Self-directed learning has been changing dramatically recently - and combining recorded lectures with adaptive tools offers a solution that is better than the sum of its parts. The path I took that convinced me of this was combining Math Academy with classes from MIT’s EdX Data Science MicroMasters.
Math Academy is an online learning platform that structures math learning in an opinionated way. It uses some clever techniques such as a dependency graph, spaced repetition and direct text based lessons to build proficiency at the learner’s frontier of knowledge. While the program started out of an experimental California High School program, the web based platform has been popular with adult learners as it covers material through the university-level.
While I found Math Academy was not enough on its own, it was the key piece that smoothed over any initial hurdles. This cleared the path to the MITx Data Science MicroMasters program, which is taught by MIT faculty and “designed to mirror on-campus graduate-level coursework, featuring a similar pace and level of rigor as on-campus courses”. Math Academy offered a simple glide path through the prerequisites of the Machine Learning course.
This combination has certainly been effective for building on ML and data science fundamentals. While neither resource is complete on its own, together they offer something new.