Posted on 06/28/2013 11:05:04 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Colleges around the country should be worried. The quality of online courses is catching up fast.
Depending on whom you talk to, massively open online courses (MOOCs) will upend and democratize higher education, or are half-baked approximations of lectures that can never equal the classroom.
Kevin Carey, the director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation put it to the test, spending four months taking two MOOCs, from start to finish.
One, a Coursera Introduction to Philosophy was everything critics dislike, he says. Too brief, and with none of the problem sets, essays, or tests that make sure you absorb and apply the information.
The second, an MIT introductory biology course hosted by edX, was an entirely different animal.
After taking the course, Carey admits that while not every course can transition online for less money and at a higher level of quality than what most students experience, the amount that can is "a lot more than people realize or want to admit"
That's going to lead to a lot of disruption, and many lost jobs. But there's a lot of upside, as well.
The course managed to respond to the biggest criticisms of the skeptics. It led Carey to claim that "the burden of proof is no longer on technology to show that it can make traditional higher education better in a way thats worth the price to students and taxpayers. Its the other way around."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Most of them, like my daughter have pretty decent scholarships.
I had no real concept of just how good her school was. Until recently, that is. We went on a trip out west ans stopped in a lot of high end galleries. Once the curators realized she was not “ just a tourist” I saw their demeanor change.
They went from barely speaking to her, to being fully engaged.
After seeing that happy half a dozen times, I walked away much more comfortable with her future.
It takes you three years to get through college?
What online courses are you looking at. We’ve been mostly disappointed in the quality of online courses. Too many simply try to replicate the classroom and to the convenience of the teacher.
MIT has started putting its courses online, including lectures, notes, and even exams, which I believe some professors (or their assistants) will score and provide feedback on. For some courses they give a certificate of completion though of course no actual credit. Its all free and no registration required.
They have 10 yrs to get it right (for my family).
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