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DailyDirt: Getting An Online Education...
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
The existing system of going to a school, listening to lectures and getting a degree after you've passed some tests might not be the way education will operate in the near future. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) promise to teach a wide array of subjects, and there are plenty of students willing to try out these online classes instead of sleeping through another boring lecture at 8am. Obviously, not all the kinks have been worked out yet, and there will undoubtedly be online degrees that aren't worth the paper they may (or may not) be printed on. Still, there are some interesting developments in the field of education, and here are just a few.
- Sebastian Thrun is optimistic about creating an online class that will confer a master's degree in computer science. All the class material will be online for free, but the actual degree will cost a few thousand bucks still (via Georgia Tech). [url]
- The traditional education system might be in for some disruption as more online education startups attract students and pull tuition dollars away from bricks and mortar institutions. If professors don't like their student reviews now, it's going to get a bit worse when online classes are rated instantly by students.... [url]
- Professor Sugata Mitra has demonstrated that kids don't necessarily need a teacher -- if you just set up an internet-connected computer in the middle of a village in India, you'll be surprised by what the kids learn all by themselves. And now, Mitra has $1 million from a TED prize to further his research into self-organized learning. [url]
- Don't have time to attend a class? You might not need to with the University of Wisconsin's upcoming program to grant bachelor degrees based on existing experience. You still have to take some tests and demonstrate your skills, but the school of hard knocks might be good enough in some cases? [url]
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Re: online classes
There are good/bad teachers both in-person and online......
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If the objective is to learn math, engineering, physics, biology, medicine, history, et on line courses may work in the aspect of the professor directing the student in the right direction for self study and self improvement in a technical aspect.
If on the other-hand the objective is leadership, communication, or other people interactive skills then the results will probably be, really be, a dismal failure for people skills (computer skills are written not interpersonal) can not be learned except by interacting with real people. If you want real people skills you really need to work in a bar and mortuary, ride with a cop, learn public speaking.
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Bad = OWL chemistry. Every time I used their mandatory homework programs, the experience left me black with rage that anything so horribly designed could be inflicted upon humanity for a grade. I actually codes my own programs to solve the chemistry problems because I was so sickened by OWL.
Good = Duolingo languages. Ironically also symbolized by an owl. I spent hours grinding so that I could finish each lesson with all my lives intact. Never before have I been in a situation where I did homework problems over and over until I got 100% on all the problems. Also, I wanted to beat out a stranger I had never met but who was trying to get ahead of me on the scoreboard in terms of the skillpoints the game awards. Intolerable!
The OWL approach was your standard punitive approach: get it right or we'll give you a bad grade. The gamified Duolingo approach was based on providing game rewards such as points, lives, and bragging rights. One approach made me hate chemistry with a deep, brooding passion. The other approach seems to have the potential for addictive behavior.
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I remember the late 70's
I had a dot matrix NLQ printer.
I told my dad about this and he said: "Damn educators. They have less IQ than a turnip. Go ahead send your report in using the printer."
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Online Classes a Joke
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The military...
I've heard, damn near my whole life given both parents (then) serving, how unintelligent service members are and similarly poorly educated. The day of the dumb private or hick bosun's mate are far in the past. Part and parcel in the services today, you are not only a student, you are expected to be an instructor if only in your professional field(s). And if no teacher is handy, do it at a distance and practice locally.
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The Future
Great article!
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