December 8, 2017 at 18:56“3 classes of a parish school” or study at Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA)
Perhaps many people who are interested in developing for .NET and other Microsoft solutions have heard something about Microsoft Virtual Academy - free online courses primarily based on Microsoft technologies or closely related to them.
In fact, there are enough information about these courses on Habré, but as the search showed, most relevant articles where the MVA is mentioned not in passing but in full, prepared by persons who are somehow connected with Microsoft and posted on their corporate blog.
I offer you my independent and subjective view of this learning resource. I’ll note right away, since most of the MVA content is designed for beginners, so probably this material is more likely for beginners or amateurs, professionals I think this resource is not particularly used.
In this review, we will briefly consider: a description of the portal, the pros and cons, comparison with other platforms. If you are still interested - welcome to the cut!
Immediately make a reservation all that is here is solely my opinion, I myself am not a programmer, so I can evaluate some things incorrectly from the point of view of the community, I hope this does not hurt anyone.
So what is MVA? According to Microsoft, it is - “Free online courses of an international level will help to gain technical skills and continue career growth”
The concept of an international level is somewhat ambiguous; it can be interpreted in different ways. As high-class courses and as simply understandable to people of different countries. If there is no conflict with the second interpretation, then with the first everything is not so clear. One way or another, on the one hand, the site does present courses in different languages, prepared both by local experts and from countries of the“decaying west” ( just kidding) .
On the other hand, for some courses (the minority), the place is clearly not at the international level, but at the level of the local computer science cabinet. True, it should be noted that often courses with Western lecturers are done professionally, more professionally than domestic ones, but more on that later.
Let's start all the same in order, which we will have as follows:
Contents:
Part I: General Information.
Part II: Pros
Part III: Cons.
Part IV Comparison with other on-line courses.
Part V: Who Will Help
Probably the most important advantage of courses from Microsoft Virtual Academy is that they are absolutely free. Just register and start training.
After registration, we will be able to take courses and receive a certificate at the end. It looks like there was still some kind of rating system (which I did not pay attention to), and now it has been replaced with a badge - “Member of the MVA Founders Club”, maybe in the future there will be some other motivation system ( more details here )
Who cares what the certificate looks like about the completion of the course, then I hid it under the spoiler.
I think that he does not have any value, but we are not only learning for the sake of certificates, let's move on to the courses themselves.
We must give Microsoft its due - in principle, there are many courses, and they are divided into several popular key areas, this is how the main page
looks : Now it seems that, in addition to the courses, specializations have also appeared that should in principle help you build a training plan. There are few training schemes - only 12, and most of them are for IT professionals (in the sense that not for developers). Upon completion of all courses, training schemes seem to give a “medal,” but I have not yet completed one, so I can’t say for sure.
Let's move on to the courses themselves. As shown in the picture under the spoiler, there are courses for every taste, in many directions and in different languages.
True, you should not flatter yourself, most of the courses are still in English with Russian subtitles, but there are also localized courses prepared by domestic or Russian-speaking specialists.
In this case, most courses are built according to the following scheme: one or two lecturers tell something on the video, give code examples, and after watching the video, you pass a short test and move on. For example, as in the picture below.
As I have already said, courses made by foreign colleagues are usually of a higher quality, at least from those that I have come across.
For example, here you can stumble upon courses made “on the knee” in particular for comparison: a Unity course is a domestic version and a foreign one.
Or else - this is just a record of a regular seminar, and from the point of view of directing it is not the highest quality.
True, it should be noted that the difference between the content prepared by foreign experts and domestic is not always so striking, as an example of worthy courses, we can highlight materials from Dmitry Soshnikov.
For example, from this course I generally started getting to know C #, I really liked the course at the time, because they gave homework there, and then we sorted out how to correctly do it. Naturally, the course did not make me a "guru" in the field of programming, but it sparked interest, and this I consider the most important thing.
As you probably already understood from the pictures and text above, courses on the degree of elaboration and information content are different. According to the method of filing, too. Most courses are written by professionals and served with a certain amount of humor, which is very saves from “boiling brains”.
Perhaps it’s time to summarize the above and briefly note the advantages of studying at MVA.
As often happens in life, the positive aspects are not very strong, but the minuses are always relishing (see any political show or analytical program on TV), so this time I also seem to succumb to this trend, so about the pros briefly, but more about the minuses.
Pros:
In any case, we must say thanks to Microsoft for a free resource, as they say: "a gift horse ..."
As always, the negative side, as a rule, cause stronger emotions, so more about the minuses.
1. Brakes and UI - Not a very good engine. I’m not an expert and probably not for me to judge, but damn the site - it’s freezing, it’s not without reason that I mounted the loading screen in the start picture, the fact is that you will see it constantly and it will hang for a long time.
The engine also has other inconveniences, for example, you cannot normally open a new tab and get the expected result.
For example, if in the course content (the block that on many pictures was on the right) you select some other chapter that is different from the one you are currently looking at, then on the other tab you won’t get what you wanted (opening another chapter). Instead, you will receive the same content that you left.
Similarly, the back button works badly. For example, if I watched a video and then clicked on another element of the course (for example, a test), then after opening another element by pressing the browser button back, I would really like to return to the video that I watched before, but no, you will remain there where just that poked.
2. Subtitles - is it necessary to say that the site is best designed for Microsoft browsers, for example, MS Edge. Just see how the subtitles in Edge work normally in full screen and how wonderfully they hide under the rewind line in Chromium. Since this is a full-screen mode, you have to take my word for it that on the left Edge on the right is a browser on the Chromium engine.
3. Hangups.- There are things that are equally likely to occur in both browsers - some video freezes. Here is a new machine learning course for beginners , which freezes for me regardless of browser
4. Localization - There are problems with localization, both in the subtitles for the video and in the tests
Well, perhaps I do n’t have anything to add to them
5 Tests - in addition to a jamb with localization, when you still have not stupidly taken care to separate the original text and translation with a space, there are still obvious inconsistencies as in the picture on the right (we are talking about multiple choice, but there are one choice), well, like any tests in many similar systems, they are not always adequately described knowledge of lecture material.
6. Certificate - The inability to get a link to the certificate, the site only allows you to download it.
7. Quality - Not all courses are high-quality - there is such a miracle course with a two-minute video and that's it!
Well, with obvious disadvantages, it seems, sorted out, let's try to compare with other training platforms.
I must say right away that I have a little experience of on-line training, so here my opinion will be completely subjective.
1. edX - in my opinion, courses from Microsoft on the edX platform look more solid, and in some cases, in the courses themselves on MVA, they suggest continuing education on edX
2. Codecademy or SoloLearn - it is probably pointless to compare, firstly, areas of study on Codecademy or SoloLearn, less, secondly, the main emphasis is on code, and in MVA on watching videos and tests.
3. Intuition- In some ways, of course, they are similar. Both platforms provide the opportunity for free training and obtaining, some (not very valuable) certificate at the end of the course. Only Intuit is focused on a bunch: a text lecture is a test, and MVA on a bunch: video - tests. Well, it should be noted that MVA courses are often done better, on the other hand MVA is unlikely to teach you how to draw such a wonderful example of avant-garde art as in the picture (picture with a link to the course). 4. Coursera - I somehow didn’t particularly see a lot of Microsoft technology courses at Coursera, and all my experience is based only on specialization in machine learning
but as for me Coursera - a good thing gives real knowledge and makes you "sweat" (if the course is adequate). True, unlike free MVA, everything is somewhat worse.
Out of competition:
Distance learning, for example, in the "Specialist" educational center at MSTU. Bauman. Do not count for advertising, just at one time in hot pursuit I did not write a review, but now I have already forgotten everything, so I’ll leave it here as a small insert.
Remember, I wrote a little higher that one of the MVA courses directly enraged me for further study? So I decided that it is best to study on something more thorough, and at the same time to get a diploma on vocational retraining (at that time there was both free time and money). Since I heard a lot of good things about the "Expert", I chose them.
I then took the .NET distance learning program for myself, as part of the program I had: webinar recordings, microsoft textbooks (true in English), and the ability to remotely connect to working machines installed in the CA at certain times to make laboratories, and also consult with teachers. True, I honestly admit that I probably failed and I had to take full-time education.
Making labs through the virtual “ass” is uncomfortable, but I managed to fully reproduce on my home PC in the best case, one third of the laboratory of the entire course, so naturally I did not become a good programmer at the end of the course, but at least I enjoyed it. Because as a man brought up by Soviet engineers, I enjoyed the lectures of A. Korablin’s lectures, maybe not everyone will like the way of giving a lecture, but if I had at least something related to IT, I would be taught at the same level in educational institutions, I would probably "grow up and become a programmer."
One trouble - pleasure is expensive. Even with a tax deduction to me all this happiness turned out to be thousands in 80 wooden ones.
This inset about “Specialist” is partly my opinion in answering the question whether a programmer needs to study at universities, how, in my time, in addition to purely practical knowledge, it is quite possible for me to get a formal diploma about HE, especially since it is now quite accessible. Having a higher education (and maybe even a secondary vocational education) in any profile, you can always go through something else (vocational training / advanced training) and get an official right to engage in one or another activity that may be useful in the employer company for issuing an SRO certificate or whatever licenses, so it’s quite possible to combine “business with pleasure”.
But back to closer to the topic. Against the background of distance learning courses from the "Specialist", what MVA gives from the point of view of practice did not lie nearby. Also, some kind of certificates from Microsoft that the Specialist writes out at the end look more serious (but, to be honest, I'm not sure I didn’t give them to anyone). Well, the diploma of retraining is also not going anywhere.
Well, at the end of the sidebar in defense of MVA I’ll say that after training at the “Specialist”, courses from MVA help me close the “holes” that I forgot or did not learn during the course. You sit down, watch a video in accelerated mode and some things fall into place. Well, once again, MVA is free, which is a big plus.
Just in case, I’ll repeat, I’m not connected in any way with the Specialist training center, just after a couple of years I wanted to remember with a good word, until everything got out of my head, and I ’m unlikely to write a full note, I hope readers will forgive me for this small insert.
So, we summarize what was said above.
In my opinion, courses from Microsoft Virtual Academy, despite all the minor roughnesses, are still a useful thing.
First of all, they will be useful to absolute beginners in programming and other related issues from the field of IT. Since they allow you to get basic knowledge for free in an accessible form, get acquainted with the tools and resources, as well as look at the good practices that Microsoft experts use.
To a much lesser extent, these courses will be useful to the “scorched sea wolves” in the IT field, however, due to the ability to download video or directly on the site to watch it at double speed in order to get acquainted with something completely new or to remember something forgotten MVA courses can be useful to more experienced people.
One way or another, the main thing, as Vladimir Ilyich said: “to study, study and study,” but with the help of MVA or somehow it’s not so important.
I think that for most of the readers the workweek has come to an end, so have a good weekend and good luck!
In fact, there are enough information about these courses on Habré, but as the search showed, most relevant articles where the MVA is mentioned not in passing but in full, prepared by persons who are somehow connected with Microsoft and posted on their corporate blog.
I offer you my independent and subjective view of this learning resource. I’ll note right away, since most of the MVA content is designed for beginners, so probably this material is more likely for beginners or amateurs, professionals I think this resource is not particularly used.
In this review, we will briefly consider: a description of the portal, the pros and cons, comparison with other platforms. If you are still interested - welcome to the cut!
Immediately make a reservation all that is here is solely my opinion, I myself am not a programmer, so I can evaluate some things incorrectly from the point of view of the community, I hope this does not hurt anyone.
So what is MVA? According to Microsoft, it is - “Free online courses of an international level will help to gain technical skills and continue career growth”
The concept of an international level is somewhat ambiguous; it can be interpreted in different ways. As high-class courses and as simply understandable to people of different countries. If there is no conflict with the second interpretation, then with the first everything is not so clear. One way or another, on the one hand, the site does present courses in different languages, prepared both by local experts and from countries of the
On the other hand, for some courses (the minority), the place is clearly not at the international level, but at the level of the local computer science cabinet. True, it should be noted that often courses with Western lecturers are done professionally, more professionally than domestic ones, but more on that later.
Let's start all the same in order, which we will have as follows:
Contents:
Part I: General Information.
Part II: Pros
Part III: Cons.
Part IV Comparison with other on-line courses.
Part V: Who Will Help
Part I: General Information.
Probably the most important advantage of courses from Microsoft Virtual Academy is that they are absolutely free. Just register and start training.
After registration, we will be able to take courses and receive a certificate at the end. It looks like there was still some kind of rating system (which I did not pay attention to), and now it has been replaced with a badge - “Member of the MVA Founders Club”, maybe in the future there will be some other motivation system ( more details here )
Who cares what the certificate looks like about the completion of the course, then I hid it under the spoiler.
course certificate
I think that he does not have any value, but we are not only learning for the sake of certificates, let's move on to the courses themselves.
We must give Microsoft its due - in principle, there are many courses, and they are divided into several popular key areas, this is how the main page
looks : Now it seems that, in addition to the courses, specializations have also appeared that should in principle help you build a training plan. There are few training schemes - only 12, and most of them are for IT professionals (in the sense that not for developers). Upon completion of all courses, training schemes seem to give a “medal,” but I have not yet completed one, so I can’t say for sure.
Let's move on to the courses themselves. As shown in the picture under the spoiler, there are courses for every taste, in many directions and in different languages.
Course selection
True, you should not flatter yourself, most of the courses are still in English with Russian subtitles, but there are also localized courses prepared by domestic or Russian-speaking specialists.
In this case, most courses are built according to the following scheme: one or two lecturers tell something on the video, give code examples, and after watching the video, you pass a short test and move on. For example, as in the picture below.
Type of course and test
A test from a different course, but for clarity, I’ll leave it.
A test from a different course, but for clarity, I’ll leave it.
As I have already said, courses made by foreign colleagues are usually of a higher quality, at least from those that I have come across.
For example, here you can stumble upon courses made “on the knee” in particular for comparison: a Unity course is a domestic version and a foreign one.
Or else - this is just a record of a regular seminar, and from the point of view of directing it is not the highest quality.
True, it should be noted that the difference between the content prepared by foreign experts and domestic is not always so striking, as an example of worthy courses, we can highlight materials from Dmitry Soshnikov.
For example, from this course I generally started getting to know C #, I really liked the course at the time, because they gave homework there, and then we sorted out how to correctly do it. Naturally, the course did not make me a "guru" in the field of programming, but it sparked interest, and this I consider the most important thing.
As you probably already understood from the pictures and text above, courses on the degree of elaboration and information content are different. According to the method of filing, too. Most courses are written by professionals and served with a certain amount of humor, which is very saves from “boiling brains”.
Part II: Pros
Perhaps it’s time to summarize the above and briefly note the advantages of studying at MVA.
As often happens in life, the positive aspects are not very strong, but the minuses are always relishing (see any political show or analytical program on TV), so this time I also seem to succumb to this trend, so about the pros briefly, but more about the minuses.
Pros:
- Is free.
- Designed for free software from MS, or sometimes trial versions. And for students participating in the Dreamspark program, I think almost all (if not all) of the software from the courses will be available for free.
- There are many courses, and they cover different areas.
- A lot of materials in Russian
- Courses are often taught by Microsoft technical evangelists, and in the process of training, they sometimes reveal some useful features and good practices that may not be related to the topic of the course, but it turns out to make life easier for beginners.
- Often new courses come out or updates already completed.
- There are some certificates of completion of the course, if you have absolutely nothing to hang on the wall, then we will than close the hole in the wallpaper :)
In any case, we must say thanks to Microsoft for a free resource, as they say: "a gift horse ..."
Part III: Cons.
As always, the negative side, as a rule, cause stronger emotions, so more about the minuses.
1. Brakes and UI - Not a very good engine. I’m not an expert and probably not for me to judge, but damn the site - it’s freezing, it’s not without reason that I mounted the loading screen in the start picture, the fact is that you will see it constantly and it will hang for a long time.
The engine also has other inconveniences, for example, you cannot normally open a new tab and get the expected result.
For example, if in the course content (the block that on many pictures was on the right) you select some other chapter that is different from the one you are currently looking at, then on the other tab you won’t get what you wanted (opening another chapter). Instead, you will receive the same content that you left.
Similarly, the back button works badly. For example, if I watched a video and then clicked on another element of the course (for example, a test), then after opening another element by pressing the browser button back, I would really like to return to the video that I watched before, but no, you will remain there where just that poked.
2. Subtitles - is it necessary to say that the site is best designed for Microsoft browsers, for example, MS Edge. Just see how the subtitles in Edge work normally in full screen and how wonderfully they hide under the rewind line in Chromium. Since this is a full-screen mode, you have to take my word for it that on the left Edge on the right is a browser on the Chromium engine.
3. Hangups.- There are things that are equally likely to occur in both browsers - some video freezes. Here is a new machine learning course for beginners , which freezes for me regardless of browser
4. Localization - There are problems with localization, both in the subtitles for the video and in the tests
Well, perhaps I do n’t have anything to add to them
5 Tests - in addition to a jamb with localization, when you still have not stupidly taken care to separate the original text and translation with a space, there are still obvious inconsistencies as in the picture on the right (we are talking about multiple choice, but there are one choice), well, like any tests in many similar systems, they are not always adequately described knowledge of lecture material.
6. Certificate - The inability to get a link to the certificate, the site only allows you to download it.
7. Quality - Not all courses are high-quality - there is such a miracle course with a two-minute video and that's it!
Well, with obvious disadvantages, it seems, sorted out, let's try to compare with other training platforms.
Part IV: Comparison with other on-line courses
I must say right away that I have a little experience of on-line training, so here my opinion will be completely subjective.
1. edX - in my opinion, courses from Microsoft on the edX platform look more solid, and in some cases, in the courses themselves on MVA, they suggest continuing education on edX
2. Codecademy or SoloLearn - it is probably pointless to compare, firstly, areas of study on Codecademy or SoloLearn, less, secondly, the main emphasis is on code, and in MVA on watching videos and tests.
3. Intuition- In some ways, of course, they are similar. Both platforms provide the opportunity for free training and obtaining, some (not very valuable) certificate at the end of the course. Only Intuit is focused on a bunch: a text lecture is a test, and MVA on a bunch: video - tests. Well, it should be noted that MVA courses are often done better, on the other hand MVA is unlikely to teach you how to draw such a wonderful example of avant-garde art as in the picture (picture with a link to the course). 4. Coursera - I somehow didn’t particularly see a lot of Microsoft technology courses at Coursera, and all my experience is based only on specialization in machine learning
but as for me Coursera - a good thing gives real knowledge and makes you "sweat" (if the course is adequate). True, unlike free MVA, everything is somewhat worse.
Out of competition:
Distance learning, for example, in the "Specialist" educational center at MSTU. Bauman. Do not count for advertising, just at one time in hot pursuit I did not write a review, but now I have already forgotten everything, so I’ll leave it here as a small insert.
Remember, I wrote a little higher that one of the MVA courses directly enraged me for further study? So I decided that it is best to study on something more thorough, and at the same time to get a diploma on vocational retraining (at that time there was both free time and money). Since I heard a lot of good things about the "Expert", I chose them.
I then took the .NET distance learning program for myself, as part of the program I had: webinar recordings, microsoft textbooks (true in English), and the ability to remotely connect to working machines installed in the CA at certain times to make laboratories, and also consult with teachers. True, I honestly admit that I probably failed and I had to take full-time education.
Making labs through the virtual “ass” is uncomfortable, but I managed to fully reproduce on my home PC in the best case, one third of the laboratory of the entire course, so naturally I did not become a good programmer at the end of the course, but at least I enjoyed it. Because as a man brought up by Soviet engineers, I enjoyed the lectures of A. Korablin’s lectures, maybe not everyone will like the way of giving a lecture, but if I had at least something related to IT, I would be taught at the same level in educational institutions, I would probably "grow up and become a programmer."
One trouble - pleasure is expensive. Even with a tax deduction to me all this happiness turned out to be thousands in 80 wooden ones.
This inset about “Specialist” is partly my opinion in answering the question whether a programmer needs to study at universities, how, in my time, in addition to purely practical knowledge, it is quite possible for me to get a formal diploma about HE, especially since it is now quite accessible. Having a higher education (and maybe even a secondary vocational education) in any profile, you can always go through something else (vocational training / advanced training) and get an official right to engage in one or another activity that may be useful in the employer company for issuing an SRO certificate or whatever licenses, so it’s quite possible to combine “business with pleasure”.
But back to closer to the topic. Against the background of distance learning courses from the "Specialist", what MVA gives from the point of view of practice did not lie nearby. Also, some kind of certificates from Microsoft that the Specialist writes out at the end look more serious (but, to be honest, I'm not sure I didn’t give them to anyone). Well, the diploma of retraining is also not going anywhere.
Well, at the end of the sidebar in defense of MVA I’ll say that after training at the “Specialist”, courses from MVA help me close the “holes” that I forgot or did not learn during the course. You sit down, watch a video in accelerated mode and some things fall into place. Well, once again, MVA is free, which is a big plus.
Just in case, I’ll repeat, I’m not connected in any way with the Specialist training center, just after a couple of years I wanted to remember with a good word, until everything got out of my head, and I ’m unlikely to write a full note, I hope readers will forgive me for this small insert.
Part V: To whom it will be useful.
So, we summarize what was said above.
In my opinion, courses from Microsoft Virtual Academy, despite all the minor roughnesses, are still a useful thing.
First of all, they will be useful to absolute beginners in programming and other related issues from the field of IT. Since they allow you to get basic knowledge for free in an accessible form, get acquainted with the tools and resources, as well as look at the good practices that Microsoft experts use.
To a much lesser extent, these courses will be useful to the “scorched sea wolves” in the IT field, however, due to the ability to download video or directly on the site to watch it at double speed in order to get acquainted with something completely new or to remember something forgotten MVA courses can be useful to more experienced people.
One way or another, the main thing, as Vladimir Ilyich said: “to study, study and study,” but with the help of MVA or somehow it’s not so important.
I think that for most of the readers the workweek has come to an end, so have a good weekend and good luck!