What I Learned from Accomplishing a Professional Certificate Online
Structure of the course

The Course consists of 9 modules, which each can be done separately if you don’t want to take the whole curriculum. Every module is divided into weeks, which each holds content, tasks for practicing, and quizzes. At the end of every module, you have to accomplish a final assignment.

The content will mainly be video, but there is also some literature to study. The videos can be in the interview style with experts from the field, but the central part is tutorial videos where you have a voice overlay over graphical explanations.

The practice parts consist of programming tasks you have to accomplish for yourself. They provide a structure and the solutions, but you will have to create some code for yourself.

The final assignment is typically a more significant task where you have to create self-responsible. This may be answering questions in text form, but mostly it is writing code and running it to produce a specific output.

A noteworthy fact is that all final assignments are peer-reviewed. There is no teacher who will give you a mark. You will have to upload your solution, and one of your fellow course participants can grade you based on specific criteria. To pass the final assignment, you have to get a grade from a fellow participant, and you will have to grade the work of another course participant.

I have to admit that I was a little bit confused by this system in the first place. By now, I think it is more valuable than being graded by a teacher: Grading other course participants while you are doing the same assignment sharpens your eye for the work style and how it can be approached. In business, you will also have to work with others and their input for your projects, so this concept is already somehow team-focused. I do like it because it also values your responsibility.
['Tom Fenske']
['Online Courses', 'Learning', 'Data Science', 'Technology', 'Education']