I have recently been assigned to complete work on Code Academy. There is a section on this web site called python and this is where you practice computer coding. This is an example of Massive Open Online Courses(MOOC) and it has been a program that has evolved over the last couple of years. The internet has become an essential part of our everyday lives and to find an easier and more innovative way to teach our society is the smartest thing that we can do. These online courses are a good idea because some people are too lazy to attend school to learn these programs and also some people cannot afford to go to college. It is very important to learn how to use the internet because everything is becoming reliant on technology and if you learn how to use these programs it gives you a step up on the competition. You will have an advantage which will most likely result in the employer higher you and possibly with a higher salary. I personally believe that MOOCs are a good idea but they will not work for everyone. Many students will cheat on the assignments and not really learn the material. I am a better learner when I interact with the teacher and have the professor teach me how to use the program. When I have to learn something on my own by teaching myself it does not usually work out to well. Also, people will post all the answers online making it very easy to just search the right answers on google without even doing it themselves. I am a firm believer in this because kids will look for the easy way out. If they are offered the correct answers without doing work they will take it. Students only care about grades not about the information that they have retained. It is society’s fault we think that way because everything relies on the grades that you receive. Overall, I think that these interactive assignments are good to have as homework but for full course I think it will be counter productive. Kids learn best with interactive assignments but I am the type of student that needs to be told what to do by a superior. If I am not reminded in class about an assignment I will forget it and not complete it.
Sebastian Thrun, founder of Udacity, attended Stanford University where he developed the belief that education should get rid of long lectures and participate in more active learning. He believes that learning this way will help students succeed not just in school but in life as well. He provided numerous online courses for students but decided that these courses were not effective for undergraduate students. He first believed that they have found the next best thing for higher education and that anyone can benefit from these courses. He recently has changed his perspective to that it is more for students that have a major in technology. Due to the high failures on his courses he realized it was not for everyone and that many students become easily distracted when they are not in class. Thrun really shifted his point of view from his high value on education to a man that has a CEO perspective and just cares about the amount of money he makes. I don’t blame in on what he recently said because I completely agree with him. He believed that it would benefit everyone but he learned from experience that it will not. I knew from the start that not everyone can benefit from online courses because there are numerous distractions when on the computer. You have social media sites and ITunes which can distract any student.
Loucao, A. (2013, November 18). Sebastian Thrun: MOOCs Not Effective for Undergraduate Education After All… | online learning insights. Retrieved from http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/sebastian-thrun-moocs-not-effective-for-undergraduate-education-after-all/
Udacity (2014, January). About Us – Udacity. Retrieved from https://www.udacity.com/us
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