another master's degree or just single courses? My case is the following, I have already got a MSc in Computer Science, but my field of specialization was Theoretical Computer Science. Actually I am really interested in the field of Machine Learning, but unfortunately I did not follow any course about that topic in my previous master's degree.

At first sight, I was thinking to follow a PhD that has some relation to Machine Learning; so in that case I should really follow some Machine Learning courses by my own. I have just put this thought for a while, mainly because I have not been so lucky in my last PhD applications.

In any case, I was wondering if I should follow another Master's degree in Machine Learning; and maybe because I have already got my other MSc, the time for completing this new MSc would be only one year instead of the two years that is the common duration of these studies.

Also I was thinking that maybe I could take some single courses, for example some online courses, even though I am not really a fan of MOOC courses.

What it would be the best course of action?


Follow another MSc degree?
Follow some online courses in this topic? if that is so, which university offers them that the certification is recognized?


Updated info:

About my goals are the following:


Need of learn machine learning topics for academic purposes: teaching undergraduates and independent research
Some good PhD positions in which I am interested require that knowledge


Any advice would be great.

Thanks
Given both of those stated goals, I would not pursue additional coursework to learn the material. Your current masters degree is likely good enough for either teaching or getting into a machine learning PhD program, and no degree is necessary for independent research. I would recommend that you use other resources to learn the material.



EDIT: Given that the question in the above link was deleted, I'm reproducing it here:


  There are many ways to learn new topics. Taking a university-level
  course is only one option. Other alternatives are:
  
  
  read textbooks
  online video tutorials (Khan academy, youtube)
  online pre-recorded lectures (e.g., iTunes U, but many, many others exist)
  talking to peers
  reading publications (for specialized topics)
  
  
  Taking a non-required university course is usually not the most
  optimal approach, for a number of reasons:
  
  
  You will spend a lot of time learning material not relevant to your problem, simply because it's part of the syllabus and the teacher
  found it interesting
  The requirement to pass will require you to spend likely (disproportionately too much) time doing homework, studying for tests,
  etc.
  It is very expensive
  
  
  This isn't to say that self-study doesn't require homework, or that
  learning topics not directly related to your research is a bad thing.
  I'm simply suggesting that by pursuing more self-directed learning
  opportunities you will be able to make better use of your time.