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Let the countdown BEGIN: 97 days since the last post.

I agree that the voluntarily motivating one self to learn more is a great value in itself especially when idle brain can be devil's workshop...but then what?

Would not it be nice to put that learning into practice expressly as in teaching, coaching, mentoring, practicing, etc formally or informally for profit or not.

Viswa Sadhaka

There's a famous joke:

What do you call a graduate student who gets As in every class? Someone who didn't spend enough time on doing research.

The idea of graduate work in science being available online sounds nice, but I'm not sure how it would work. The main problem would be that coursework isn't really the point of a graduate degree in science: research is. My graduate program in psychology is on the low end in terms of required coursework (about 4-5 semester-long classes), but at other programs with more classes (psychology programs in particular), I've heard faculty grouse about students wasting too much time on classes.

Finally, most of my classes, at least, are discussion-based. It is hard to do achieve that using OpenCourseware.

That said, I think OpenCourseware is great. I've used it and plan on using it more in the future. But I think it probably works best for introductory material (i.e., undergrad material). I wish you luck in the project. Let us know which classes are best.

Please try my web-based experiments

I've looked at some of those issues. I understand that there's no way for me to know how much I have truly learned. I think that's the the main issue of life-long education. There's no way for me to expect to master any of this material. But I can master the notes.

I recognize that a lot of the courses are sparse in how much they provide. I'm banking on that, actually. If it was all super-involved, there's no way I'd make my deadline. Wouldn't it be a good idea to have an online advanced university with full lectures and intractability? I'm talking about graduate level scientific coursework. I feel like that's a niche that could be filled.

As for the role of student interaction and encouragement, I always studied alone anyway. I think the development of my own ability to self-start will be enough.

I should also note, in response to other comments, that there's no way I could do this if none of it had anything to do with my current field, at least not yet. All of my classes were chosen to be supplementary to what I do now. Otherwise, I would totally include "Digital Poetry". (It's on the list!)

Renaisauce,

Don't just study neural networks; get practical by designing an interface between the high-order thought areas of the brain and a bowtie-spinning actuator that draws its power directly from the firing synapses. The more you think, the faster the bowtie spins, thereby providing exactly the amount of cooling you need.

Your from Rube Goldberg Land,

Fred Bortz -- Science and technology books for young readers (www.fredbortz.com) and Science book reviews (www.scienceshelf.com)

While I heartily endorse your planned program to expand your mind (I also went through a large number of MIT’s courses), there are a number of problems I see. The #1 biggie is that we learn until we know the information well enough, as you put it, in our own opinion. There is no external corrective feedback, no expert to tell us when our understanding is superficial or even incorrect. Unfortunately, I see no solution to this. Even if you publish your understanding online for others to correct, there seems a very good chance that their understanding is no better than yours, unless you can somehow attract the attention of people who are experts in the areas you are studying.

Another problem I found was that too many of the courses I was interested in had no lecture notes. The only information was in the form of recommended reading. Unfortunately, many of the books were unavailable at the local libraries and were far too expensive for me to purchase.

There is also the lack of encouragement and stimulation you get from interacting with other students with the same interests. Perhaps if you announce ahead of time what course you are going to take, other people will also look into it and provide some online interaction, at least.

The only other university whose online courses I have seen are the Yale courses, which currently only have some basic introductory courses: http://oyc.yale.edu/.

Shortcomings aside, I still think it a worthwhile endeavor and wish you the best of luck in your project!

I watched the first few lectures to some advanced course (I can't remember which) and then realized it would probably be a good idea to finish my 'first' college degree before starting on the 'second'.

Anyways, good luck on keeping the motivation flowing.
-Joe DiPilato
http://joe.dipilato.googlepages.com/home

I think it's grand. I've blogged it, and added your RSS to my reader. Looking forward to it.

I need to start with the easier stuff, like systems computation and neural networks, before I get into bow-tie mechanics. Maybe I'll wear a clip-on for a while so I can get used to all that localized weight. I will say that it's been hot enough around here lately that I'd consider getting one of those spinning ones for the built-in cooling properties. Is there a high-velocity tie that also sprays a fine, cool mist?

I suggest you take a course in bowtie tying, then borrow one of mine. I'll e-mail you a jpeg of a few to choose from, then you can doctor a picture to put it on you! :)

Fred Bortz -- Science and technology books for young readers (www.fredbortz.com) and Science book reviews (www.scienceshelf.com)

I recall hearing a while back that there are universities that will let you sit the exams only on material that you already know in order to achieve credit.

I am uncertain what universities do it, but it may be worthwhile to try to find out if there are any given you'd be doing all that work anyway

that's great. I'm a fan of informal ed because of the no-pressure hassle of having to make good grades. For some people, they actually learn more when there is 'nothing on the line'. so good luck with classes.
DN Lee
Urban Science Adventures
www.urban-science.blogspot.com