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MIT And Harvard Start New Online Education Partnership
New submitter Lluc writes "MIT and Harvard have started a new online education partnership called edX, an 'open-source technology platform to deliver online courses.' They plan to offer classes starting in Fall 2012. Perhaps this nonprofit venture is a better method for online education than Udacity, the startup created by Stanford professors after their wildly successful free online course offerings."
Fellow new submitter alexander_686 sent in a link to the edX FAQ, and adds: "Harvard and MIT are launching edX with 60 million dollars to offer 'low fee' online classes. No word yet on classes offered or who will be teaching. No college credit but certificates will be offered. ... I hope low cost means low cost. (Under $25). I have really enjoyed the Stanford University free online classes."
From the FAQ
Many institutions are partnering in this space. Is the MIT/Harvard partnership exclusive? Will other institutions be able to collaborate with edX?
It is our intention that over time other universities will join MIT and Harvard in offering courses on the edX platform.
Hmmm how about MIT OCW? Can they partner with edX?
OCW has some excellent class lectures to watch. I hope this doesn't mean OCW is going away, or going to fee-only.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Perhaps this nonprofit venture is a better method for online education than Udacity,
Perhaps someone from Harvard or MIT, wrote and submitted this summary/article.
Perhaps this is just a way for some universities to rake in more cash to misappropriate later while offering certificates that are not even worth the paper they're printed on.
Or perhaps this is going to be a really cool thing. We shall see, until then I'm cautiously optimistic. Seriously, Udacity FTW.
Most of the online courses fall short on the psychological aspects of teaching. They are little more than videotaped lectures with automated homework grading, and this model doesn't translate well to an online model.
By way of example, the online courses offered so far have been based on avoiding penalties instead of gathering rewards. Your grade is 100 minus the things you get wrong, and you have to finish before a deadline or get penalized.
This is reflected in the enrollment numbers: 120K students enroll in an online course thinking that MIT (for example) will provide a rewarding experience. 100K drop out because the experience isn't all that great.
Taken another way, consider a student who has trouble in the first half of the course and who gets a poor grade on the midterm. At that point, the maximum grade they can get is very low, so there's really no incentive to continue.
A different model might hold the student back until they show proficiency. Once they have confidence in the material, the system "rewards" them and presents the next chapter. The student is motivated to get the next level of achievement, and their level of understanding is greater.
All of the motivation in all of these courses comes from the student, and with no rewards along the way it turns into a grueling tedious chore. It's tough to keep slogging away for 12 weeks with only the dream of a certificate to keep you going.
If they really want to educate people, they're going to have to change their model to keep students motivated.
Until they do that, it'll still be just videotapes of college lectures.
With all the horrible things happening now in the online world SOPA/PIPA/CISPA this online education thing is a really positive development that makes me feel good about the future of humanity. I'm taking the first MITX course (6002x Circuits and Electronics). It's great to take a course that is REALLY HARD, as in you have to be comfortable with calculus and differential equations. Most online learning, with the exception of online learning that is computer science related, has been really basic up until now. I am hopeful that with the worldwide nature of these courses this is going to improve the lives of people everywhere.
From the FAQ:
"Will the certificates be awarded by Harvard and/or MIT?
As determined by the edX board, MIT and Harvard, online learners who demonstrate mastery of subjects could earn a certificate of completion, but such certificates would not be issued under the name Harvard or MIT.
Will Harvard and MIT students be able to take these courses for credit?
No. MITx and Harvardx courses will not be offered for credit at either university. The online content will be used to extend and enrich on campus courses."
Can't take a chance on watering-down the reps of either institution. So segregate the student populations, and don't directly affiliate the names. This is what happens to a good idea after marketers, lawyers, and the bean-counters get together and have had their way with it.
It's more than a few thousand people. Check out Stanford's Youtube channel, for example. They've uploaded multiple full lecture series on math, physics, biology, engineering, etc., and it already has 123,000 subscribers and 34 million video views.