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Health & Fitness

College for the Masses ...for Free?

I attended the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's annual Education Leaders Summit on September 4, 2013.  The following notes on MOOCs are from the breakout session, "21st Century Teaching" featuring the President of San Jose State University, Mohammad Qayoumi, and from the closing keynote address by Andrew Ng, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of Coursera.

What is a MOOC?

A massive open online course (MOOC) provides free or less expensive college courses for adults around the world through the web.  They are Distance Learning classes for 100,000 or more students located anywhere in the world.  Different than Khan Academy or YouTube EDU, MOOCs are real college classes.  Each class has a set period of time for the class such as 10 weeks, lectures, homework, and tests.  The content of the class is the same as that offered to enrolled students at top universities like Stanford, MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley and Princeton.  Typically, students watch a slide show with embedded video of the professor's talking head.  During the lecture, the computer can prompt students with questions to test whether they are understanding the lecture material or not.  Also, translation into other languages is sometimes available.

How do MOOCs handle open-ended work and inevitable questions?

With 100,000 or more students worldwide, the students do not get personal time with the professor, but with each other to address grading of open-ended work as well as answers to questions.  A course blog is used for Q & A with students getting fast responses from other students at all times of day and night.  If the course requires subjective grading such as for poetry writing, architecture, or design, students will grade and rate one another's work through crowd sourcing techniques.  At Coursera, students are taught how to grade work first, then students will post their assignments or a photo of their work, then five students will grade each assignment.  The final grade for an assignment would be a combination of the five scores plus a self-grade.

Can you get college credit for a MOOC?

It's in the works.  San Jose State University working with Udacity piloted a MOOC for college credit program, SJSU Plus, over the summer.  Students signed-up for the five courses as if they were present on campus, but they could be anywhere in the world.  Coursera offers classes with a certificate where they verify your presence through your typing patterns.

Why attend a university when you can take a MOOC for free?

The content of a class is not the only benefit - community and direct experience matter.  At a university, students get face time with professors, teacher's assistants and other students also at that university.  With class lectures online, some college classes now "Flip the Learning Day".  Students watch the lecture before class starts, then go to class for face to face time with faculty and other students.  Also, studies show that content retention goes up with interaction and applied experience.

Why support MOOCs?

For adults who have completed college, MOOCs offer an inexpensive life-long learning opportunity.  For those seeking an education where one is not available or affordable, MOOCs are education for the masses.  

What do you need to take a MOOC?

A computer with an Internet connection that can handle streaming video; plus, the time and energy to learn something new.  If you know of people who cannot afford a connected computer, they can either use a public library computer or sign-up for Internet Essentials from Comcast that offers Internet for $9.95 per month and a $150 computer.

Want to learn more about MOOCs and other innovations in education?

Jeff Selingo, author of College (Un)Bound will be speaking on Tuesday, September 17, from 7:00 – 9:00p in the Mountain View High School Spartan Theater (3535 Truman Avenue, Mountain View).  This free presentation is targeted for parents of children in grades 6-12. For additional information, visit www.lamvptac.org/home.parenteducation. This event is sponsored by the Mountain View Los Altos High School Foundation, the Los Altos Educational Foundation and the Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council.

Ready to sign-up for an online college course?

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