Opinions on Nanodegrees?

[Somekindabitcoin]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ccap/2015/01/19/nano-degrees-as-a-new-model-to-model-to-integrate-into-higher-education/

Nanodegrees are small 6-12 month courses that build up your portfolio and get you ready to work at a job full time.

At the moment, it's mostly computer science (if not all) classes, but the courses are created by accredited sources like an online tech institute, Google, and such. They're sponsored by different tech companies as well.

Would this be an alternative to a four year college? It's only 200 dollars a month and, compared to a college, that's 10-20x less than what you'd pay for top grade education.

The other claims are of getting a job with a minimum payment of 70k a year and up to the low-mid six figures.

Opinions?

[evenlydistributingfuture]

Probably going to catch on most with people who are learning supplementary skills. Most people who use Coursera, I believe, are men who already have bachelor's degrees. Maybe at first this will be the case with nanodegrees, especially since they are largely about computer science, as you point out.

In time, I think nanodegrees will be used for getting acquainted with introductory and fundamental skills and knowledge of a subject that's largely new to a student, but I don't know how claims of getting pretty large salaries will actually play out. I wouldn't expect anything extraordinary coming straight out of a nanodegree program. It will fit in somewhere in the hierarchy of higher education, not Ivy League at the top, nor something like hair salon school toward the other side of the spectrum. Its place will be closer to the top than the bottom, I think.

[kuroman]

70k claims are just ridiculous, I think these nanodegrees can work as a complimentary knowledge to help with you get a decent CV, some companies looks for specific skill (example a software ) and knowing how to use that can make a difference during your interview

[Somekindabitcoin]

What you learn is just a specific skill as you said. Android Programming, IOS, Full Stack, Back End, and others.

[dblink]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ccap/2015/01/19/nano-degrees-as-a-new-model-to-model-to-integrate-into-higher-education/

Nanodegrees are small 6-12 month courses that build up your portfolio and get you ready to work at a job full time.

At the moment, it's mostly computer science (if not all) classes, but the courses are created by accredited sources like an online tech institute, Google, and such. They're sponsored by different tech companies as well.

Would this be an alternative to a four year college? It's only 200 dollars a month and, compared to a college, that's 10-20x less than what you'd pay for top grade education.

The other claims are of getting a job with a minimum payment of 70k a year and up to the low-mid six figures.

Opinions?

Nano degree provides its students two main competitive advantages, which are broad scope ideal for knowing the diverse applications of microsystems and nanotechnology. Hands-on experience provided by most programs working directly with nanomaterials coupled with understanding of how to use them to solve real world problems.

[Anony]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ccap/2015/01/19/nano-degrees-as-a-new-model-to-model-to-integrate-into-higher-education/

Nanodegrees are small 6-12 month courses that build up your portfolio and get you ready to work at a job full time.

At the moment, it's mostly computer science (if not all) classes, but the courses are created by accredited sources like an online tech institute, Google, and such. They're sponsored by different tech companies as well.

Would this be an alternative to a four year college? It's only 200 dollars a month and, compared to a college, that's 10-20x less than what you'd pay for top grade education.

The other claims are of getting a job with a minimum payment of 70k a year and up to the low-mid six figures.

Opinions?

Having half a knowledge of something can be very dangerous. Point here is whether the students taking short-term courses will be that competent and educated as the regular degree holders?

[Snail2]

In computing actually you can already see the result of the specialized knowledge. Some "experts" can click through an install or write a nice program, but they have no idea e.g. about the networking a security implications. They wasn't trained for that. As a result they are unable to see how the whole lot of computers, networking gear and applications are working together as a system. So I think these nanodegrees are only good for a complementary training for skilled professionals or for training a lot of semi-skilled workers relative quickly.

[evenlydistributingfuture]

Maybe right now a nanodegree is sort of analogous to a professional certificate or certification of some kind--it's not a bachelor's degree or an associate's degree, but it's more than just one or two classes someone has taken. It represents introductory understanding and basic experience with a given subject. That's my impression of it now, but maybe it will grow into something else.

[Somekindabitcoin]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ccap/2015/01/19/nano-degrees-as-a-new-model-to-model-to-integrate-into-higher-education/

Nanodegrees are small 6-12 month courses that build up your portfolio and get you ready to work at a job full time.

At the moment, it's mostly computer science (if not all) classes, but the courses are created by accredited sources like an online tech institute, Google, and such. They're sponsored by different tech companies as well.

Would this be an alternative to a four year college? It's only 200 dollars a month and, compared to a college, that's 10-20x less than what you'd pay for top grade education.

The other claims are of getting a job with a minimum payment of 70k a year and up to the low-mid six figures.

Opinions?

Having half a knowledge of something can be very dangerous. Point here is whether the students taking short-term courses will be that competent and educated as the regular degree holders?

They have prerequisites to follow before they can actually take the course so that is the other half of the knowledge learned. I cannot guess on this nor have I taken any courses (yet, I'm curious to see what's involved) so I wouldn't know how competent they would be despite even reading testimonials.