Unlike traditional online courses that charge a fee, limit enrollment and provide credit or certification, Moocs (massive open online courses) are usually free or low cost and can host hundreds of  thousands global participants.  Although MOOC have been around for years in the form of collective techie learning gatherings, participation in 2012 has ballooned at a rapid pace likened to FaceBook in its heyday.  According to The Year of the MOOCarticle in the New YorkTimes, edX, a nonprofit start-up backed by Harvard and MIT, had 370,000 registrants in the fall of its first official courses. This paled in comparison to the amount of students that Courseraattained in its first year of online learning opportunities, 1.7 million!

Will MOOCs Replace education as we know it?

Like any new trend, massive participation in online classes has its challenges. Lynda Weinman has ample experience when pointing out that they are by no means a replacement for formal education.  As a former digital animator, special effects designer and classroom college teacher, Linda paved the path for an earlier version of MOOC education in the mid 90’s when she founded Lynda.comas an aide to her own students. Over four million students and 2,200 courses later she’s confident when clarifying that many of the collegespartnered with Lynda.com use the tutorials as added features to their existing courses.  When asked in an interview with ReadWriteBuilders, if high technical companies look at online programs in terms of advancement as a supplement to traditional education or as a way for people to further their careers, Lynda feels that “it’sjust one example of something that you can do to enhance your attractiveness to potential employers. But [it’s also important to have] a portfolio and body of work, references that actually work out, showing that you had success in the past.”

MOOC Benefits:

Google is one of the most popular websites in the entire world that gets millions of views each day. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that it needs a strong and reliable programming language that it can rely on to run its searches and many of the apps that Google has created. Because of this, Google uses Python to ensure that every time a user uses one of their products, it will work smoothly and flawlessly. That being said, Google uses Python in a variety of different ways, outlined below.

Code.Google.Com
Since its creation, Google has always used Python as part of its core for programming language. This can still be seen today considering the strong relationship the two have with one another. Google supports and sponsors various Python events, and Python works to better itself so that Google remains on top of cutting edge material. One way that they do this is by working with code.google.com. This is the place where Google developers go to code, learn to code and test programs. And with it being built on Python, users can experience exactly what it is that they should expect once they start using the real site.

Google AdWords
Google AdWords is a great way for people to get their websites out there, through the use of advertising. Each time a person types in a certain string of keywords, or if they have history in their cookies, then they’ll come across these AdWords. The way that these AdWords are broadcasted to online web surfers is built on the foundation from Python. Python also helps clients access their AdWord accounts, so that they can tailor where they want their advertisements to go.

Beets
If you have loads of music, but some of it is uncategorized or sitting in a music player without a name or title, Beets is for you. This Google project uses Python and a music database to help arrange and organize music. The best part about Beets is that even if it doesn’t run exactly the way that you want, you can use a bit of Python knowledge to tailor it to be more specific to your desires.

Android-Scripting
Not only does Google run off Python, but Android also has its own value for the language. Whether you are someone who is just creating your own app for your phone or if you are someone who is looking to create the next app that gets downloaded multiple millions of times, you can use Python and Android-Scripting to create an app that does exactly what you want it to do.

YouTube
YouTube one just started as a video viewer on its own, but is now a billion-dollar company that is owned by Google. YouTube uses Python to let users view and upload video, share links, embed video and much more. Much like Google itself, YouTube relies heavily on Python to run seamlessly for the amount of traffic it gets daily.

Python is not your average coding language. Instead, it is a valuable and integral part of some of the biggest websites in the world, one of which is Google. And the resources listed here are just a fraction of what Google uses Python for in total.

Related:

What Are The 10 Most Famous Software Programs Written in Python?

The Future of Java and Python

Ranking Programming Languages: Which are Gaining Popularity?

Top 10 Software Skills for 2014 and Beyond

Working With Strings In Python

Working With Lists In Python

Conditional Programming In Python

Smart Project Management –Best Practices of Good Managers

Project management could be one of the easiest jobs on the planet, and could also be the worst nightmare. The difference between the two extremes depends on smart management of a project. According to the project management institute, there are five phases in project management - Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing.

Every manager has his own style of project management. But there are a lot of contributing factors that result in a successfully managed project. These factors vary from project to project, but they all contain some common elements.

1. Setting SMART Goals

Much of success is about performance. It’s about what we do and what we are able to inspire others to do. There are some simple performance principles I have learned in my life, and I want to share them with you.  They really bring success, and what it takes to be successful, into sharp focus. They are also the basis for developing and maintaining an expectation of success.

The Five Principles of Performance

1. We generally get from ourselves and others what we expect. It is a huge fact that you will either live up or down to your own expectations. If you expect to lose, you will. If you expect to be average, you will be average. If you expect to feel bad, you probably will. If you expect to feel great, nothing will slow you down. And what is true for you is true for others. Your expectations for others will become what they deliver and achieve. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

2. The difference between good and excellent companies is training. The only thing worse than training employees and losing them is to not train them and keep them! A football team would not be very successful if they did not train, practice, and prepare for their opponents. When you think of training as practice and preparation, it makes you wonder how businesses survive that do not make significant training investments in their people.

Actually, companies that do not train their people and invest in their ability don’t last. They operate from a competitive disadvantage and are eventually gobbled up and defeated in the marketplace. If you want to improve and move from good to excellent, a good training strategy will be the key to success.