在 COVID-19 疫情衝擊下,遙距教育變成新常態,大規模開放線上課堂 (MOOC) 亦越來越受歡迎。 Coursera、edX、LinkedIn Learning 和 Udemy 等 MOOC 平台的使用者數均錄得大幅增長。
自從疫情爆發以來,我也開始在這些 MOOC 平台上學習。一開始我選用了 edX,但它最多僅提供90%的獎學金。所以我後來轉用 Coursera,現時有兩種方式可以讓你在完成課程後免費獲得 Coursera 付費課程的證書!
Learning continually. There's always ‘one more thing’ to learn.
Steve Jobs
A. 助學金
大部分 Coursera 最受歡迎的課程均有提供助學金。以下是申請Coursera助學金的流程教學:
- 用電腦打開想申請助學金的課程的主頁。
- 點擊免費註冊旁邊的有助學金。
- 點擊繼續申請。
- 勾選在他們的申請上分享準確的信息及承諾完成他們的 Coursera 課程,並在方框內輸入我同意以上條款。點擊繼續。
- 填寫教育背景、年收入、工作情況和您有能力支付多少學費?
- 用英文回答下列兩個問題並填寫問卷。點擊提交申請。
建議答案:
此課程可以為你的事業/學習帶來甚麼好處?(如升職、加薪、轉工等)
為甚麼需要申請經濟援助?(如失業、為應屆畢業生、沒有積蓄、有家庭負擔等)
重申你將誠實地完成整個課程。
我的答案:
I am working in a marketing role at a tech firm and I believe that data analytics would be really helpful to my career. Nowadays data analytics is a hot topic and could apply to many fields, including marketing. With data analytics, I can help my company to predict consumer behaviour, back up my decision making and determine the return on investment of my company’s marketing efforts. I believe that data analytics is playing an important role and will be more and more important in marketing, especially digital marketing, which is a major part of my job responsibility.
However, I could not afford to pay for the course because my family financially depends on me and I cannot invest money in myself. Also, as a fresh graduate, I do not have a lot of savings in my account. With the current pandemic, the unemployment rate is getting higher and I need to keep more cash on hand to prepare for any unpredicted situations. At the same time, I need to keep equip myself in order to secure a job in the job market.
I am a responsible student. I would finish the course on schedule and do all assignments by myself with a high standard. I had previously completed the FinTech: Finance Industry Transformation and Regulation Specialization on time and received good grades. This can prove that I do take online courses seriously.
建議答案:
此課程與你當前/未來的職業有甚麼關係?
舉例說明你最感興趣/最能讓你受益的課題。
課程證書可以如何提高你在職場的競爭力?
我的答案:
I am interested in obtaining the IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate and this course is included in this professional certificate. This course is the course that I am most interested in. In this digital era, everyone needs to have some knowledge of programming, and Python is the most popular and one of the most widely used programming language. Unfortunately, I have not got a chance to learn Python yet and I think that this course will be a good start.
Python can be helpful to marketers, especially in digital marketing. Python can help me get more insights from data, make better-informed data-driven decisions, automate routine activities, and increase the return of investment from marketing campaigns.
I can confidently say that working knowledge of Python can definitely increase my competitiveness in the job market. After completing this course, I think I am going to know if I have the potential to become a data analyst.
我成功用以上的答案申請到 IBM Data Analyst 專業證書的助學金。由於此專業證書中有9門課程,所以我必須分別為每門課程提交一份助學金申請。在提交申請15天後,Coursera 透過電郵通知我所有申請均已獲批,然後我就被自動註冊了全部9門課程。
唯一的問題是,獲批的課程需要在180天內完成。作為一名上班族,我只能利用有限的時間來學習。我不停鞭策自己要繼續上堂及做功課,才能趕得上在 deadline 前完成全部課程。如果不想讀得太趕,可以先申請第一門課程的助學金,然後讀了一半才申請下一門課程的助學金。
如何增加獲得 Coursera 助學金的機會?
用學校電郵地址申請
誠實地回答問題並超越字數限制
曾成功完成其他 Coursera 課程/在 Coursera 有良好的記錄
B. 免費試用
如果你不想提交助學金申請,你可以選擇免費註冊以開始7天的免費試用。如果你在免費試用期內完成整個課程,就可以免費獲得證書!
在一周內完成一門課程是完全可能的。我花了大約一周的時間完成了 IBM Data Analyst 專業證書的第一門課程 “Introduction to Data Analytics” ,然後又花了另一周的時間完成了第二門課程 “Excel Basics for Data Analytics”。
可是,如果你在申請助學金後開始免費試用,你的申請則會被取消。
Happy learning!