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Thursday, January 2. 2014

A guy tries out online education


We love The Teaching Company (aka Great Courses), but you can't get "credit" for them. Just learning.


This guy tried online education:  An Online Education Odyssey - The author tries to bring some clarity to the online higher education debate by relating his own experiences.

Posted by The Barrister in Education at 15:11 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

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Education? Is that a trick question? I dislike being the grumpy one all the time. But, for the sake of my sanity, please just read some books. I have lists of books I can share. Read books. Read more books. R e a d b o o k s.
#1 W. C. Taqiyya on 2014-01-02 19:45 (Reply)
I would like to see your reading list.
#1.1 Joe Hamilton on 2014-01-03 08:26 (Reply)
Dude, your local library is a great place to begin your own reading list. Begin with the Bible and Shakespeare and take it from there. Clausewitz, Kafka, and the list gets very, very long very quickly. Enjoy.
#1.1.1 W. C. Taqiyya on 2014-01-04 21:12 (Reply)
I just took a Coursera (free, no credit) course in Markets With Friction.

In a word, it was awful.

Not that the professor didn't know his stuff, he did. It wasn't a tough topic, either, I just wanted to catch up on some old concepts and find ways to apply them to my current position.

But the structure is not to my liking at all. I believe it can work for some people, but I don't think this approach can or will be effective any time soon. Online teaching will have to improve dramatically before it takes out the traditional classroom - unless, of course, the students demand an end to the classroom so they can 'learn at their own pace', which essentially means not at all.

It may get there, someday. I'm not opposed to it. It's just got a ways to go.
#2 Bulldog on 2014-01-02 19:50 (Reply)
Seems few are doing anything innovative with the medium. Most courses seem to be attempts to replicate the classroom online instead of using the medium's special features.

In time, there will be those who innovate. Not unlike Khan Academy which moved beyond making the powerpoint into a video. Powerpoint isn't bad but online has more capabilities.

We keep hearing of all the poor abused adjuncts. Surely, one or two of them are using their time to perfect their understanding of teaching so they can be something other than fodder for the education cartel.
#2.1 JKB on 2014-01-02 20:10 (Reply)
He tried out online instruction. Education can only happen inside the person. A big part of the problem is that universities have abandoned any attempt to impart education and increasingly offer low quality instruction.

[quote]Education, properly a drawing forth, implies not so
much the communication of knowledge as the discipline
of the intellect, the establishment of the principles,
and the regulation of the heart. Instruction is that
part of education which furnishes the mind with
knowledge. [quote]

Here's a guy who did a M.I.T. computer science degree in a year. Of course, he seems to be motivated and a self-starter
#3 JKB on 2014-01-02 19:56 (Reply)
I can attest to the MIT online courses - I have a few of the non-credit ones, and they were great. Good subjects, good teachers, and lively interaction between students and presenters.

I hear that Kahn and even Praeger have many good courses online, and Kahn has accreditation from some source. I've been trying to point my daughter there for some remedial work, since it comes highly recommended.

Wave of the future, folks.... Even Insty comments that also
#3.1 fred zeppelin on 2014-01-03 14:57 (Reply)

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