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Vignesh Natarajan
There are different kinds of target audience for the MOOCs. To each type these appeal in a different way. Similarly different aspects of the MOOCs are beneficial to each category of people.
Lets finish off the point blank questions first.
Like Tyler Boyd says, they are revolutionary. MOOC is a brand new idea and an honorable one at that.
Again like he says, MOOCs cannot possibly replace the current education system. And you've used the perfect word for it, complement. MOOCs can serve as amazing resources to make a rich educational system richer. I don't see them replacing the current system.
Now lets come to the most important aspect of an MOOC. You ask about the feelings of a student who sits in front of the computer. Will the experience be rich?
Yes, It would be. And it depends on the target student. Like I'd mentioned earlier, there are different types of people who benefit from the MOOCs in their own way.
For someone who is working and does not have time for a regular course, these MOOCs help in quelling his/her thirst for knowledge.
For someone who is home for a prolonged period of time (housewives, people who've been advised to rest for a long period, students on a break etc) this serves as a good alternative to wasting away time with television.
Now coming to the two most popular categories of people who are the main targets of these MOOCs :Students.
How do they fall into two categories?
Here's how:
A student who is already receiving a good education, say a student going through his undergraduation in CS would be benefited by say a Machine Learning course which he might otherwise not have access to. Like you'd mentioned in the question, these MOOCs serve as complements to the already present educational facilities. This category of students would be receiving decent education under good to excellent facilities.
You ask how rich will the experience be?
The second category explains that. Consider a student who is from a remote village of India, Brazil, Indonesia or any developing country with a large population. There are a LOT of students and the education facilities are not robust enough to provide decent education to these students. There are amazing institutions in every country. The countries I listed are playing hosts for some of the world's leading research institutes in many areas. But only a small fraction of the country's student population has access to good education.
Internet is fairly prevalent in these countries. For such students from a rural/inaccessible part of a country, this experience of an MOOC would be life changing. They'd realize there are things that they could work hard for. They'd get access to some of the world's best professors. They'd be taught fundamentals like they've never been taught before. They'd be living an experience which wouldn't have been possible if not for these MOOCs.
For someone in an Ivy league college pursuing a Masters or a Phd this idea might not seem appealing. But look at it from the point of view of these people.
For them, this experience would be the highlight of their student life. You cannot fathom the amount of impact that these courses have on the lives of these students.
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There are different kinds of target audience for the MOOCs. To each type these appeal in a different way. Similarly different aspects of the MOOCs are beneficial to each category of people.
Lets finish off the point blank questions first.
Like Tyler Boyd says, they are revolutionary. MOOC is a brand new idea and an honorable one at that.
Again like he says, MOOCs cannot possibly replace the current education system. And you've used the perfect word for it, complement. MOOCs can serve as amazing resources to make a rich educational system richer. I don't see them replacing the current system.
Now lets come to the most important aspect of an MOOC. You ask about the feelings of a student who sits in front of the computer. Will the experience be rich?
Yes, It would be. And it depends on the target student. Like I'd mentioned earlier, there are different types of people who benefit from the MOOCs in their own way.
For someone who is working and does not have time for a regular course, these MOOCs help in quelling his/her thirst for knowledge.
For someone who is home for a prolonged period of time (housewives, people who've been advised to rest for a long period, students on a break etc) this serves as a good alternative to wasting away time with television.
Now coming to the two most popular categories of people who are the main targets of these MOOCs :Students.
How do they fall into two categories?
Here's how:
A student who is already receiving a good education, say a student going through his undergraduation in CS would be benefited by say a Machine Learning course which he might otherwise not have access to. Like you'd mentioned in the question, these MOOCs serve as complements to the already present educational facilities. This category of students would be receiving decent education under good to excellent facilities.
You ask how rich will the experience be?
The second category explains that. Consider a student who is from a remote village of India, Brazil, Indonesia or any developing country with a large population. There are a LOT of students and the education facilities are not robust enough to provide decent education to these students. There are amazing institutions in every country. The countries I listed are playing hosts for some of the world's leading research institutes in many areas. But only a small fraction of the country's student population has access to good education.
Internet is fairly prevalent in these countries. For such students from a rural/inaccessible part of a country, this experience of an MOOC would be life changing. They'd realize there are things that they could work hard for. They'd get access to some of the world's best professors. They'd be taught fundamentals like they've never been taught before. They'd be living an experience which wouldn't have been possible if not for these MOOCs.
For someone in an Ivy league college pursuing a Masters or a Phd this idea might not seem appealing. But look at it from the point of view of these people.
For them, this experience would be the highlight of their student life. You cannot fathom the amount of impact that these courses have on the lives of these students.
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Continue reading...
