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Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

blog.brainstation.io

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Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#131

Post by j45 »

DelightOne wrote: post #100
j45 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really is abysmal, between the ineffecifencies of creating content, delivering it and keeping it looking to the future instead of anchored in the past. Still I'm starting to feel optimistic for the first time in a long time. There is a horizon on the future, finally thanks to the convergence of more accessible connectivity, devices and capabilites of digital experiences in the next 2 years.

> There is a horizon on the future, finally thanks to the convergence of more accessible connectivity, devices and capabilites of digital experiences in the next 2 years. For services and apps to emerge, to make things less abysmal? I don’t see what you are hopeful for, what the given things would change.

It's more about the content itself than the platforms/services and apps.. although those are issues too.

Today most places are creating content a 20 year old way. It can't keep up with today's pace or depth of ongoing changes, or how quickly education content is needed on new topics in the future.

Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#132

Post by Eridrus »

dwrodri wrote: post #127
Eridrus wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is an accurate assessment of education in the ML space. There are tonnes of people who have self-taught themselves the material. The issue I see is that employers do not trust non-university credentials, and so there is a strong hiring bias towards PhD graduates, regardless of whether it is warranted.

I think a big part of this comes from the lack of emphasis on group projects and technical communication in MOOCs. How many MOOCs have you seen where you're actually encouraged to work in groups, and then eventually present your work? Even though the concept of an MOOC has been around for quite some time now, it's only recently that their curricula at the course level is actually consistently on par with what would b…

Most self-taught people I have met have come up with their own projects, or at least played with Kaggle, as people are usually advised to do. MOOCs are only a small part of the options people can and do exercise.

Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#133

Post by rlayton2 »

_yawn wrote: post #129

I'm going to go against the grain here but just putting cameras in classrooms and dumping that on Youtube works just fine. The content on MIT opencourseware feels a lot nicer than things like Coursera or others even if it's more traditional. At the end of the day you just want to communicate efficiently, and imperfect access to information is a lot nicer than no access. Don't sweat the details.

The only problem here is sound. Sound can be hard to get right, and I've stopped watching lots of interesting "meetup recordings" on YouTube because they just used the on-camera microphone and the audio was awful. It's a shame, but it makes it nearly impossible to watch.

Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#134

Post by tsumnia »

_yawn wrote: post #129

I'm going to go against the grain here but just putting cameras in classrooms and dumping that on Youtube works just fine. The content on MIT opencourseware feels a lot nicer than things like Coursera or others even if it's more traditional. At the end of the day you just want to communicate efficiently, and imperfect access to information is a lot nicer than no access. Don't sweat the details.

Actually, that style of recording has the worst engagement when compared to Khan Academy or Talk Head styled videos that were smaller chunks [1].

[1] https://blog.edx.org/how-mooc-video-production-affects

Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#136

Post by _yawn »

tsumnia wrote: post #134
_yawn wrote: post #129

I'm going to go against the grain here but just putting cameras in classrooms and dumping that on Youtube works just fine. The content on MIT opencourseware feels a lot nicer than things like Coursera or others even if it's more traditional. At the end of the day you just want to communicate efficiently, and imperfect access to information is a lot nicer than no access. Don't sweat the details.

Actually, that style of recording has the worst engagement when compared to Khan Academy or Talk Head styled videos that were smaller chunks [1]. [1] https://blog.edx.org/how-mooc-video-production-affects

That's an interesting study. I feel like maybe engagement is the wrong metric, much how like A/B testing gives a good local result but a poor global result. I finished a dozen or so of the traditional courses but can't be bothered to complete the split up ones. I'm surely not the only one.

Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#137

Post by _yawn »

rlayton2 wrote: post #133
_yawn wrote: post #129

I'm going to go against the grain here but just putting cameras in classrooms and dumping that on Youtube works just fine. The content on MIT opencourseware feels a lot nicer than things like Coursera or others even if it's more traditional. At the end of the day you just want to communicate efficiently, and imperfect access to information is a lot nicer than no access. Don't sweat the details.

The only problem here is sound. Sound can be hard to get right, and I've stopped watching lots of interesting "meetup recordings" on YouTube because they just used the on-camera microphone and the audio was awful. It's a shame, but it makes it nearly impossible to watch.

That's very true, videos that record powerpoints are also often hard to read.

Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#138

Post by zwayhowder »

A lot of disagreement here based on the premise that "completion" is the wrong metric. No argument there, but maybe that's not the premise.

I believe the best way is to offer options for all people. (Not going into the proven-debunked-proven-debunked learning styles rabbit hole here).

I've tried both a Bachelors and Masters by correspondence and performed dismally in both. I had due dates, I was financially invested but I just couldn't get engaged with the materials. The Blackboard BBS was not even close to a community of my peers and lecturers. (Seriously Blackboard fix that).

I'm now 2 years into a 4 year part time MBA at a university that I attend on campus. I am engaged because I go to classes & I discuss things with both tutors, lecturers & peers, my lecturer is a person and not doing my best and then showing up to class is disrespectful and frankly embarrassing. I have gone from not even submitting some assignments because to a GPA that isn't perfect but is closer than I ever expected.

I've also not finished a number of Coursera, PluralSight, Lynda and Linux Academy courses, but I've got value from them.

Kudos to brainstation for trying to build a better platform. In the meantime I'm working like crazy to finish my MBA before my uni follows too many others into the world of online classes.

Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#139

Post by [deleted] »

ska wrote: post #84
bcheung wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I notice that many MOOCs have this academic mentality that something must be complete and a certificate earned. I could really give a damn about a certificate. Gaining the knowledge I need is all I care about. Udacity really makes me mad when they remove courses that I paid for if I don't do every little exercise (even the ones that are so horribly designed and have little learning value in them).

Gaining the knowledge may be all you care about, so long as you never have to demonstrate that gain. Certificates/exams/etc. are all used as proxies for demonstrating that in a complex and expensive way. Perhaps Udacity et. al. need an equivalent to "audit" - sounds like that would work for you.

[deleted]

Re: Why we need more than “learn at your own pace” online learning

#140

Post by JamesBarney »

ska wrote: post #84
bcheung wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I notice that many MOOCs have this academic mentality that something must be complete and a certificate earned. I could really give a damn about a certificate. Gaining the knowledge I need is all I care about. Udacity really makes me mad when they remove courses that I paid for if I don't do every little exercise (even the ones that are so horribly designed and have little learning value in them).

Gaining the knowledge may be all you care about, so long as you never have to demonstrate that gain. Certificates/exams/etc. are all used as proxies for demonstrating that in a complex and expensive way. Perhaps Udacity et. al. need an equivalent to "audit" - sounds like that would work for you.

This seems like a valid criticism to removing a certification but not access to a course.
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