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Starting this autumn, thousands of students are expected to participate en masse, in a venture that could re-invent education as a whole in the coming decades.
For decades, students from around the world wanting to enroll and participate the classes of USs most esteemed Universities, simply didn had that chance. Well, things change; two new online platforms aspire to become the Next big thing in education for the coming years.
More specifically, the edX platform (an alliance between Universities of Harvard & M.I.T) and Coursera platform (a joint venture of Stanford and Princeton Universities) will offer online courses to students throughout the world, which can be studied by anyone, anywhere in the world, with no admission requirements at all, and most importantly: free of charge!
Giving people the option to participate in online lectures and courses of some of the most esteemed Top US universities for free, is indeed an innovative idea, since the internet contains the unparalleled capacity to instantly expand the reach, allowing millions of people around the world, to participate en masse. The Jeebboo team decided to measure the impact of the above mentioned news regarding the 2 online platforms (edX & Coursera), thus, the following poll was created: M.I.T, Harvard and other Top US universities are offering coursesonline: what do you think?
Approximately 31% of the Jeebboo members found the idea exceptional (Great, since it will be interactive). Proponents of this opinion, stress the advantages of going online and watching world experts from 1st rated US universities teaching courses.
More specifically, the edX platform (an alliance between Universities of Harvard & M.I.T) and Coursera platform (a joint venture of Stanford and Princeton Universities) will offer online courses to students throughout the world, which can be studied by anyone, anywhere in the world, with no admission requirements at all, and most importantly: free of charge!
Giving people the option to participate in online lectures and courses of some of the most esteemed Top US universities for free, is indeed an innovative idea, since the internet contains the unparalleled capacity to instantly expand the reach, allowing millions of people around the world, to participate en masse. The Jeebboo team decided to measure the impact of the above mentioned news regarding the 2 online platforms (edX & Coursera), thus, the following poll was created: M.I.T, Harvard and other Top US universities are offering coursesonline: what do you think?
Approximately 31% of the Jeebboo members found the idea exceptional (Great, since it will be interactive). Proponents of this opinion, stress the advantages of going online and watching world experts from 1st rated US universities teaching courses.
Indeed, the Jeebboo members are right: these platforms have the ability to take e-learning to the next level: millions of people around the world would be able to overcome the barriers of distance and expensive University fees, and to participate in courses taught by the same academic personnel that teach in Top US universities, such as MIT or Stanford.However, about 49% of the Jeebboo members remain doubtful regarding the success of both e-learning platforms. More specific, 35,59% believe that “Depends on the cost”, while another 13,56% state that the whole project is “Ambivalent for success”. In other words, the data findings from the Jeebboo survey shows us that 1-out-of-2 Jeebboo members are skeptical towards the idea of e-learning.
Indeed, in order for this endeavor to succeed, some important project variables need to be sorted out, such as: the issue of interaction for example; if online students are only gonnawatch video tapped courses without the option of intervening and asking questions, chances are that they will be disappointed. Also, the issue of certification upon completion: the online courses are promised to be as rigorous as the actual classes, but successful online students will only gonna get a “certificate of participation” or “mastery” and not a degree.
Are they going to settle for that? Grading students is another major issue that needs to be resolved; how can you grade students? no professor in the world will be able to distinguish between students trying hard and those who aren’t, since grading does not only considers as variable only the performance of students in tests, but also their analytical thinking, participation in class and others. The Jeebboo members seem to be right on this one: indeed, the concept does have pitfalls.
Finally, 19,77% rejected the notion of e-learning, stating that “I prefer the traditional model”. Supporters of this option, value actual class participation and interaction. They’re also right: it’s very difficult to replicate the collaborative learning procedure that takes place in an actual classroom where students puzzle through problems together, or discuss conflicting ideas and theories in search of the truth.
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