7 ms·

Gotta love online learning...no more waiting for information to be available in a text book and to enroll in classes to get educated.

obviouslygreen 13y ago
While this is a point worth making, another is that there's also little to no vetting or editing required to publish "information" on the web compared to getting it into a book and into distribution. Of course the latter isn't perfect and comes with its own evil hegemony and other assorted issues, but the point is that there is so little barrier to entry to posting on the web that praising speed in and of itself ignores relevant and important issues.
- doktrin 13y ago
  Fair point, but I would argue that "known" and trusted organizations, such as Khan Academy or Coursera, backing a given instructor or set of materials constitutes a form of vetting. It's not like they pick their material out of a hat, and they're all fully aware of the potential repercussions of publishing quackery.
  - PakG1 13y ago
    Don't forget MIT OpenCourseWare. They were first to the party. :) http://ocw.mit.edu http://ocw.mit.edu
    - hkmurakami 13y ago
      They were here for such a long time, way before anyone else and yet they are practically forgotten now. I wish it had been given the attention it deserved by the good folks at MIT.
- ThomPete 13y ago
  But the system is self-correcting so it's not really a problem.
  - coderdude 13y ago
    It can also be self-destructive. Such is the case with subtle Wikipedia vandalism.
    - baddox 13y ago
      Books with incorrect data can essentially never be changed. Wikipedia pages can be changed immediately.
- dylanvee 13y ago
  By the same turn, it's also much easier to propose and make corrections. If I discover an error in my computer graphics textbook, I'd have to...call the publisher and see if they can fix it in the next edition, I guess. Perhaps the textbook industry's fixation on keeping students buying the newest editions of their books has actual benefits...
cantrevealname 13y ago
Let's not discount the fact that most people need the social pressure that a live classroom brings to bear. Most people--even us self-motivated HN people--are far more likely to do hundreds of hours of coursework if there's a real class, human teachers, and other students than if it's online to pursue at your leisure, or in a book sitting on your shelf for that matter.
- SilasX 13y ago
  Sure, but that very same social environment can be an impediment at least as well as it can be a motivator. The overwhelming majority of my formal education (through high school and most of college) consisted of classes where most of the students either didn't want to be there, or weren't interested in the course beyond its impact on their grade and future transcript, and so were disruptive to the learning process. And I doubt I'm alone in saying that.
- nijk 13y ago
  Sure, but you don't need a classroom for that. Forums, sibreddits, etc, can host a class.
SagelyGuru 13y ago
Online learning, yes. However, what is wrong with writing? Why this youtube mania for making videos of everything? Not everyone wants to listen to hours of videos of some guy droning on about something that they could have read in a few minutes, with random access ability to concentrate on the few bits that they don't know. I am not saying that this guy does a bad job but, in general, I avoid videos like plague after many bad experiences with them. Especially those where there is just scrolling text and some god awful soundtrack with it.
- alan_cx 13y ago
  What is wrong with writing? Firstly, nothing. No one said there was. Secondly, from what I can tell, writing is inferior to the human physical expression, which includes speech. It exists to mimic and preserve thought or speech. But it can never be precise, simply because the human body augments speech. When writing gets close to accurately doing that, it become verbose and tedious. Or, to put it another way: Would your kids prefer to read or be read to? Would you prefer the lyrics or the song? The script or the movie? You might, most wouldn't.
  - kang 13y ago
    Writing is not inferior when it hosts a subject being studied. To quote your example, yes, lyrics would be preferred to a song if the meaning is being studied, script would be prefered to movie if dialogues are being studied. Atleast in the current context, books are faster to reread compared to rewinding a video, which can break your flow.
  - jiggy2011 13y ago
    They're just different I guess. Writing is easier to skim, I can scan a 1000 word article in a few seconds to tell if it's likely worth my time to read. I can't do that easily with a 10 minute video. It's also easier to edit. OTOH speech conveys emotion better and feels like it has less mental overhead to consume and produce. I know a few people who are excellent speakers but very poor writers for example.

obviouslygreen 13y ago

While this is a point worth making, another is that there's also little to no vetting or editing required to publish "information" on the web compared to getting it into a book and into distribution. Of course the latter isn't perfect and comes with its own evil hegemony and other assorted issues, but the point is that there is so little barrier to entry to posting on the web that praising speed in and of itself ignores relevant and important issues.

doktrin 13y ago
Fair point, but I would argue that "known" and trusted organizations, such as Khan Academy or Coursera, backing a given instructor or set of materials constitutes a form of vetting. It's not like they pick their material out of a hat, and they're all fully aware of the potential repercussions of publishing quackery.
- PakG1 13y ago
  Don't forget MIT OpenCourseWare. They were first to the party. :) http://ocw.mit.edu http://ocw.mit.edu
  - hkmurakami 13y ago
    They were here for such a long time, way before anyone else and yet they are practically forgotten now. I wish it had been given the attention it deserved by the good folks at MIT.
ThomPete 13y ago
But the system is self-correcting so it's not really a problem.
- coderdude 13y ago
  It can also be self-destructive. Such is the case with subtle Wikipedia vandalism.
  - baddox 13y ago
    Books with incorrect data can essentially never be changed. Wikipedia pages can be changed immediately.
dylanvee 13y ago
By the same turn, it's also much easier to propose and make corrections. If I discover an error in my computer graphics textbook, I'd have to...call the publisher and see if they can fix it in the next edition, I guess. Perhaps the textbook industry's fixation on keeping students buying the newest editions of their books has actual benefits...

cantrevealname 13y ago

Let's not discount the fact that most people need the social pressure that a live classroom brings to bear. Most people--even us self-motivated HN people--are far more likely to do hundreds of hours of coursework if there's a real class, human teachers, and other students than if it's online to pursue at your leisure, or in a book sitting on your shelf for that matter.

SilasX 13y ago
Sure, but that very same social environment can be an impediment at least as well as it can be a motivator. The overwhelming majority of my formal education (through high school and most of college) consisted of classes where most of the students either didn't want to be there, or weren't interested in the course beyond its impact on their grade and future transcript, and so were disruptive to the learning process. And I doubt I'm alone in saying that.
nijk 13y ago
Sure, but you don't need a classroom for that. Forums, sibreddits, etc, can host a class.

SagelyGuru 13y ago

Online learning, yes. However, what is wrong with writing? Why this youtube mania for making videos of everything? Not everyone wants to listen to hours of videos of some guy droning on about something that they could have read in a few minutes, with random access ability to concentrate on the few bits that they don't know. I am not saying that this guy does a bad job but, in general, I avoid videos like plague after many bad experiences with them. Especially those where there is just scrolling text and some god awful soundtrack with it.

alan_cx 13y ago
What is wrong with writing? Firstly, nothing. No one said there was. Secondly, from what I can tell, writing is inferior to the human physical expression, which includes speech. It exists to mimic and preserve thought or speech. But it can never be precise, simply because the human body augments speech. When writing gets close to accurately doing that, it become verbose and tedious. Or, to put it another way: Would your kids prefer to read or be read to? Would you prefer the lyrics or the song? The script or the movie? You might, most wouldn't.
- kang 13y ago
  Writing is not inferior when it hosts a subject being studied. To quote your example, yes, lyrics would be preferred to a song if the meaning is being studied, script would be prefered to movie if dialogues are being studied. Atleast in the current context, books are faster to reread compared to rewinding a video, which can break your flow.
- jiggy2011 13y ago
  They're just different I guess. Writing is easier to skim, I can scan a 1000 word article in a few seconds to tell if it's likely worth my time to read. I can't do that easily with a 10 minute video. It's also easier to edit. OTOH speech conveys emotion better and feels like it has less mental overhead to consume and produce. I know a few people who are excellent speakers but very poor writers for example.