Why

Over the past six months or so, I've been studying computer science in my spare time.  My main resources have been providers of free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), like Coursera and Udacity.  I thought it would be interesting--at the very least for myself--to track my progress and reflections.  MOOCs are quickly becoming a hot topic.  What is their place in the educational ecosystem?  And can they remain free?

I'll write a few catch up posts to cover what's happened so far, but first a few points of reference:

• What I know as I begin
• I took a data visualization class in college. I taught myself some Python and know enough to muddle through basic tasks in VBA, JavaScript, etc.  I worked in financial technology for four years.  

• What I expect 
• To survey introductory material in a wide range of topics
• To learn enough to be able to dive deeper into selected topics

• What I do NOT expect
• To become an expert programmer 
• To learn every fundamental principle 
• [29 July 2015] A retrospective edit: first principles are the only way to go :)

Sic infit...