art of Electronics Lab Book has plans for building a computer and it's pretty well documented, although very old.
(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laboratory-Manual-Electronics-Paul-H...)
Another good way to learn is to find a circuit diagram and run it by pencil. Just like people learn programming by writing code on paper and running the software with a pencil; writing the variables and such. Here's one (http://www.nathandumont.com/sites/nathandumont.com/files/ima...) (not a great example) but you try to work out what values you need where to get various bits working.
When you get a better circuit diagram you can create a memory map. Here's a link that describes what I mean. (http://www.clear.rice.edu/elec201/Book/hardware.html)
Good Luck!
http://www1.idc.ac.il/tecs/plan.html
You might learn the most by doing the first 6-8 projects.
This makes total sense; we don't really know what direction Coursera and Udacity are headed as businesses, nor even what online education is going to look like or who the students will be. For Stanford, having the option to cut ties with Coursera is critical to Stanford's goal of being a leader in online university-level courses. And the platform is open source, meaning that depending on what happens, it could become a standard that more and more schools adopt.
And I, like you, think this is good for everyone. The more different the players are this early in the game, the more likely that at least one of them ends up doing it right.
It focuses on the software aspect of things, but IMHO it is still a good read for introduction.
My favorite book on the topic (covers hardware and software) is:
"Computer Networks" by Larry L. Peterson & Bruce S. Davie.