Today, if you wanted to learn computer programming what
options would you consider? Would you join a private institution offering this
course, or find a part-time course being offered by a prestigious university,
or go online to self-study?
If you go with the third option you would be spoilt for
choice.
As a beginner you could go to Khan Academy and take their
introductory course on Computer Science, where you would learn JavaScript
hands-on using their built-in code emulator (
http://www.khanacademy.org/cs). Or,
you could head to AcademicEarth.org and watch video lectures of the courses
taken by Stanford University professors on computer programming (
http://www.academicearth.org/courses/programming-methodology).
Or, you could register for one of the several free courses at Coursera.org (
www.Coursera.org). Or, you could sign-up for
a free course being offered by Harvard, MIT and Berkeley at their EdX online
learning platform (
https://www.edx.org/).
Or, you could take a free course on Udacity (
http://www.udacity.com)
that promises a hands-on, problem based learning experience.
If you choose to go with Coursera, Udacity or EdX, not just
for computer programming but for a number of other courses, you would be one of
the tens of thousands of students from all over the globe taking that course.
That is why these courses are being called MOOCs or Massively Open Online
Courses.
In 2008, George Siemens and Stephen Downes conducted one of
the first MOOCs. Titled, ‘Connectivism and Connective Knowledge’ the MOOC was on
how knowledge gets constructed in a networked age and how deep learning happens
when meaning is co-constructed by a network of connections (learners, knowledge
networks, diversity of opinions…). The essence of connectivism is similar to what
Seth Godin describes as role of education – not collecting the dots (knowledge
nuggets) but connecting the dots. In fact, Siemens’ ‘Connectivism’ is a learning
theory for the digital age and is the undergirding pedagogy (or should we say ‘webagogy’)
in MOOCs.
In 2011 professors Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig
conducted an online course on Artificial Intelligence, which was taken by more
than 150,000 students from over 200 countries. This initiative has now
transformed into Udacity.
MOOCs seem to be the foundation of the disruption that is
emerging in education, which could be described as the ‘Eklavya Model of
Self-Directed Learning’. In the Indian epic Mahabharata, Eklavya is a tribal
prince who aspires to learn archery but is not taken as a student by the famous
teacher Dronacharya because he is not of the right lineage. So Ekalvya sculpts
a clay statue of the teacher and embarks on a journey of self-learning. MOOCs,
taken by teachers who are best in the field, are like virtual Dronacharyas who
are there to guide and facilitate anyone who is passionate about learning.
MOOCs are an evolving construct and in every new MOOC the
facilitators are trying new experiments – building in tests of recall into the
video to make it more cognitively engaging, giving assignments which are then
peer reviewed by the community, creating self-study groups, encouraging
students to contribute to the course Wiki, catalyzing face-to-face meet-ups
among students and so forth.
While MOOCs are excellent for self-learning, as yet they do
not provide certification that is recognized by employers or traditional
institutes of education. However, it is a matter of time before such informal,
self-directed learning becomes more and more acceptable. Already initiatives
like Mozilla’s ‘Open Badges’ are experimenting with recognizing informal
learning and in future projects and e-portfolios created by students in a MOOC,
individually and collaboratively, will become acceptable as evidence of
learning and understanding.
The main criticism of MOOCs is that a great learning
experience is one which is customized and personalized to the specific needs of
a student. However, MOOCs by their very definition are tools of mass education.
But this will change.
One change that is already underway is the ‘Flipped
classroom’ – where students ‘gain knowledge’ using online open educational
resources like MOOCs and then use the classroom time with the teacher to dwell
into what they did not understand. Integration of learner analytics (check out
Khan Academy’s learner analytics) that gives details not only about how much
time a student spent on the learning resources but also highlights which steps
were problematic, goes a long way in helping teachers tackle individual
students’ problems. In the coming years more insightful learner analytics will
become part of MOOCs and make mass customization of education a reality.
So will you use a MOOC to learn computer programming? If
lectures and theoretical exercises are not your cup of tea and you really learn
when you get your hands dirty then get yourself a Raspberry Pi and an Arduino,
or for your kids check out MIT’s Scratch initiative, or GameStar Mechanic or
Coding Academy, and become part of the fast growing community of DIY learners. I
will leave it to your curiosity to Google these to find out more. Collaborative
learning-by-doing is the next disruption in education that is unfolding but more
about that in another issue.
For Learners
MOOCs are a boon for you. Don't have a good teacher, or
don't have a teacher, or don't understand the way your teacher teaches, go
search for a MOOC or other open educational resources. Even if the course being
offered is of advance level listen to the introductory lectures for each topic.
For example, MIT professor Walter Lewin has great lectures on Physics for
under-graduates. If you are in school you could listen to the introductory
lecture on each topic -
http://www.academicearth.org/courses/physics-i-classical-mechanics
For Teachers
MOOCs are a great way to keep your knowledge up-to-date. Not
only can you participate in the courses to gain knowledge, since there are tens
of thousands of participants, you could use MOOCs to gain insights into where
students get stuck and use that to enhance your teaching. Also, since the
students are from hundreds of countries you could consider organizing physical
meet-ups in your city, where you could facilitate the students face-to-face,
perhaps for a nominal fee. Of course, you could also consider making your
classroom a flipped classroom.
For Parents
Think of MOOCs as free tuition from some of the world’s best
teachers. Help your kids identify the right MOOC – to supplement what they are
learning in school, or encourage them to participate in a MOOC to gauge their
interest in a particular discipline and make an informed choice about what they
would like to pursue. For example, ask your children to watch introductory
video lectures on psychology, or finance, or economics on sites like
AcademicEarth.org to make up their mind about what subjects to choose. You
could also use MOOCs to learn what you always yearned for but didn't because
your formal education was about learning to earn and not about yearning to
learn!
For Knowledge Workers
Going has never been so good for self-directed, lifelong
learners and it is only getting better. Introspect on how you learn best and
then find out learning resources online that suit you most. Or, join a
community of practice in your interest area. Or, start your own online learning
community, curating MOOCs and other learning resources and catalyzing
conversation and collaboration for a deeper learning experience. Such is the
long tail of online learning that you can find fellow enthusiasts even in the
most niche of topics.
Quotes
"A good educational system should have three purposes:
it should provide all who want to learn with access to available resources at
any time in their lives; empower all who want to share what they know and to
find those who want to learn it from them; and, furnish all who want to present
an issue to the public with the opportunity to make their challenge
known." – Ivan Illich, author,
Deschooling Society (1971)
“When it is time to die there’d be a certain pleasure in
thinking that you had utilized your life well, that you had learnt as much as
you could, gathered in as much of the universe, and enjoyed it. What a tragedy
if you passed through and got nothing out of it.”
– Issac Asimov (in an interview with Bill
Moyers)
Free Resources
Good Website
Good Book
“The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined” by Sal Khan (Khan
Academy)
In this book Sal shares his strategy for bringing –
“a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere” and explains why he thinks technology will make
classrooms more human and teachers more important. The book is available as an
eBook on Amazon.
Good Video
In this six-minute TED talk Peter Norvig describes
the learning from his experience of teaching 150,000 plus students:
