Why Professors at San Jose State Won't Use a Harvard Professor's MOOC • Hacker News Board

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

#81

Post by dragonwriter » Thu, May 02, 2013, 11:59 PM UTC

dbecker wrote: post #80

dragonwriter wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These "mass unemployment events" aren't anything new, and they historically haven't caused long-lasting unemployment. No, what they cause is long-lasting shifts in the distribution of the rewards of production to more heavily favor capital than labor, rather than causing long-lasting unemployment. As long as people have some use in productivity, and need to work to eat (limiting price elasticity of labor supply on…

As long as people have some use in productivity, and need to work to eat (limiting price elasticity of labor supply on the low end), technology won't produce long-lasting unemployment, just, under ceteris paribus assumptions, long-lasting reductions in the ratio between the market-clearing price for the average unit of labor and the value of the total output of the economy. Technological change can be classified as l…

> You seem to be claiming that all technological change is capital-augmenting.

No, I'm discussing the effect of capital-augmenting technological change, and specifically why I would expect depressed wages rather than long-lasting unemployment to be the principal durable effect of such change.

I'm not making any claim about the distribution of technological change among labour-augmenting, capital-augmenting, and labor-neutral categories.

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

#82

Post by tjr » Fri, May 03, 2013, 2:55 PM UTC

patrissimo76 wrote: post #60

tjr wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some lecturers are truly outstanding, and a joy to listen to. I went to a small undergraduate college, with small class sizes and many passionate, engaging professors, where classes were a mixture of lecture and discussion. But a straight up lecture? I'd rather read a book. And really, even with good lecturers, most of my real learning comes from applying the knowledge somehow: writing computer programs, writing essa…

I also went to a small undergraduate college, with small class sizes and many passionate, engaging professors, where classes were a mixture of lecture and discussion. And half of the classes still bored the crap out of me. Even with a great teacher, the speed at which the material is presented is never going to match each person's learning flow. Too slow for things they get instantly, too fast for concepts they have…

I'm sorry you had such a worthless experience. What learning methods seem to work best for you?

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

#83

Post by ekm2 » Sat, May 04, 2013, 2:32 AM UTC

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.

Defining MOOC on Chronicle is like defining software on HN.

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

#84

Post by alan_cx » Sat, May 04, 2013, 8:11 AM UTC

tjr wrote: post #54

alan_cx wrote: post #8

Speaking for my self, a UK student 14 ish years ago doing Computer Science... I found lectures mostly a waste of time. What I found was that the lecturers were simply presenting the latest chapter from the prescribed text book. So, I ended up reading the chapter the night before and just used the lecture as confirmation of what I thought I had learned by reading. Very occasionally I used the lecture to ask some quest…

Some lecturers are truly outstanding, and a joy to listen to. I went to a small undergraduate college, with small class sizes and many passionate, engaging professors, where classes were a mixture of lecture and discussion. But a straight up lecture? I'd rather read a book. And really, even with good lecturers, most of my real learning comes from applying the knowledge somehow: writing computer programs, writing essa…

I came across 2 teachers like that at school, but sadly not in any higher education. Obviously this is down to our own experience, and I suppose our own judgements of the lecturers, or teachers.

Thinking about it, I think inspirational teachers are more vital in schools. Idea being, once inspired, the kids will drive forwards themselves.

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

#85

Post by alan_cx » Sat, May 04, 2013, 8:12 AM UTC

Roboprog wrote: post #15

alan_cx wrote: post #8

Speaking for my self, a UK student 14 ish years ago doing Computer Science... I found lectures mostly a waste of time. What I found was that the lecturers were simply presenting the latest chapter from the prescribed text book. So, I ended up reading the chapter the night before and just used the lecture as confirmation of what I thought I had learned by reading. Very occasionally I used the lecture to ask some quest…

That was not my experience. I went to a small Cal State Uni campus in the 80s. However, I often had good professors who expected you to read the material before class, so as to have a discussion about it in class, rather than just a talking head in front. While it may not have been a prestigious school, staff spent time on the students.

I like the sound of that method. I think it would have worked very well for me.