tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post3986322056950793337..comments2023-03-01T07:46:47.230-05:00Comments on Pursuit of Unorthodox Ideas: The Role of Engineering Educators in the Age of MOOCsSK Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212054102534056561noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post-40891144153270499362013-04-21T11:36:49.125-04:002013-04-21T11:36:49.125-04:00Good points, and I largely agree. One additional ...Good points, and I largely agree. One additional point I'd like to make is that the MOOCs and online lectures (i.e., the "fact delivery") if done well, can free up class time to focus on all the non-fact stuff. Whether is team work, communication skills development, or simply more interactive discussion - classes can become more engaging and offer broader learning opportunities. And so I'll predict that class attendance will increase as more lectures go online (at least for the good teachers, who use class time effectively to go beyond fact delivery).Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02454786440233720457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post-29582126893415610912013-04-03T12:41:35.270-04:002013-04-03T12:41:35.270-04:00NICE BLOG!!! Engineering course is one of the most...NICE BLOG!!! Engineering course is one of the most excellent choices for students from science background, in conditions of scope as well as bright career. It is a vast field that put forward numerous streams and specialty choices. Thanks for sharing a nice information.<br /><a href="http://www.way2college.com/MBAKolkata.htm" rel="nofollow">Top MBA Colleges in Kolkata</a> <br /><a href="http://www.way2college.com/MBAKolkata.htm" rel="nofollow">MBA Colleges in Kolkata</a> <br /><br /><br />way2 collegehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15002354364018973597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post-70939348643670427662013-03-25T21:48:47.053-04:002013-03-25T21:48:47.053-04:00Interesting article. I see MOOCS as a complimentar...Interesting article. I see MOOCS as a complimentary addition to the pedagogical recipe, but not as a replacement. Some flavors like group solving, spontaneous electrifying debates that some times result in new research directions are privileges enjoyed only in a physical classroom setting where social exchanges can happen more naturally in real-time. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02197477385747188966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post-11969805007698220972013-03-24T17:50:06.600-04:002013-03-24T17:50:06.600-04:00Excellent article. I want to add one more point.
...Excellent article. I want to add one more point.<br /><br />In classroom education model, the instructor can get visual feedback from the students whether they are actually following the lecture and can reshape his/her style of delivering lectures accordingly. MOOCS cannot enjoy this advantage. That may be one reason for high drop-out rate in MOOCS. <br /><br />I think, social interaction among students in a classroom environment is important to keep them motivated. MOOCS can be used as a complement knowledge base for classroom lectures. In fact lots of students use MOOCS as a supplementary source of information for their classroom courses.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12628146870221633976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post-76335625000166529372013-03-24T00:52:46.193-04:002013-03-24T00:52:46.193-04:00Very thought-provoking article. One point that is ...Very thought-provoking article. One point that is missing though, is while MOOCs are primarily designed for undergrad studies, it is quite possible that grad education can also benefit from it, if for example a stalwart in some rather niche area posts lecture notes on that topic. Moreover, educators should take up the responsibility of teaching the soft skills of project management and networking to grad students as well, particularly those who come directly from college. Ashishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03072006160606182034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post-87873868574181652062013-03-23T22:34:58.549-04:002013-03-23T22:34:58.549-04:00By the way, some of the other weaknesses of MOOCs,...By the way, some of the other weaknesses of MOOCs, which people have complained about are:<br />* Their financial sustainability outside of a university is an open question. Within a university, supplementary distance education technologies, similar to what UMD's ENPM program uses, may have an advantage over MOOCs because the supplementary Web-enabled content (UMD's BlackBoard, Canvas) piggy-backs on traditional course structure, rather than being a completely standalone method of teaching.<br />* Testing and ensuring that students have actually learned the material is still a major challenge as far as I know. This is mainly because it is very challenging to verify the identity of the test taker or project performer. In other words, without proctored, in-person testing, universities are generally reluctant to give course credit toward any degree.<br />* According to statistics, the vast majority of students who participate in MOOCs are professionals or graduate students looking to sharpen skills or simply check out new ideas. There is usually only a tiny percentage of undergrads or High School students.<br />* The course drop-out rate is extremely high: 90% according to one estimate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post-2539498673925717622013-03-23T21:30:05.123-04:002013-03-23T21:30:05.123-04:00The article is quite interesting and thought-provo...The article is quite interesting and thought-provoking. I have couple of comments to put forth for discussion:<br /><br />1. About MOOCs, your article expresses that a some educators "feel threatened by MOOCs". I think, it is not that the people feel threatened but rather they are concerned about the applicability of MOOCs in all aspects of education. In case of engineering, you have already listed the aspects of education and have pointed out that MOOCs is applicable to few of them in its current avatar. Many people may think you are being presumptuous about people who are critiquing (in an academic way) MOOCs. It is, in my opinion very much needed to critique a new technology to estimate its scope and limitations. This can prevent making hasty and uninformed decisions about replacing what works with something fancy sounding. We can not discount people by saying that they are threatened.<br /><br />2. In MOOCs your suggestions say "Currently, very few engineering students participate in competitions die to resource constraints. We should encourage majority of engineering students to participate in competitions." Just to add, MOOCs can be used to build a knowledge base for instructors to create low cost but all encompassing hands on exercises.Atul Thakurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00848996286379784579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7484943102107739496.post-21593691235614459932013-03-23T10:24:33.968-04:002013-03-23T10:24:33.968-04:00Excellent article that should encourage educators ...Excellent article that should encourage educators to think about cost effective Engineering education for the new generation. I doubt STEM focused parents would like to pay for new college stadiums, but would be happy to pay premium for an institution that is setting new standards for Engineering Education through MOOCs, mentoring and sponsorship with industry partners like Google, IBM, Microsoft etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com