Established in 2011 by Sebastian Thrun, David Stavens, and Mike Sokolsky, Udacity is a for-profit company that is considered to be one of the foremost MOOC providers in movement. Originally, the platform, which developed from Stanford University’s free computer science course offerings, aimed to develop university-level college classes. However, Udacity’s focus has since shifted to offering vocational courses on professionals. The website has a user base of 1.6 million and currently offers 39 classes with four different skill levels.
Course Format:
Udacity, like many other MOOC providers, uses video lectures and integrated quizzes to help students to absorb the course materials. Homework assignments are also included in these open-enrollment courses. Students who complete computer programming courses on Udacity will learn the Python language and assignments are computer-graded.
Course Offerings:
Udacity classes are categorized into four skill levels:
- New To Tech, of which there are no current course offerings
- Beginner, which has ten course offerings
- Intermediate, of which there are twenty-two course offerings
- Advanced, with seven course offerings
Sample Beginner courses include Intro to Computer Science, through which students build search engines and social networks, and Intro to Point & Click App Development. These courses are intended for students who may have limited experience working with technology.
Udacity’s Intermediate course offerings, the largest of the four tiers, offer students the opportunity to build their own wiki in Web Development and design a recommendation system in Machine Learning: Unsupervised Learning. These courses are intended for students who are familiar with the materials covered in the Beginner courses.
Finally, Udacity’s Advanced courses are intended for students who have completed, or have the capacity to complete, the site’s Beginner and Intermediate course offerings. Tasks include tracking and capturing a runaway robot in Artificial Intelligence for Robotics and building a Conference Central application in Developing Scalable Apps with Java.
The site also offers a variety of non-tech courses. Students who are also interested in learning about entrepreneurship, design, math, and physics can also benefit from Udacity’s offerings. The courses include How to Build a Startup, College Algebra, Intro to Physics, and Tales from the Genome.
CS101 Certifications and Course Credit:
Students receive certificates of completion after completing a course on Udacity. However, CS101 those who wish to receive a more respectable credential can also take a proctored final examination. Students who completed Udacity’s CS101 course can also receive college credit at Colorado State University following the completion of a proctored examination at an independent testing center.
Udacity currently does not offer CS101: Building a Search Engine. The course has been replaced by Intro to Computer Science.
Degree Programs:
Udacity has partnered with the George Institute of Technology to create a Master’s degree in computer science that can be completed online. The program, which can be completed for only $7,000, received a great number of applications during its first round of admissions and has even been praised by President Barack Obama for “producing engineers who are just as good” as those that may come out of a traditional university program.
Additionally, Udacity has established a “Nanodegree” program in conjunction with AT&T. The purpose of the program is to prepare students for an entry-level position with the company. The telecommunications company’s program costs only $200 a month and is suitable for students with high school math skills. Once the program begins, students will be able to access courses designed to prepare for positions as front-end web developers, back-end web developers, iOS developers, and data analysts with AT&T, who will be offering paid internships to learners. Udacity and AT&T will also be offering scholarships to students of the program.
Partners:
In addition to Udacity’s partnership with AT&T, the company also works in conjunction with businesses like Google, Facebook, Cloudera, SalesForce, 23andme and AutoDesk. The company has also partnered with academic institutions like Georgia Institute of Technology and San Jose State University.