8th Grade Twins take Astrobiology and Einstein Courses on Coursera
blog.coursera.org
blog.coursera.org
Having to wait for sessions doesn't make any sense, as does having a pre-defined time to complete. The study material should be always available, and peer review could be constant.
It seems it was created to appeal academia though, so I see why it's like that.
In fact, I am kind of hoping that a community is made where people can get together and study any educational material themselves. Coursera still lacks upper-level classes; it would be great to use the great aggregation of the internet to find a group of people to study advanced material together.
Without deadlines, a serial procrastinator like myself would never finish a course.
At Udacity, I've successfully completed the two classes I took when they were first released (and had deadlines). On the other hand, I only lasted around a week with the two classes that are under "open enrollment".
I'm of the same mind as markdown—simple Udacity and iTunes U classes were ignored, but Jeff Leek's much, much harder Biostatistics class was something I completed relatively easily (the deadlines at least. And I did pass.)
The sad truth is the majority of people (and I am one) are not suited for autodidactical learning. The motivation may or may not be there, but the ability to push forward as per Socrates' mythical student was told is not. Those deadlines, in light of human nature, are the killer feature.
I think its great that we've increased the reach of this education but that people take advantage of it isn't a story in itself. A good story would be "8th graders solve their village's water problem by using civil engineering things they have learned on Coursera." Sort of like the guy who built a generator out of junk to charge cell phones in Africa.
["BREAKING: 5th-Grader Masters Beethoven Piano Sonata, Immediately Resumes Violin Practice"]