On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 7:56 AM, John Posner <jjposner@optimum.net> wrote: At the nytimes.com site, I came across a reference to this Python course in the comments to Thomas Friedman's latest column: http://blog.topfreeclasses.com/2012/12/an-introduction-to-interactive-python... Does anyone have any direct knowledge of this (or any other) Python MOOC? -John === My friend David Feinstein, a Cal Tech trained applied mathematician of considerable talent, recently did Coursera's Python and had many positive things to say about it. If you know David, you know he does not give praise easily or lightly. He's usually critical. He has high standards. He appreciated the learning curve, and it probably helps a lot that he's come to respect Python-the-language. He liked how commenting on other students' work is a part of what it takes to advance with one's cohort and officially complete the course, with a ranking (percent score). David's motive is he has some interesting software that helps judges reach consensus on a ranking of projects (think of science fairs), even where no judge will have directly seen or assessed all the projects. By projecting various summary visuals, judges caucus (negotiate) and play "what if" games. I hope to introduce him to Edd Dumbhill of O'Reilly as some of this thinking might help with our OSCON talk judging/scoring process. I have not personally had time to do a MOOC. My job is to teach Python using distance education infrastructure, but our offering has a cost and a different set of criteria, so would not fit the category "MOOC". Many models of service delivery are out there. Kirby