Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

chronicle.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 85 posts

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#31

Post by riggins »

I have a ton of sympathy for the professors. You've certainly have put in a lot of work to become a professor, studied your whole life, and then out of the blue you're potentially obsolete.

The article kind of bugged me simply because the professors didn't admit any self-interest. Everything was posed in terms of altruistic concern for their student's well being. I kind of doubt that's the case. While they may have some concern for the students, I'm inclined to believe their motivations are driven primarily by self-interest (which is totally normal but less admirable).

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#32

Post by StavrosK »

adelevie wrote: post #27

At the risk of setting up false dichotomies, I wonder: Will a MOOC instructor answer my emails, take a phone call, or meet with me in person? Will a MOOC instructor help me network with potential employers and internship sponsors? Will a MOOC instructor be my mentor and help me navigate an increasingly difficult job market? Will a MOOC instructor connect me to other like-minded students and professors? Will a MOOC in…

No. That's why the course is free.

I, for one, have gotten way more than my money's worth from Coursera classes. They have been amazingly educational and terribly useful.

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#33

Post by adelevie »

StavrosK wrote: post #32
adelevie wrote: post #27

At the risk of setting up false dichotomies, I wonder: Will a MOOC instructor answer my emails, take a phone call, or meet with me in person? Will a MOOC instructor help me network with potential employers and internship sponsors? Will a MOOC instructor be my mentor and help me navigate an increasingly difficult job market? Will a MOOC instructor connect me to other like-minded students and professors? Will a MOOC in…

No. That's why the course is free. I, for one, have gotten way more than my money's worth from Coursera classes. They have been amazingly educational and terribly useful.

Well, what's discussed in the article is a university mulling offering MOOCs to their students. I assume such MOOCs are not free.

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#34

Post by etfb »

mcpherrinm wrote: post #5

I'm sure the acronym MOOC is obvious to those in the area, but I wasn't sure what it stood for, and it seems sloppy to me that it wasn't defined in the article. All it takes is writing "Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)" the first time it was used.

I just took it as an opportunity to empathise with the people who stare at me blankly when I talk about computer stuff. It would have been nice to have the acronym explained, and given that it's a website they could have used the acronym or abbr elements, but I guess you have to cut them some slack for knowing their audience.

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#35

Post by yummyfajitas »

glesica wrote: post #28
Jun8 wrote: post #17

I read the original open letter and think that there's quite a bit of misleading and FUDding, of course, masterfully done coming from a philosophy prof. I approach this from a different angle: "We believe the purchasing of online and blended courses is not driven by concerns about pedagogy, but by an effort to restructure the U.S. university system in general ..." I agree with him completely here, a large part of thi…

I agree with your general sentiments, but, and you are certainly not alone in this, you glossed over the financial issues facing universities. In many cases, the budget issues facing universities are not all endogenous, unavoidable problems. I think a better strategy would be to figure out why, exactly, universities are so strapped for cash (I've worked in higher education, it isn't a simple issue) and target those i…

This is not to say that pedagogical advances can't be made, but as you pointed out, these advances, to the extent possible, should not be influenced by budget constraints lest we end up with cheaper, but proportionally worse, education.

Why do you believe that worse but cheaper education wouldn't provide a better value to students?

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#36

Post by B-Con »

StavrosK wrote: post #32
adelevie wrote: post #27

At the risk of setting up false dichotomies, I wonder: Will a MOOC instructor answer my emails, take a phone call, or meet with me in person? Will a MOOC instructor help me network with potential employers and internship sponsors? Will a MOOC instructor be my mentor and help me navigate an increasingly difficult job market? Will a MOOC instructor connect me to other like-minded students and professors? Will a MOOC in…

No. That's why the course is free. I, for one, have gotten way more than my money's worth from Coursera classes. They have been amazingly educational and terribly useful.

Since you paid nothing, I'm not sure how strong of a praise that is. ;-)

Personally, I'd say I got my time's worth. Time is worth a lot, and I've put a lot into the classes, and I feel it has all been more than worthwhile.

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#37

Post by willholloway »

theorique wrote: post #25
willholloway wrote: post #3

The coming widespread adoption of MOOCs is another great example of what Jaron Lanier calls Mass Unemployment Events. Driverless cars will be another. Together we trudge on towards a future requiring a basic minimum income.

Together we trudge on towards a future requiring a basic minimum income. Or mass starvation / die-off of the surplus human population.

I am hedging my bets and trying to accumulate as much surplus resources as possible. 50/50 odds on an anodyne global economic revolution?

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#38

Post by StavrosK »

B-Con wrote: post #36
StavrosK wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. That's why the course is free. I, for one, have gotten way more than my money's worth from Coursera classes. They have been amazingly educational and terribly useful.

Since you paid nothing, I'm not sure how strong of a praise that is. ;-) Personally, I'd say I got my time's worth. Time is worth a lot, and I've put a lot into the classes, and I feel it has all been more than worthwhile.

I knew someone was going to say that :P I did get my time's worth back in multiples.

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#39

Post by bradddd »

adelevie wrote: post #33
StavrosK wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. That's why the course is free. I, for one, have gotten way more than my money's worth from Coursera classes. They have been amazingly educational and terribly useful.

Well, what's discussed in the article is a university mulling offering MOOCs to their students. I assume such MOOCs are not free.

They're hardly free in this model. That's one of main points in the article. The creator of said MOOC charges a licensing fee for their usage. The smaller institutions see this as a slap in the face as they're then essentially expected to give more money to the already wealthier institutions.

Re: Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC

#40

Post by _halcyon_ »

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair

These San Jose professor are simply trying to fight inevitable disruption of the current university system, which is simply broken.

Post reply on HN