Udacity
| Udacity
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Inc. |
| founding | June 2011 |
| Seat | Silicon Valley |
| management | Sebastian Thrun , David Stavens, Mike Sokolsky |
| Branch | Internet |
| Website | www.udacity.com |
| As of June 20, 2016 | |
Udacity is a private online academy that was founded by Sebastian Thrun , Mike Sokolsky and David Stavens in 2012 to make lectures and exams available on the website of the same name, initially free of charge. Together with partners (including Google, Facebook, Salesforce.com), the company is developing courses that are supposed to combine traditional education with professional skills. According to Kressreport, Udacity had 2.8 million course participants from 119 countries in September 2014.
Emergence
The basis were computer science lectures from 2011 at Stanford University . From February to April 2012, two courses were available that were followed by 90,000 participants worldwide. Udacity also offers a job exchange to place graduates with employers. The language of instruction is English. In November 2013, Thrun admitted that Udacity had a “lousy product” and that the online platform was changing its corporate strategy in such a way that in the future it would focus more on professional training than on science subjects.
In September 2014, the kressreport reported that Udacity had successfully completed a financing round and that Bertelsmann had taken a “significant stake”.
functionality
The range of courses is growing steadily; It essentially deals with topics of computer science and programming and has meanwhile been expanded to include physics, mathematics, business administration and psychology. The courses are designed to last about 7 weeks, but can usually be worked on freely and thus according to an individual rhythm.
The lessons consist of numerous short videos, which are interrupted by comprehension tests. The tests are designed as quizzes or include tasks that are to be solved in various programming languages. The comprehension tests are checked immediately and automatically and possible answers are then explained via video. Each weekly unit ends with a homework part. The last week of the course ends with the final exam , which works like a homework part, but thematically covers the entire course content. After passing the final exam, a corresponding certificate is available for download. However, since May 2014, certificates are no longer issued for free courses. Questions about the course can be discussed in a discussion forum with supervisors or other participants.
Media response
Udacity became a media topic shortly after it was founded, especially in the United States, where higher education can be very costly . Udacity was named “Initiative of the Year 2012” by the computer magazine Chip .
Web links
- Website udacity.com
- Interview with Sebastian Thrun. In: Spiegel Online , March 19, 2012.
- Interview with Sebastian Thrun. In: Die Zeit , January 26, 2012.
- Robotics specialist Sebastian Thrun: is he changing the world? In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 15, 2012.
- Sebastian Thrun in conversation: "I want to revolutionize the university landscape". In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , January 11, 2015.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Bertelsmann takes a stake in the e-learning provider Udacity. In: kress.de , September 25, 2014.
- ↑ New York Times article, March 5, 2012
- ↑ Max Chafkin: Udacity's Sebastian Thrun, Godfather of Free Online Education, Changes Course . In: Fast Company . Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ↑ Alina Fichter: Off to infinity . In: sueddeutsche.de . May 16, 2017, ISSN 0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed January 6, 2019]).
- ↑ CHIP Awards 2012: These are the winners. ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: CHIP online , March 7, 2012.
