WebProNews

Tag: Online Classes

  • Coronavirus: MIT Cancels Classes, Goes Online

    Coronavirus: MIT Cancels Classes, Goes Online

    MIT has informed students that classes will be cancelled the week of March 16, and all classes will transition online once spring break is over.

    In a letter to the MIT community, President L. Rafael Reif said that “state and federal public health officials advise that to slow a spreading virus like COVID-19, the right time for decisive action is before it is established on our campus.” President Reif said that although risk on campus remains low, the university is stepping up its response to keep its students and faculty safe, along with the community at large.

    The university’s measures are fourfold:

    “All classes are cancelled for the week of Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 20. Because the following week is spring break, this will allow faculty and instructors two weeks to organize a full transition to online instruction.

    “Online instruction, which some units are already experimenting with this week, will begin for all classes on Monday, March 30, and continue for the remainder of the semester.

    “Undergraduates should not return to campus after spring break. Undergraduates who live in an MIT residence or fraternity, sorority or independent living group (FSILG) must begin packing and departing this Saturday, March 14. We are requiring undergraduates to depart from campus residences no later than noon on Tuesday, March 17. Please see below for details on graduate students.

    “Classes will continue this week as we continue to prepare for this transition.”

    The lengths to which MIT is going illustrates the danger the coronavirus represents, and the measures companies and organizations are willing to take to help contain it.

  • Google’s Class For Making You Less Stupid At Search Is Back

    Google’s Class For Making You Less Stupid At Search Is Back

    In June, Google announced an online course for learning about how to become a Google power searcher. The course consisted of six free 50-minute classes with interactive activities and opportunities to connect with users using Google Groups and Google+.

    Google announced today that the class is back for those who missed it the first time around. Those interested can now sign up. The series of classes begins on September 24 and lasts for two weeks.

    “During the course’s first run in July, people told us how they not only liked learning about new features and more efficient ways to use Google, but they also enjoyed sharing tips and learning from one another through the forums and Hangouts,” says Dan Russell on the Google Research Blog. “Ninety-six percent of people who completed the course also said they liked the format and would be interested in taking similar courses, so we plan to offer a suite of upcoming courses in the coming months, including Advanced Power Searching.”

    “You’ll learn about things like how to search by color, image, and time and how to solve harder trivia questions like our A Google a Day questions,” says Russell of the course.

    If you want to learn how to build your own search engine, a Google engineer offers a different class for that.

  • Google Has A Class To Make You Less Stupid At Search

    Google announced a new online course for learning about how to become a Google power searcher. The course consists of six free 50-minute classes with interactive activities and opportunities to connect with others using Google Groups and Google+ (including Hangouts On Air).

    Those who pass the post-course assessment will get a printable Certificate of Completion, which the company will email you.

    “Our course is aimed at empowering you to find what you need faster, no matter how you currently use search,” says Google Education Program Manager Terry Ednacot. “For example, did you know that you can search for and read pages written in languages you’ve never even studied? Identify the location of a picture your friend took during his vacation a few months ago? How about finally identifying that green-covered book about gardening that you’ve been trying to track down for years?”

    This, Ednacot says, you can learn in these six classes.

    “Power Searching with Google blends the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) learning format pioneered by Stanford and MIT with our social and communication tools to create what we hope is a true community learning experience,” Ednacot adds.

    Registration for the classes is open today, and ends July 16. Course-related activities will end on July 23, 2012.

    If you’d rather learn how to build a search engine yourself, a Google engineer has a class for that too. Matt Cutts has some suggested reading, as well.

    Google will be offering plenty more education to developers at Google I/O this week (starting on Wednesday).