Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Cybersecurity Tools & Cyber Attacks by IBM

Nice

good

Good

good

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While there is plenty of very useful information in this course, there are several things that could be vastly improved. The test questions are sometimes oddly phrased and material that is not learned until Week 4 is tested in Week 1 (white hat, grey hat, black hat hackers) . There are several one question quizzes that seem arbitrary (ex. "What did this SOC Analyst say was the most useful tool for him?"). In Week one's Critical Thinking section, there appears to be a video that stops halfway. My biggest criticism is that this is a beginner level course but the instructors will throw out technical jargon that doesn't get defined until later in the course, if at all. The following video is the same video but it shows the whole thing. This has potential to be a truly great class but, IBM should really review this course, see what they can streamline, and identify what it is they want people to take away from this class.

The information in this course is not bad, however I want to issue a complaint about the quality of the English transcriptions, which is far below the mark. It seems they are either computer-generated or made by someone with poor hearing and no understanding of the context and/or subject matter. Even a layman who has read the material as a whole, could do a better job. Some of the presenters also explain things using examples, without first explaining the issue in general terms, leaving the learner guessing as to which part of the example is or isn't relevant to the explanation. Some of the quiz questions do not refer to materials discussed in the lecture (example: a question about Vulernability Assessment Methodology in week 1 or 2, while it is explained in week 4!)

Honestly, I really enjoyed the content and thought the information they said while doing the presentations was great. The problem is IBM seem to be using the worst mic I have ever heard. Like you can see it was done in 2018 but they could afford to give the Lecturer a decent mic?? Unfortunate, else this would be a very good course, its just hard to understand what there actually saying. Even the subtitles don't know what they say sometimes...

Also to note, the quizes are really hard because it doesn't even say what I tried to answer. Disappointing, all the other courses I've done on Coursera at least let me see what I got right and wrong. And then video quality look 360p at times, terrible production quality.

I think the information being discussed and shared is great, the quality of the videos is not good at all though. The audio is different on every video and I you can barely see what's being displayed on the slides, even when I change to higher quality on the settings. I appreciate the industry leaders providing their insight but there's too many "umms" and not enough well spoken presenters. I don't mean to be harsh because I think the content is good but you can barely understand what they are saying. Perhaps someone who's confident & does presentations often should do them. I would even lower the volume on the videos and tried to read what they are saying at the bottom but even that barely makes sense.

I think overall the way the course is offered is great. There were a few things that I found could use improvement. Audio is definitely something that could use an overhaul. The other thing is the way the information is conveyed. A lot of times the speaker was not only hard to understand, but the delivery made for a bit of confusion. It might help to write out what is going to be said rather than to wing it. Also, the word "So" is overused as well- some improvements in the English department would do a lot of good. Overall, you can certainly learn a basic understanding of Cybersecurity from this course. The convenience of fitting it into a busy life is the best thing about this.

I​t's alright as an introduction of the world of Cybersecurity. The selection of topics is neat, I just wish the execution was a lot better. The audio quality is really bad for most of the lectures, you'd expect that IBM would have the budget to give good mics to their instructors in 2018. Some of the slides are really bad depending on the instructor, the text is really squished together and for some reason they are plastered with comic sans as a font and silly stock images. Can't say I regret taking this course but I would say it's only for absolute beginners to the topic

The course materials were unevenly elaborated, some concepts were very well explained others were not. I would suggest that on topics involving novice audience, it is very important to properly articulate and teach as opposed to delivering lectures. Sometimes, when the audience is more advanced on a subject matter, lecture format would be very helpful. But this course is usually taken by individuals who don't know anything about computers or security. We cannot perceive lecture format about specialized cyber security events as well as professionals can.

Overall an informative course BUT there are some serious issues. For example, the content was very repetitive at various points. Additionally, some of the video content is of very low quality (e.g. we cannot see the slide content well or we cannot listen to the speaker clearly). Some improvements will be necessary for the course to be of better value. Right now, it seems like someone took clips from different talks/presentations and tried to compile them into a course (sometimes not successfully..)

The audio on the videos were poor and would go in an out as if the person was moving away and towards the mic. There were several videos that had background noises such as phone notifications and doors closing. Some of the speakers had strong accents that made it difficult to understand but the subtitles helped. Presentation skills need to be improved, speaking clearly, better slides, improve their skills on teaching, etc.

Overall, the content was very helpful and easy to understand.

The quality of the videos and audio is quite low. Some questions in the review quizzes are advanced compared to the level you say it's required. I have an extensive background in networking and found some advanced terminology used (without proper explanation) along the course that would make a beginner level feel completely lost. I was able to absorb a lot of information that will guide me trough this "career change" path. I'm starting the second course. Thanks!

The course was really great for those who want to have an overview of the main topics in Cybersecurity. However, the audio wasn't good and, because the professors were, most of them, from different countries, it was really complicated to understand them, even if you are fluent in English. So, I was trying to read the subscription, but I missed the slides . If the subscription was inserted on the video, it would be more pleasant for the students. Congrats!

There are many parts of the video where the speakers are not audible and the corresponding text is not helpful as well given it is a mere replication of the voice-text. This impedes actual understanding of the content. Moreover, while branded as a beginner course, the speakers used many different technical terms without explaining what they actually mean e.g. TCP, UDP, FTP etc. It's complicated for non-tech students to follow through.

S​ome of the disertations where it names the US (eledge) as one of the responsible of the creation of the Stuxnet virus assumes that it was part of the confabulation when in reality that has not been confirmed plus other implications to other nation states as responsbile for cyber attacks. The course left aside the legal frame of why being the US the country that receives most of the attacks it is unable to respond in accordance.

Some recommendations:

>> Improve the quality of the content in the slides

>> Make URLs referenced in slides available/clickable in the script text

>> Make unintelligible voice bits intelligible in the script text

>> Brief instructors to focus on insightful narration as opposed to reading from the slides

>> Ensure that quality of lectures is commensurate with the level of difficulty required to pass module tests / final exam