Sebastian Thrun Takes Coffee Break to Discuss Online Masters Degree

Welcome to this week’s Coffee Break! 

It’s been a big week for us at Udacity, what with our HTML5 Game Development certificate program launch, announcing our collaboration with Georgia Tech and AT&T to offer an Online Masters Degree in Computer Science, and debuting our I/O course.

Whew, that’s a full week! The buzz around these new developments has been tremendously encouraging -- thank you for all of your support in these new adventures.

For this week’s Coffee Break installment, Sebastian talks with fellow Udacian, Clarissa, about the Online Masters Degree, as well as course certificate alternatives for students who aren’t interested in the entire degree.

For more thoughts from Sebastian, be sure to read his blog post reflecting on MOOCs, empowerment and education. 

Happy Friday and Happy Coffee Break!

10 Reasons to Take Your Education Online

Happy Friday, Udacity! 

Millions of people are getting inspired by a new era of online education, and we here at Udacity are absolutely thrilled to watch empowered students advance their education and their careers with our free, online courses. Virtual classrooms are filling up all over the interwebs!

We are so jazzed about online learning that we decided to make a list for everyone who needs a few extra reasons to take their education online. We polled the office and this is what we came up with!

Here’s one of the reasons: There’s no such thing as being late to your laptop.

This man has never been late in his life. Only early. 

We care deeply about the future of education and believe that higher education is a basic human right -- Udacity’s mission is to bring accessible, affordable, engaging and highly effective education to the world. 

We also believe in having fun, so stay tuned for more lists.

Udacity at Google I/O

Udacity is really excited to be participating in Google I/O this year at their Developer Sandbox, and we’ve created a custom mini lesson to give I/O attendees -- and anyone else who is curious about what it’s like to learn with Udacity -- a taste of a simple lesson.

Figure out which philosophers are thinking, waiting, and eating

In this short, 10 minute “lesson,” we’ll walk you through solving a brain teaser. Share this with your friends and challenge yourselves to see who can solve this puzzle about philosophers and chopsticks today!

College Algebra with Udacity and San Jose State University

Hi, I’m Miriam, one of the course developers for College Algebra, a course you can take this summer with Udacity and San Jose State University to learn the fundamentals of algebra -- and earn college credit while you’re at it. 

College Algebra, taught by San Jose State's Dr. Julie Sliva Spitzer, fellow course developer Sarah Norell, and myself, will take you all the way from defining variables through finding roots of higher degree polynomials through solving exponential and logarithmic equations.

Learn to use algebra to predict panda population growth. 

Whether you are new to algebra or want to strengthen your understanding of the subject, College Algebra will make concepts resonate on a deep level and will help develop your intuition for problem solving. The engaging, and often amusing, examples used will give you a chance to play around with math while also realizing its relevance for everyday life.  

If you’d like to help out a startup that makes windshield wipers for glasses, determine the age of the Dead Sea scrolls, or predict how a panda population will grow, joins us in College Algebra!

One of the awesome things about Udacity is that once a course is created, it will always be available. Now that all of the lessons for College Algebra have been released, you can work through the entire course at your own pace, whether you want to zip through as quickly as possible or give yourself a generous summer vacation break.

Also, join me as I fly through the solar system! 

Of course, if you want to earn college credit this summer at San Jose State University, you do have to enroll for credit by Friday, May 24th, so sign up today!

Miriam Swords Kalk

Udacity Course Developer

Entry-Level Mathematics with Udacity and San Jose State University

Summer is almost here! You might have travel plans or you might be staying in one place. Either way, I hope you’ll find time to learn something new and join me for Entry-Level Mathematics. My name is Chris Saden, and I've teamed up with not just one but two professors at San Jose State, Sandra DeSousa and Susan McClory, to create an exciting math course.

Now if you’re thinking, “Hey, Algebra is not for me” or “I’m no good at math”, then watch this clip about London’s Black Cab Drivers and see if you can change your mind.

These drivers learned an immense amount of knowledge over time, and the number of their neural connections actually grew. You have that same ability to make your own connections with math!

In this course, we will take a visual approach to learning Algebra. We’ll explain math symbols, like a cube root, by drawing perfect cubes, and we’ll draw diagrams to support our reasoning. 

I’m much more of fan of showing rather than telling so here is a sample question from the course.

If this has you thinking, then come join us for Entry-Level Mathematics. Be sure to register by May 24th if you’re seeking to satisfy the the ELM requirement in California. While this course does not offer college credit toward a degree, successful completion of the course can allow you to take more advanced math courses.

This course will prepare you for our College Algebra course so if you are looking to brush up on the basics or wondering which course to take, this is a great starting point. I hope to see you in class!

Chris Saden
Udacity Course Developer

Sebastian Thrun: Announcing Online Masters Degree in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech and AT&T

There are a few moments in my life I will never forget. Like the moment I proposed to my wife, Petra. Or the moment Stanley crossed the finish line in the DARPA Grand Challenge. 

Today is one of those moments. 

I grew up in Germany, a country that offers excellent education. Yet when I started my Master's degree in computer science, I found myself among 1,200 other Master's students with just five professors. Needless to say, I ended up mostly educating myself through books that were available at a nearby research institute.

Today is my opportunity to give back. Ever since Peter Norvig and I launched AI Class, I have been dreaming of putting an entire computer science degree online, and to make access to the material free of charge, so that everyone can become a proficient computer scientist. With Georgia Tech and AT&T, this is my dream come true. If, as a young student, I had the chance to learn from the best professors in the world, my life might have been different. I have been fortunate. Yet so many potential learners are still denied access. Education has become much more exclusive, and getting into a top-10 computer science department, like Georgia Tech's, is still out of reach for all but a chosen few. 

I co-founded Udacity to bring the very best of higher education to everyone worldwide. With Georgia Tech, we have a partner whose computer science program is among the best in the world! And equally importantly, with AT&T, we partner with a Fortune-500 company which is relentlessly innovating in the space of digital access to information. This triumvirate of industry and academia is now teaming up to use 21st Century MOOC technology to level the playing field in computer science education. And while the degree rightfully comes with a tuition fee -- after all, to achieve the very best in online education we will provide support services -- the bare content will be available free of charge, available for anyone eager to learn. We are also launching non-credit certificates at a much reduced price point, to give a path to those who don't care about Georgia Tech credit or degrees, but still want their learning results certified.

I wish I had been born in the 1990s. Back when I was a college student, the Web did not exist. How many young students are there in the world today as eager to learn as I was? Only time will tell how many young people we'll be able to empower to reach for the stars. If you are a student in our program and come across this blog post, please drop me a line at sebastian@udacity.com. If only a single life can be touched with this program, it will be a success!

New HTML5 Game Development Certificate Program and Employer Opportunities

HTML5 Game Development, a course Udacity developed in collaboration with Google, has enjoyed a warm reception by the Udacity community as well as the wider HTML5 community.  Today we’re thrilled to offer a new way to get involved.

Starting today and continuing through June 24, we are accepting sign-ups for a certification track for HTML5 Game Development students.

Certification, which costs $80, includes an authenticated exam and review of your game, as well as access to multiple employers who have an interest in reviewing our game developer graduates. Here are just a few industry employers who are interested in Udacity-certified game developers:

• Gameloft
• Game Closure
• Kiwi Up
• Kabam

...and more!

A proctored online exam testing your knowledge of concepts taught in the course is available from June 24 through July 1, and original game projects must be submitted by July 1. If you’re interested in more certification details, check out our FAQ page.

Level-up your HTML5 Game Development career and sign up for certification!