Posted on 09/18/2009 10:57:44 AM PDT by ZGuy
I get more out of a class if I read the materials and consume and digest the knowledge at my own pace (which is usually faster than my counter-parts). That is NOT to say that I am faster than others, I just read and comprehend pretty fast.
Listening to long, boring lectures do nothing for me except help me go to sleep! Heck, even in high school I preferred to read ahead in the chapters so that I knew what the teacher was talking about when she/he was talking. Otherwise, I was just LOST!
And, I disagree, I get great feedback from the instructors online and I get lots of network/study time with other classmates over the internet. I am currently enrolled online via Odessa College. There are three of us who are all going for the OSHA degree and we have agreed that we will continue in the same courses to continue to grow our study group.
I think it is “to each his own” when it comes to learning. My wife needs to be physically shown how to do something about three times and then she can do it over and over. If I don’t read the instructions FIRST, it will take me twice as long to figure out something when compared to if I am just shown the steps.
With motivation, an ordinary person can accomplish great things. Without it, a great person can accomplish only ordinary things. Online learning is missing the main classroom motivations: competition with peers, and social status for success. This could be added, but hasn't been yet.
Time is a limited resource, so why are people wasting time learning things they have no real intention of using or remembering long term? Some types of learning are for temporary use, but most education in college shouldn't be. A missing component to all education is refreshing what you've learned sufficiently throughout your life so that you can use it.
We need a website that is like an automated flash card system, that remembers everything that you've invested the time to learn, and scientifically polls you depending on your recall success. It should be more than just facts memory, but also exercise solving techniques. Competition and status are needed here too.
It's a waste of limited resources for people to learn things they aren't going to maintain. There's too much tourism going on in education.
It's pretty amazing stuff...almost as good as online crossword puzzles.;-)
ping
http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/
Give it time to evolve. The next step will be for the rise of "accreditation institutes" who will offer testing to determine one's level of competence in a discipline (kind of like the "Professional Engineer's Exams" of today). You pass the test, you get the accreditation. These will probably first be done by the professional societies like the American Chemical Society, American Physics Society, and so forth.
Traditional tests are expensive to give and score so they are only done at major mileposts, however internet technology changes all that. Rather than giving one time tests, earners should be required to maintain their competency on an ongoing basis to maintain their certification, at least at a minimal level. That certification would be worth much more than a one time dead tree certificate.
I suspect that even with the leveling effect of the Internet, that such accreditation tests will still cost "something".
"Rather than giving one time tests, earners should be required to maintain their competency on an ongoing basis to maintain their certification, at least at a minimal level. That certification would be worth much more than a one time dead tree certificate."
I think such a minimum level would be very hard to define, and would be difficult for folks who are deeply specializing in a specific field to keep up. I think more likely that if you want to change to a different sub-field of your area of expertise, you'd just take a new test for that sub-specialty.
I periodically get catalogs from The Great Courses (www.thegreatcourses.com) which are audio/video lectures from known lecturers. They’re on CD/DVD and aren’t terribly expensive. I’ve been tempted as there are lots of interesting ones- anyone ever try them?
My own opinion is that OCW (and sites like is) is more PR and advertsing than anything else. I have been on the site, and am less than impressed. There is good material there, but slides without the explanation (lecture) are one step above useless. They are starting to add the audio/video component, which is a HUGE improvement. However, it does not include the recitation or lab, which are crucial—especially in an area like computer science (which I teach). In order to be a computer scientist, you need to learn how to program (among other things). For this you have to roll up your sleeves and learn by doing. All the lecture in the world won’t make you a good programmer.
BTW—I don’t think there is any reason you can’t have competition with peers online. Certainly, we interact with peers online all the time. As for social status, an online degree from the right school is probably worth quite a bit. Many companies just care about if you can do the job or not. They will check for the degree, but if you’ve got a track record, they typically won’t fuss about the pedigree of your school.
bookmark
bflr
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.