Discussion Online Learning vs Traditional Learning

[Carolyn]

If you are reading this, you've probably already had at least some experience with studying online. But is it as effective as having an instructor in the same room?

 

[Nedzad]

Hmm tricky question. Nothing can't measure with a person on person interaction. But today, with massive online collaboration tools and MOOC I think that online experience is effective as the person to person instruction. You have access to knowledge online, and internet is your friend if you know how to handle it.

 

[Carolyn]

Thanks for your reply.
Remember to vote in the poll above.
Thanks

 

[Nedzad]

Thanks for your reply.
Remember to vote in the poll above.
Thanks

Yep, did it already

 

[wilko dijkhuis]

If you are reading this, you've probably already had at least some experience with studying online. But is it as effective as having an instructor in the same room?

The question in this form is unanswerable,
TIP be more specific,
specify:
- who is learning what
- using which online approach (edX, Siemens, Khan, etc, etc)
- compared to which traditional approach

For my position on on-line learning see: conclusion after 3 year of moocing

 

[Duke]

The question in this form is unanswerable,
TIP be more specific,
specify:
- who is learning what
- using which online approach (edX, Siemens, Khan, etc, etc)
- compared to which traditional approach

I totally agree with you @wilko dijkhuis . There are too many variables to give a yes or no answer. Both forms of study can be effective in different situations depending on the type of learner, the individual's goal, the course format etc.

 

[Jane]

E-learning is the learning of a new generation. It can be a very efficient and often cost-effective way of education. MOOCs is a great source of programs and information regarding e-learning.

 

[Carolyn]

With the ever growing number of online learning aids available to us combined with free access to knowledge and education via the Internet, is our actual learning better now than before?

 

[Nedzad]

I will say yes, you can find a lot of online tools, apps to help your organize your study, courses and etc. But also we have more and more distraction now. We are bombarded by news, information that we can't process in daily life, when searching internet for knowledge you have ads, and they can easily distract you.

How many times during the day, or week. You are searching for something and you end up looking at some commercial, ads or website opposite that you've searched for?

 

[Carolyn]

A recent article published in eCampusNews raises some of the concerns students have about MOOCs based on new qualitative research.
According to the report’s authors, there are three primary conclusions that can be drawn from the data:

1. Many students feel the information available through MOOCs, in particular c-MOOCs (peer-based MOOCs), is not of the same quality as the information they receive in a formally structured, traditional college course, and this feeling is often accompanied by a concern over the lack of college credit. Many students also feel that interactions available through MOOCs are limited in depth and breadth to the interaction available as an enrolled student in a traditional face-to-face or online course at a university.

2. Accreditation was a common concern crossing over a range of thematic categories. “Students often commented on the benefits of MOOCs to lifelong learning but, since higher education traditionally reflects a credit hour standard, students see the lack of course credit in MOOCs as a hallmark of lesser quality,” note the authors. The authors also write that it’s surprising that very few students viewed MOOCs as a learning tool that could assist them in the college courses they are currently taking.

3. The findings from this analysis shed light on low completion rates in MOOCs. “For reasons not directly clear, many students in this study felt feedback from MOOC instructors should be more prompt than from instructors in their current college courses,” conclude the authors. If new MOOC students enter a MOOC with expectations similar to many of the students in this study, “they would quickly learn that the course is not what they expected. Such realizations and resultant drop outs may contribute to the low completion rates currently observed in MOOCs,” say the authors.

Do you relate to these concerns? What are your conclusions drawn from your personal experience with taking MOOCs?
Post your comments below.

 

[Muvaffak GOZAYDIN]

I applauded MOOC when it was around in April 2012 by Coursera then May 2012 by MIT+Harvard.
But later I have observed that a course is for everybody.
That is same courfse is followed by a high school student and by a Ph D holder .
No target .
Then I concluded that MOOCs are no value academically .
But Agarwal is very smart. Now he started with ASU Freshmen Academy
ONLINE for credit courses for freshmen . $ 600 per 3-credit course
I hope it will continue.
Plus MS online by Georgia Tech $ 550 per course.

MOOCS are not valuable , but it caused online very popular.
Target is
ONLINE by 200 best schools of the USA ( see US News rankings ) at low prices ( that is $ 200 per 3-credit course ) for credits and degree programs ( That is all programs )
Then for lifelong learning too .

 

[Claude Almansi]

Real MOOCs, in the connected learning sense meant by Cormier, Downes and Siemens, were and still are an extremely useful educational innovation. The ones I participated in have been the best learning experiences I've had, on- or off-line.

What employers and educational institutions want is employees/students who can work and solve problems in ad-hoc, heterogeneous teams, and that's what you learn how to do in a connected learning course. Of course, this means a very heavy workload for the course organizers, who must be thoroughly committed and have a lot of stamina.

Pity Coursera transmogrified the MOOC into a snobbery-based (see their "top universities" sales pitch) business in April 2012. Hence edX, to show that not all "top universities" went for that, and hence the "c-" for connected that had to be added in front of "MOOC", to distinguish these real MOOCs from the other ones like Coursera's, where the foreseen top-down structure was already seriously obsolete 50 years ago.

Nevertheless, even in these fossilized pseudo-MOOCs, some very dedicated instructors do manage to encourage team learning. So maybe there is hope for ASU's Global Freshman Academy, mentioned by Muvaffak GOZAYDIN: its Rethink higher education. Online. | GFA Website website has a video that insists on collaboration between students from all around the world, and there are no pre-requisites. Let's hope they manage to bring MOOCs back to what they were meant to be.

 

[Carolyn]

MOOCs have not just improved my life, they have changed my life. But not in the way you might think. MOOCs and online education have become the focus point of my work through MoocLab. For me, they have been at the centre of a radical career change which has improved my professional life enormously. I now live and breathe MOOCs and online learning for which I have developed a true passion and I am very excited about what the future holds.
Everyone's experience with MOOCs will be different. Have they improved YOUR life? Have they changed YOUR life? Tell us by posting a comment below.

 

[karimse07]

Moocs have improved my life by providing continuous updated source of courses which i can consult at any time even providing certificates of knowledge acquired .
this allows for learning independence " where u learn without restrictions " .

 

[Muvaffak GOZAYDIN]

MOOC as it stands is nothing .
Be careful most students of MOOCs are BA holders, even some have Ph D .
The problem in the USA and the World is quality and low cost HE.
Solution is online .
But online is just a tool . ONLINE makes possible to reach millions of people in the World .
Quality of the knowledge or providers, that is universities are most important .
Only top schools capacities must be doubled , tripled by tools .
There is no meaning to increase the capacity of a bad school .
Therefore I say only first, top 200 best universities of the USA must provide perfect online degree programs. We employers do not care for MOOCs certificates. We want degrees from best schools . But thanks to MOOCs still . It made online very popular .
The quality of online as a tool also is being improved a lot .
Wait for personalised learning, course adapts itself to the students .

 

[alschwab]

MOOCs give you the opportunity to learn from the best teachers in the world, teacher you would never meet in real life. You can study at universities all over the world, other thing never possible "off-line". I've acomplished more than a dozen MOOCs up to now. One that made a live-long impression on me was "What a Plant Knows" with professor Daniel A. Chamovitz.

 

[Muvaffak GOZAYDIN]

I am glad that you liked MOOCs classes .
I hope you will get a good job with the skills you have learned .
To make generalised statements are always dangerous . Sorry .

 

[Nina]

Hi Mooclabbers!

I'd like to get everyone's feedback on the ONE thing you'd like to change about MOOCs.

Just post your comment below...could be interesting.

Thanks

 

[Nina]

I'll start the ball rolling...

Improve assessment methods.

 

[BMint]

Get employers to recognize them as valid credentials.