Free Online Courses - Higher Ed of the Future?
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2012-05-07/free-online-courses-higher-ed-future
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University recently announced they're teaming up to offer free online courses. A handful of other prestigious universities and star professors are doing the same through sites like Coursera and Udacity. We find out what's in it for the universities, professors -- and students and consider what the trend means for the future of higher education.
Guests
Jeff Young
Senior Writer, Chronicle of Higher Education
Ben Bederson
Professor of Computer Science, University of Maryland-College Park; and Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Zumobi
Comments
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How do you address the issue of accreditation? Or the lack thereof? Can you add completed courses to your resume/portfolio towards career advancement? I am supposing these courses are meant to be refresher/supplemental courses. If not, can you substitute say Physics 101 done on MIT/Harvard for Physics 101 in a community college? Thanks
What took so long?
Too long ago (1979) we employed VHS taped courses at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), an undergraduate engineering school; together with help sessions taught by the professor or teacher's aid.
The system was great. You could watch (attend?) a class in the comfort of...anywhere. You could stop and start the class at your pace. You could repeat a lecture. The professor was freed to spend more time helping individuals.
What's not to love?
However...there is lots to be said for the camaraderie and sharing of ideas with classmates, that are now available in cyberspace, sort of, through chat rooms.
The real question, I believe, that needs to be asked, is: given that the class is now the same whether it's taught at Harvard or taught at NOVA...is the Harvard education still $50K a year more valuable?
An observation - confidence in these online courses reflect the fact that, as Walter Cronkite once said, people aren't so much taught as learn. In other words, it's not that the quality of the teacher doesn't matter, but for real learning the student has to do a fair amount of work. In contrast to this perspective, the prevailing thinking on K-12 is that teachers are solely responsible for their students' learning and their performance on tests.
"No child left behind" - and its incentives and disincentives - presume that the student has nothing to do with the path of becoming educated. Not to mention that it ignores the child's environment.
Who owns the video content? Can Harvard continue to offer the lectures of some renowned professor long after his or her death, with graduate students doing the grading, etc.?
(Please do not use my name or email......)
I taught online for almost fifteen years at a university in the northeast. I hold a Ph.D. in my discipline.
I'd like to say that not all online classes are "equal", meaning that not all classes use the same online "environment", or methods to convey content.
Likewise, not all instructors are equal, not all students are equal.
Depending on the platform for the class, there can be real learning, and real discussion--in asynchronous time, which enables all of the students to participate in the course discussions, and for the instructor to "teach".
In my opinion, class sizes should be limited to fewer than 20 students.
Canned classes, ie., those whose content is standard from course to course, like a script, do not encourage students to think critically, or to have to think, or write.
"Live" classes can accomplish almost anything that occurs in a class that inhabits a classroom space somewhere. "Live" asynchronous online environments are just as lively, just as personal, just as able to convey content as other kinds of courses.
Online courses are wonderful ways to convey courses, and content. "IF" the courses are not overfilled, and if there is direct personal contact between instructors and students.
JB
I believe there will be a lot of value in MIT and Harvard's online classes. Online education is now much more similar to regular classroom learning than it was in the past. Traditional classrooms are not always interactive; for example, listening to a professor lecture and watch his or her PowerPoint can be easily done in your home. In my experience, the value of education comes when you apply what you have learned. With the rise of online classes there should also be a push for students to gain practical learning in a job or professional settings (volunteer or paid opportunities in the field should also be required, by doing so the educational experience will truly be enhanced). Overall, I believe this is a step in the right direction.