I saw this article last year. Imagine getting a degree from Harvard University from your home. There are no admissions requirements, no minimum test scores or high school GPA. You attend class (online), you do the work, you get the grades, you get a degree from Harvard. There are classes now where the Lecturer is online and all the work is submitted electronically, but students need to be admitted to the institution to receive credit. What if they opened those classes to the public? Imagine "being" in class with tens of thousands of other students. Would we get the same quality of education? What would it mean to be an excellent teacher, simply someone that works at a popular institution or the teacher with the most students? Is it a good thing for students/teachers/education, or not? Can you imagine giving a Language Class like English Academic Writing to 100,000 students?
The article is a little long, but here are the nuts and bolts of the idea:
Thrun’s ultimate mission is a virtual university in which the best professors broadcast their lectures to tens of thousands of students. Testing, peer interaction and grading would happen online; a cadre of teaching assistants would provide some human supervision; and the price would be within reach of almost anyone. “Literally, we can probably get the same quality of education I teach in class for about 1 to 2 percent of the cost,” Thrun told me.
The traditional university, in his view, serves a fortunate few, inefficiently, with a business model built on exclusivity. “I’m not at all against the on-campus experience,” he said. “I love it. It’s great. It has a lot of things which cannot be replaced by anything online. But it’s also insanely uneconomical.”
The link to the article:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/opinion/the-university-of-wherever.html?scp=1&sq=the%20university%20of%20wherever&st=cse
I do not think online classes are as beneficial as traditional classrooms. I have avoided taking classes online throughout my college career. My freshman year of college I had to take an online course and I felt that I did not learn as much. I found myself trying to get by with as little as possible in the online class. I was not surrounded by my peers or a teacher who would otherwise hold me accountable or push me to try more.
ReplyDeleteEven though I see how this type of class can be beneficial in some cases if used correctly; I do not think it will ever completely replace the classroom setting. I can see, though, how it may modify the way classes are ran in the future, but not replace it.
Tiffany, I agree, I too do not think on-line classes will ever completely replace the teacher. However, I strongly believe technology is an excellent asset in the classroom today and in our near future! e.g. this CALL class ~ we are partnering with students across the world tomorrow! How exciting it that? Cat
DeleteI would not like to take an online class for most courses because I have to be in the presence of an instructor and fellow students in order to learn. I do, however, see online classes being beneficial for 101 courses where freshmen are trying to figure out what they want to study and/or students have to take a quasi-useless class like Psych101 and don't want to bother going to it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems with online classes is that there is no way of knowing who is doing the actual work. I recall sitting on guard duty in Germany and looking up vocabulary definitions for a fellow soldier so that he could complete an online exam in time. If all classes are like that, then we might end up with architects or doctors who never actually did any work. This may sound extreme, but it is a possibility.
Ha Jeremy, it is all about the honestly in one's character. I too am guilty of a friend with on-line assistance however, we both learned from it. He got the grade! I gained the knowledge. LOL Excellent point about doctors ...
DeleteThis quote from the article “are judged not by grades but by skills they have mastered” just remind me of what No Child Left Behind doesn’t do, measure progress nor mastered skills. I’m trying to associate mastered skills with progress, for me sounds very similar. Anyway, I disliked my online technical writing class when I took it back in community college. It was boring, just sitting there alone and exchanging emails with the professor. One of the reasons I go to college because I want to see professors perform in real life and see them lecture, respond to questions or ask questions to students. So, at this moment, my online class experience has not been exciting. On the other hand, I met students who didn’t complain about online class. Some students said that the online classes were easy and they didn’t have to go to classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think of single mothers ~ they can put their children to bed and work on coursework. Just a thought ... but how different are on-line classes from lets say ... home school. Both should be honest and monitored. I've taken them all ... physical classes, hybrid classes, on-line classes ... all have the pros and cons! Thanks! Cat
DeleteI have never taken any classes online, but I have taken classes where my presence made no difference at all. I would much rather learn in an environment where the teacher and students are in the same physical space, but this setup does not always guarantee that any meaningful interaction will occur. With the prices of higher education today, I think the university and its staff have a responsibility to make it worthwhile for the students more than ever. With all of the technology available today, perhaps it is possible to come close to replicating a classroom experience without the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree ~ e.g. a history class with over 200 students ... ??? Where's the engaging factor in that? YIKES!
Deletep.s. I would not want to be that one professor that has to grade 100,000 students? DOUBLE YIKES!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that you can take the class lectured by famous professor just sitting a remote keyboard. But what I concern is that if students have real motivation to take online class not merely due to the free fee. Students at beginning may follow tightly up with the classes, but I don't think all of them would insist to the end if there were no supervise such as attendance sheet. And for TESL, I think online course would never take place of traditional class and the role of teachers. Authentic communication and class activities are so important for ELL students to practice their language skills and build them an English speaking and reading environment. The remote online teaching just assume that all students are English speakers who come to learn some deeper techs or sophisticated knowledge, but not considering the ELL students who still need language instruction.
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DeleteIt is really a good idea to talk about online education. These days, online classes are so popular, and many people have been taking these forms of education. Is it a good way to get this kind of training to be a future professional? I think it could be. So many countries promote and accept this school training, for some reason. Popularity of online education is growing so fast. I do not have any experience in this kind of training. In my opinion, if someone really likes to study and learn something, it will be in the classroom or online, either way he/she learn. The quality of education could be the same, whether or not it is in the classroom or online. The online classes can be more beneficial that a traditional classroom training, when we talk about money and time. Now, how will it be for future online class education, who knows? I hope school and traditional classroom doors will be open for students, for many, many years ahead.
DeleteI agree with Tiffany about online classes. I enrolled in a Geology Online course my sophmore year of college. Our class only met with the professor once in the beginning of the semester and then we were on our own. Even though we were supposed to complete assignments and tests alone, we didn't. We even found some of tests online, so we really didn't have to study at all. There was no one to motivate us, hold us accountable or catch us cheating. That was the last class I took online. I much prefer to be in a classroom with learning from a professor and hearing the other students opinons. I don't think I would get the same experience from an online course. I often see adverstisments for earning your MA-TESL degree on-line, but I just don't think it would be the same as learning from an experienced professor. Also, I don't think I'd ever trust a doctor, or someone in the medical profession who recieved their degree online.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that quality control is a major concern for online education. I wonder if having an assistant that knew all the material and was in charge of 10 - 20 students would make a difference. That would mean having 5000 TAs for the 100,000 person class, but it might ease some of the concerns.
DeleteWhat a terrific and timely article that touches on major changes that will be coming in higher education. Many universities (ours included) are under pressure to lower costs and make education more accessible and affordable to a wider range of students. Online teaching is one such recommendation, and there are clearly very innovative and effective programs emerging.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are certain challenges being encountered that online education in the formats I have experienced do not address:
1. Students who participate in online education require a different skill set to succeed than students in a face-to-face class. Students who lack the same degree of self-direction and time-management are more likely to drop out of an online class. Students who are extremely shy, very self-directed, and good with technology may flourish more in an online class than in a face-to-face class. It would be ideal to offer learning environments for all types of students and not to shift from one to the other.
2. Some students come to university to study and learn because they do not have a safe or quiet place at home or work to do so. I know of several parents who cannot work from home because to be at home means that they must attend to the needs of their children, parents or spouses. When taking online classes, they end up coming to campus anyway to get into study mode and to be free of other obligations.
3. Online classes require a certain degree of digital literacy and digital access. There are many 'potential' students who might be baffled by the technology or who would not be able to afford the monthly high speed internet connection, computer, and electricity required for an online class. Still others live in extremely remote areas (drive out to West Texas to see what I mean) where only dial up might be available.
The online classes are so popular, and many people have been taking these forms of education. And online class easy for got knowledge from teacher or can just stay home. The online classes can be more beneficial that a traditional classroom training, when we talk about money and time.But online class is not good for ELLs, because the online class just is teacher's talk, didn't have discussion and interaction. If I was ask to make a choice, I prefer going to class and communicated whith each others.
ReplyDeleteI think Thurun's mission is a great one. Making knowledge more accessible - who could be against that. The diploma, I imagine, that is offered by Harvard would not be equivalent to a degree from the university, so I see no harm in it.
ReplyDeleteOn the conversation of online learning, I can speak from experience. I teach online for TAMUSA and know that the online classroom experience is not the same as face-to-face; however with creativity, the same objectives can be met. A couple of issues though do stand in the way of students succeeding. One is the digital literacy of the students. This is at times a real problem for students, and so, universities should make sure students have choices between face-to-face and online. Secondly the university always wants to make more money. In an online class, this can be an easy way (for the institution) of bringing in more cash. This semester at TAMUSA, all online classes were changed from 30 student to 50! Try teaching a writing intensive class with 50 students. The quality of education decreases with these numbers, and the objectives are difficult to meet. Keeping up with online discussions is next to impossible. And since most online classes are taught by adjuncts, they have little voice to challenge these practices.
they sound fun but I cant imagine taking online classes for 3-4 years without seeing any of my professors the whole years. The main value of teaching and learning relays on the one-on-one interaction and it's not really easy for everyone to be home-schooled. There are definitely both pros and cons to these classes but I agree that they'd be way easier than the average ones but only for motivated people.
ReplyDeleteI would like to take a an on line class and not having to worry the admissions requirements, no minimum test scores or high school GPA. I would like to do the work and get get a degree from Harvard.But then again , I need to be face-to face contact with the teacher and fellow students
ReplyDeletein order to learn.