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This isn't just bureaucratic self-protection. MOOCs really aren't ready for that yet. They're awesome, but much of the educational problem is social (tutoring a

This isn't just bureaucratic self-protection. MOOCs really aren't ready for that yet. They're awesome, but much of the educational problem is social (tutoring and study groups, group projects, evaluation that can't be automated) and even though "social" is the buzzword of the 2010s, we as a technological society aren't good (at scale) at that stuff yet. I think that the next step of evolution is free coursework and flat social features (forums with voting, programmatic expert discovery) while the gold-stamped examinations, coursework reviews by PhD'd humans, and tutoring sessions from vetted experts will cost money. If you take the free version, you're matched by an ML algorithm with a volunteer tutor and 95% of the time, you'll get quality. The paid version sets up with a TA at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, and you pay $40 for a half-hour video session. MOOCs will get there. There's another way to look at this: 28% of professors do think MOOCs are ready for prime time. That's much higher than I would have thought.

blablabla123 14y ago
The social part is difficult. I did attend a Coursera Coursera and at the beginning I though, cool, so now I make a study group. They have a dedicated forum for that. So I said, look, here's my study group and I got more feedback than I thought, someone even nearly begging to get in. ;) Then I created a Google Group and posted it in the thread. Guess what: 3 people joined the Group, one was active. (So 2 in total including me.) Lesson for me: when suggesting a study group, have the Google Group link ready. That said, I think the social part is fine, we have social networks for that. Users just need to learn how to socialize online. This is becoming more important everyday even outside Coursera and friends.. Tutors would be cool, but IMHO they are not necessary for successful learning. I remember a dutch math professor saying basically: "I am unnecessary, you just need to ask the right questions." I.e. if you ask the right questions, you will find the next steps best case by yourself.
- saraid216 14y ago
  Well, yes. Everything you learn in education was something someone came up with on their own without being educated first. The point of education is to facilitate that process.
  - blablabla123 14y ago
    I think the point of structured education (school, university) is to guide you through a topic. When you learn completely autonomously, you can end up with knowledge that is not as relevant as you wished. University courses provide a collection of stuff you can learn.

blablabla123 14y ago

The social part is difficult. I did attend a Coursera Coursera and at the beginning I though, cool, so now I make a study group. They have a dedicated forum for that. So I said, look, here's my study group and I got more feedback than I thought, someone even nearly begging to get in. ;) Then I created a Google Group and posted it in the thread. Guess what: 3 people joined the Group, one was active. (So 2 in total including me.) Lesson for me: when suggesting a study group, have the Google Group link ready. That said, I think the social part is fine, we have social networks for that. Users just need to learn how to socialize online. This is becoming more important everyday even outside Coursera and friends.. Tutors would be cool, but IMHO they are not necessary for successful learning. I remember a dutch math professor saying basically: "I am unnecessary, you just need to ask the right questions." I.e. if you ask the right questions, you will find the next steps best case by yourself.

saraid216 14y ago
Well, yes. Everything you learn in education was something someone came up with on their own without being educated first. The point of education is to facilitate that process.
- blablabla123 14y ago
  I think the point of structured education (school, university) is to guide you through a topic. When you learn completely autonomously, you can end up with knowledge that is not as relevant as you wished. University courses provide a collection of stuff you can learn.