Hi
I like the idea of the Platonic "ideal lecture", I'd like to just roll with some ideas if anyone is interested:
Maybe one could build taxonomy of a discipline with the best lectures on each field/category. Students could traverse the lectures at their leisure, one lecture building on top of another with some choice in terms of lecturer perhaps.
Most students do the minimum work most of the time anyway. Online lectures will encourage this of course, but this could be countered with more rigorous/frequent assignments to encourage students to watch lectures long before the exams. I personally feel that there usually isn't a trustworthy correlation between passing a test(regardless of percentage) and real comprehension of a subject, but this area has always been tricky...
Back to the taxonomy. Once a student has watched a lecture, there would probably be questions. I think these online lectures could be supplemented with some comm channels eg. daily/weekly chat rooms and forums. Here is where I think the key lies: take a subject like calculus, the basics hasnt changed much in awhile - therefore student queries probably form a pattern over a few years. If these forums and chat rooms are well organized for referencing, students would be able to query the FAQ's and if they dont find what their looking for raise the topic in the chat or conference calls with tutors.
For subjects that are more subject to changes and enhancements, the comms infrastructure would just need more attention perhaps (more chat rooms hosted by more tutors/regular feedback in forums etc).
I didnt like attending class much and that worked for me, but it doesnt work for a lot of other people. Just plonking lectures online isnt going to change much in my opinion. The system would require a lot of thought.
As a final thought, I do think that making the lectures available could be a first step in the direction of catering for students individually (as far as public education is concerned anyway)
Regards,
Pierre Sutherland
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from
time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
- Oscar Wilde
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Hi I like the idea of the Platonic "ideal lecture", I'd like to just roll with some ideas if anyone is interested:
Maybe one could build taxonomy of a discipline with the best lectures on each field/category. Students could traverse the lectures at their leisure, one lecture building on top of another with some choice in terms of lecturer perhaps.
Most students do the minimum work most of the time anyway. Online lectures will encourage this of course, but this could be countered with more rigorous/frequent assignments to encourage students to watch lectures long before the exams. I personally feel that there usually isn't a trustworthy correlation between passing a test(regardless of percentage) and real comprehension of a subject, but this area has always been tricky...
Back to the taxonomy. Once a student has watched a lecture, there would probably be questions. I think these online lectures could be supplemented with some comm channels eg. daily/weekly chat rooms and forums. Here is where I think the key lies: take a subject like calculus, the basics hasnt changed much in awhile - therefore student queries probably form a pattern over a few years. If these forums and chat rooms are well organized for referencing, students would be able to query the FAQ's and if they dont find what their looking for raise the topic in the chat or conference calls with tutors.
For subjects that are more subject to changes and enhancements, the comms infrastructure would just need more attention perhaps (more chat rooms hosted by more tutors/regular feedback in forums etc).
I didnt like attending class much and that worked for me, but it doesnt work for a lot of other people. Just plonking lectures online isnt going to change much in my opinion. The system would require a lot of thought.
As a final thought, I do think that making the lectures available could be a first step in the direction of catering for students individually (as far as public education is concerned anyway)
Regards,
Pierre Sutherland
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from
time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
- Oscar Wilde