Question for those in the computer field w/ advanced degrees

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Ya'll know about those free classes online that MIT has, right? I told a friend of mine who has an associates in computer science and he looked at the list of computer classes they have. He wants to take stuff and learn it and then maybe get certified somewhere at an independent place so he can do it for a living, but he doesn't know where to start. I told him that tons of people on a forum I'm on know everything about computers and the schools you go to about them and degrees about them and all that. I said I would ask what he should take and the order he should take it. He has an associates degree in computer science at one of these cheap little schools here in Alabama that's dedicated to computers.

So, if anyone here would know what would be good for him to start out with and maybe list five or ten to begin with, that would be great! BTW, He wants to do Networking and Engineering eventually.

Here's the link to that department at MIT. Remember, these are all free if anybody else wants to take them too.

<Free MIT computer courses>

OpenCourseware is supposed to be great, but judging by online school systems in general I think it's probably about the same or more than their usual workload. I've heard good things about Coursera from a friend, but I've never taken any CS in online, much less structured classes.

Degrees are quasi-moot as far as I'm concerned...

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

You don't need a degree or a certification to get a job, you just need to be able to do it. It takes practice, perseverance, independent study and a good dose of OCD. A special interest in coding is helpful.

Most good companies will look at open source contributions to determine if a person is any good or not. Programmers share code on github.com. They help each other out on stackoverflow.com. A good reputation on these sites will translate into a good job offer.

Coursera is a great place to start.

Tell your friend to look me up on this site if he wants to chat further. I'm a freelance coder and trainer.

Certifications are good. CompTIA A+ is a well known certification in the industry. I think Microsoft certifications carry some clout, along with some others depending on the direction he wants to go. There are networking ones, security ones, etc.