Jan 07, 2013



2012 was a good year, during which I learned a lot of things. What is interesting is that it was mainly driven by two points: My desire to learn and the availability of online courses.

I completed 7 online courses during 2012. Here are some of the concepts I improved while doing this.

Python:

I used online courses as a way to really learn and improve my python knowledge and I can say that I am pleased with where I am right now (I know there is room for improvement, 2013 here I come). I have learned a lot by doing this. All Udacity courses helped me a lot to get into this language as they use it for all their courses. So, if you are new to python, Udacity courses are definitely a good place to start.

Artificial Intelligence

I have done 3 courses in Artificial Intelligence, 2 from Udacity and one from Edx. I was familiar with some of the things taugth in the courses as I learned them while obtaining my Master's degree. It was fun to relearn them and learn more concepts from this field at the same time.

My birthday present from 2011 was the AI book Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. It was really helpfull to go through these courses with the book by my side, as Udacity and Edx use it as a support for their courses. Definitely a good complement.

I found that these 3 AI courses complement with each other if what you wish is to learn and master some main concepts from this field.

Web technologies

I learned to use Google App Engine platform and API through CS253: Web Development and I am using it right now to host this site. Steve Huffman is really a good teacher and in a small period of time you will have all the tools you need to build something on your own as so many students have done.

The SaaS course put my hands on a lot of different technologies that I would not have had time to discover on my own as fast as I did without the incentive of the course. This course was really fun and it took a lot of time and energy to achieve it, more than I expected, but the experience is definitely worthwhile.
I learned to use the Heroku platform, Amazon Web Services with EC2, as well as Ruby and other tools for testing web applications.


Online Courses can really be a good channel for you to learn or master concepts, the only thing you need is some discipline and being ready to have fun.
Santiaago