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Am I the only one that finds OCW conpletely underwhelming? Lecture slides and notes which make up a lot of the content isn't very useful to me without the lec

Am I the only one that finds OCW conpletely underwhelming? Lecture slides and notes which make up a lot of the content isn't very useful to me without the lectures. Stanford has a few classes with all the lectures on YouTube. During my first algorithms course in undergrad they were super useful and the professors were really good at explaining things in plain languages. Better than my own instructors. Same thing for Khan Academy. Their content is brilliant. OCW is just a data dump.

blcknight 9y ago
Although maybe in now wrong. It seems some have video lectures now.
- davidivadavid 9y ago
  They've had videos for about as long as they've existed. OP is misinformed.
  - wuch 9y ago
    Available material vary considerably between courses, and those with video lectures are in minority.
  - Blackthorn 9y ago
    For a few classes. Most do not.
  - ghaff 9y ago
    There was very little video and audio when it was started. Remember it dates to 2002 (i.e. three years before YouTube was founded) and it wasn't really routine, easy, or inexpensive to take video of lectures, edit it, and host it online. Also, as I said in another comment, the main impetus of OCW was to provide materials for educators to use in order to create their own courses. In a way, I suppose it was part of a similar top-down, enable institutions to provide local learning opportunities thinking that One Laptop Per Child was part of as well.
deleted 9y ago
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Profragile 9y ago
They do have video lectures, now on YouTube. They had it even before YouTube existed. I remember watching OCW video lectures around 10 years ago.
malikNF 9y ago
I think calling OCW just a data dump is a little bit too over the top. I am following their Linear Algebra course ( https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06sc-linear-algebra-fall-2011/index.htm https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06sc-linear-algeb... ) and so far it's been really great. There are questions and answers after each lesson, you even get exams and their answers so you can test your progress. Also the youtube comments for some of these classes seems to suggest that a lot of people are really thankful for the content.
ghaff 9y ago
It's a bit of a mix. There is video and audio for some classes. The other material ranges in how detailed it is. When OCW was originally introduced, it wasn't really intended as a "MOOC," as the term is used today. It was more intended as source material for other teachers to put together classes following the curriculum developed by MIT than as something that students would use directly. This original purpose didn't really pan out and the material for some classes has morphed accordingly but it means that you have a fair bit of variety in the posted materials. ADDED: If you want turnkey classes, MIT also has a fair bit of material on edX which it co-founded.

blcknight 9y ago

Although maybe in now wrong. It seems some have video lectures now.

davidivadavid 9y ago
They've had videos for about as long as they've existed. OP is misinformed.
- wuch 9y ago
  Available material vary considerably between courses, and those with video lectures are in minority.
- Blackthorn 9y ago
  For a few classes. Most do not.
- ghaff 9y ago
  There was very little video and audio when it was started. Remember it dates to 2002 (i.e. three years before YouTube was founded) and it wasn't really routine, easy, or inexpensive to take video of lectures, edit it, and host it online. Also, as I said in another comment, the main impetus of OCW was to provide materials for educators to use in order to create their own courses. In a way, I suppose it was part of a similar top-down, enable institutions to provide local learning opportunities thinking that One Laptop Per Child was part of as well.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Profragile 9y ago

They do have video lectures, now on YouTube. They had it even before YouTube existed. I remember watching OCW video lectures around 10 years ago.

malikNF 9y ago

I think calling OCW just a data dump is a little bit too over the top. I am following their Linear Algebra course ( https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06sc-linear-algebra-fall-2011/index.htm https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06sc-linear-algeb... ) and so far it's been really great. There are questions and answers after each lesson, you even get exams and their answers so you can test your progress. Also the youtube comments for some of these classes seems to suggest that a lot of people are really thankful for the content.

ghaff 9y ago

It's a bit of a mix. There is video and audio for some classes. The other material ranges in how detailed it is. When OCW was originally introduced, it wasn't really intended as a "MOOC," as the term is used today. It was more intended as source material for other teachers to put together classes following the curriculum developed by MIT than as something that students would use directly. This original purpose didn't really pan out and the material for some classes has morphed accordingly but it means that you have a fair bit of variety in the posted materials. ADDED: If you want turnkey classes, MIT also has a fair bit of material on edX which it co-founded.