Follow up from the Coursera class

The 4 week Coursera class we took for Data Analytics is done. We took several approaches to this class and wanted to cover as many test bases as we could.

Perhaps obviously, we were looking to brush up or in some cases develop some basic data analysis skills. That is a tall order for a 4 week class and it came up short for us. Overall, the general consensus was that there was too much emphasis on R and not enough on the core data analysis skills we wanted. It was kind of interesting at some points - one of the tasks was given data that is complete but in the most annoying format possible. Creating the slicers to get the data we wanted was enough of a challenge for the time we had in the class. I just wish we could have done more analysis once we had the key data points identified.

We also used a OneNote notebook that I shared on OneDrive. Some of us used the Web client, some the traditional desktop and I think one of the testers checked in now and then with an IPad. This went well. We were able to share notes - very interesting note taking methods from different people on the team - copied some of the key videos and slide decks to OneNote and shared learnings with each other there. Overall, this went smoothly and helped validate that students can use OneNote in and after classes.

The conference room did not work well. There were too many videos to watch as a group, so we used it to kick around ideas and cover some of the assignments. It turned into a study group for lack of a better term.

So overall, while no one was happy with R (I'll spare you the comments), we learned enough to read the code and got a quick glimpse at some of the sorting and filtering basic problems that exist here. We used OneNote effectively and were able to share our thoughts with each other, so overall, I will give us a passing grade here.

Questions, comments, concerns and criticisms always welcome,

John