MIT Fo Free! but no Degree.

Photo courtesy of MIT online home page

So today I saw on Twitter that MIT is going to be offering FREE courses for anybody with an internet connection.  Pretty neat stuff.  I went to the site to see what it was all about and noticed that there were courses in Web/computer programming so I thought "YEPPIE" and jumped right in.  I haven't done a ton of rummaging but noticed it was literally what ever they had laying around they through up online.  Classes from 2006 up to Fall this year.  Very sporadic and not reliable on what to expect as far as content.  I sat through 15 minutes of an intro class to Computer programming.  It is exactly what you would think if you were in the class.  Syllabus, how they grade, blah blah.  Doesn't quite make since if you are sitting at your house licking cheese off your fingers from Cheetos.  The catch about this is that you don't get an actual degree from MIT but a certificate that shows that you completed. What did you expect for free...It literally said in some article and I paraphrase "the certificate doesn't hold the same weight as the degree would but is there to provide encouragement for the students to finish." WOW...really proves that you purchase your degree.  I say if you can motivate yourself to learn on your own and proficiently then what the hell is the difference? Knowledge is knowledge.  Silly politics. Anyways,  I am to believe that what I viewed was of some other nature since they said this feature was to launch in Spring 2012.  Who knows, if you are interested though head to MIT home page to get the scoop for yourself.  A ton of other stuff happened today but I think I'll separate them into separate blog posts so it doesn't leave you to read 6 pages of blog...that would be an interesting intimidating read.  But ya. I love learning but it seemed like a waste of hours listening to lectures.  Online to me is quick to the point and concise. I could really care less about the reminiscent aspect of a past class learning experience.