For the curious, I think nothing beats the introduction to ML class from Stanfords Andrew Nq [1]. He lectures and explains with a clarity and consistency I don't often see.
I really want to take the course -- but I wish there was a textual version of it. I strongly strongly prefer text to audio/video.
Also, the voice of some of these lecturers have this sort-of monotone to it, that has the tendency to let you mind wander off. They're just not "arresting" enough.
For instance, I took the Crypto I class part-way on Coursera, and had this experience. The instructor voice was slow, drawn-out and kind-of put you to sleep. I actually downloaded the videos and just played it on VLC at 1.25x or 1.5x the speed (because he spoke so annoyingly slow).
On the other hand Tim Roughegarden (I think that's his name), who teaches an Algorithms class on Coursera, has an amazing "video personality". Just the way he speaks -- it catches your attention. He passion and enthusiasm for the topic really come across. Now, I'm not saying the other professors aren't as passionate about what they teach -- but it's just that some of these lecturers have a really good way of bringing it through (their love for the topic) on video. Not everyone can (or is) doing it.
You get annotated as well as original PPT-slides along with clear text transcripts of what he says in the videos.
Can be a bit awkward as it is not a textbook text but it gets the job done.
I honestly think it is hard to do a better course than what you get from Ng's Machine learning on Coursera.
Comments
For the curious, I think nothing beats the introduction to ML class from Stanfords Andrew Nq [1]. He lectures and explains with a clarity and consistency I don't often see.
[1]: https://www.coursera.org/course/ml
I really want to take the course -- but I wish there was a textual version of it. I strongly strongly prefer text to audio/video.
Also, the voice of some of these lecturers have this sort-of monotone to it, that has the tendency to let you mind wander off. They're just not "arresting" enough.
For instance, I took the Crypto I class part-way on Coursera, and had this experience. The instructor voice was slow, drawn-out and kind-of put you to sleep. I actually downloaded the videos and just played it on VLC at 1.25x or 1.5x the speed (because he spoke so annoyingly slow).
On the other hand Tim Roughegarden (I think that's his name), who teaches an Algorithms class on Coursera, has an amazing "video personality". Just the way he speaks -- it catches your attention. He passion and enthusiasm for the topic really come across. Now, I'm not saying the other professors aren't as passionate about what they teach -- but it's just that some of these lecturers have a really good way of bringing it through (their love for the topic) on video. Not everyone can (or is) doing it.
You get annotated as well as original PPT-slides along with clear text transcripts of what he says in the videos. Can be a bit awkward as it is not a textbook text but it gets the job done. I honestly think it is hard to do a better course than what you get from Ng's Machine learning on Coursera.
Taking this course right now. Awesome.