MIT\u2019s mandate is to advance knowledge in areas that will serve to address the 21st century\u2019s great challenges by educating students in science, technology, and other fields of scholarship that will best serve the world.<\/p>\n
To extend the boundaries of access to this kind of education across the globe, the University is collaborating with digital education providers, GetSmarter, to design this 8-week online certificate course in the fundamental theory and analysis of big data and social analytics.<\/p>\n
A revolutionary learning platform for a revolutionary area of study<\/strong> \u201cMIT decided to collaborate with GetSmarter on these courses because they\u2019ve got a proven track record of developing truly immersive, competency-based learning experiences,\u201d says Dave Shrier, Managing Director for MIT Connection Science and Course Instructor. Which is exactly how we hacked our own Online Campus in order to design this course in such a way that all students would walk away having developed the skills and competencies most relevant to them:<\/p>\n \u2013 The core activities<\/strong> are aimed at students with little to no skills in Python programming, allowing you to answer research questions, test hypotheses, and generate results that can be interpreted for strategic application. Whatever your level of proficiency, this scaffolded, streamlined approach to learning allows for engagement with the course content at a level determined by you, ensuring you derive maximum benefit from the material.<\/p>\n Want to see what the Online Campus looks like?<\/strong>
\nBuilding this particular course presented a complex challenge for the Learning Technologists and Designers behind GetSmarter\u2019s Online Campus: owing to the technical nature of its subject matter, the course needed to align to each individual student\u2019s level of proficiency in Python programming, ensuring each student would still benefit from the course content, whatever their level of technical experience and expertise.<\/p>\n
\n\u2013 The extension activities<\/strong> are available for students with advanced proficiencies in Python programming and handling large data sets, as you\u2019re offered the opportunity to explore more sophisticated methods of big data analysis.<\/p>\n
\nPlay this video tour. It\u2019s a bit of a long one (4:30), but worth the watch if you\u2019re serious about enrolling on the MIT Big Data and Social Analytics certificate course<\/a>.<\/p>\n