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This will greatly improve the appeal of Massive Open Online Courses for people like me who would rather read than listen to a lecture. I can read faster than al

This will greatly improve the appeal of Massive Open Online Courses for people like me who would rather read than listen to a lecture. I can read faster than almost anyone can talk. And a well selected set of readings by several authors provides more perspective on a subject than a lecture series by one lecturer. I really like the effort that Coursera, Udacity, edX, etc. are making to offer free online courses on college-level subjects. I will be better able to time-shift my studying and learn more faster if the courses include readings as well as video lectures. Three cheers for Coursera doing this.

tjr 14y ago
Genuinely curious, not trying to be snarky: why not just read a book then? What additional value do you get out of taking the course?
- mapleoin 14y ago
  I guess interacting with other students, having assignments to complete and having someone else look at them, getting a sense of accomplishment after finishing it etc. That's why I sometimes take MOOCs.
- SatvikBeri 14y ago
  For me, the automatically graded exercise and access to a forum of people who're working on the same information are two major bonuses. Add in the fact that more and more employers are recognizing Coursera courses and it's a huge value-add.
SeanDav 14y ago
I too can read faster than most people can talk, but I have the opposite view to you. If it is a technical subject and the lecturer is good then I get far more from a lecture than a book, in the same amount of time. Kahn lectures are an example and there are many, many other online lectures that I would rather watch than read a book about the subject and I love reading books :) Note that this is not an either-or. I will watch the lecture and still read the book as this is more efficient method for me. 1. Watch lectures 2. Browse book. 3. Focus in on areas of book I find interesting or relevant. 4. Do examples.
- hmsimha 14y ago
  The only value lectures have for me that a textbook doesn't, is being able to ask the professor questions when I can't follow something (in a live lecture). I typically get way more out of a well-written textbook than a well-constructed video lecture. That being said, if the MOOCs would integrate a feature into their video players to emulate 'raising your hand' (for example if you have a question at a certain point, you can click a button and other questions that have been asked and answered at that or nearby points would appear, with stackoverflow-like voting on questions and answers, and the ability to chain your question to that point in the video if it wasn't already answered) it would make their video lectures even MORE useful than traditional classroom lectures and perhaps on par with textbooks.
jaibot 14y ago
One of details that makes Coursera amazing is the ability to speed-up lectures.
- gojomo 14y ago
  Also on that note: I recently discovered the 'Swift Player' app for iOS devices, which offers up to 2X speedup on most web videos (if they play on iOS already). It's great, and until I find something similar for MacOS, it's made the iPad my preferred presentation-video playback device.

tjr 14y ago

Genuinely curious, not trying to be snarky: why not just read a book then? What additional value do you get out of taking the course?

mapleoin 14y ago
I guess interacting with other students, having assignments to complete and having someone else look at them, getting a sense of accomplishment after finishing it etc. That's why I sometimes take MOOCs.
SatvikBeri 14y ago
For me, the automatically graded exercise and access to a forum of people who're working on the same information are two major bonuses. Add in the fact that more and more employers are recognizing Coursera courses and it's a huge value-add.

SeanDav 14y ago

I too can read faster than most people can talk, but I have the opposite view to you. If it is a technical subject and the lecturer is good then I get far more from a lecture than a book, in the same amount of time. Kahn lectures are an example and there are many, many other online lectures that I would rather watch than read a book about the subject and I love reading books :) Note that this is not an either-or. I will watch the lecture and still read the book as this is more efficient method for me. 1. Watch lectures 2. Browse book. 3. Focus in on areas of book I find interesting or relevant. 4. Do examples.

hmsimha 14y ago
The only value lectures have for me that a textbook doesn't, is being able to ask the professor questions when I can't follow something (in a live lecture). I typically get way more out of a well-written textbook than a well-constructed video lecture. That being said, if the MOOCs would integrate a feature into their video players to emulate 'raising your hand' (for example if you have a question at a certain point, you can click a button and other questions that have been asked and answered at that or nearby points would appear, with stackoverflow-like voting on questions and answers, and the ability to chain your question to that point in the video if it wasn't already answered) it would make their video lectures even MORE useful than traditional classroom lectures and perhaps on par with textbooks.

jaibot 14y ago

One of details that makes Coursera amazing is the ability to speed-up lectures.

gojomo 14y ago
Also on that note: I recently discovered the 'Swift Player' app for iOS devices, which offers up to 2X speedup on most web videos (if they play on iOS already). It's great, and until I find something similar for MacOS, it's made the iPad my preferred presentation-video playback device.