In “A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice”, The author mentions that so-called “online learning” is a specific thing; it is a single approach to any education on the Internet. What we call online courses are most talked about in terms of access, but access can also be closed or open. What is closed is the same as traditional education is that the on-site courses are no longer seen as a traditional form of higher education. Open means that anyone who has the technical tools and wants to learn can come and take it. The MOOC model was created in 2008 by Dave Cormier. MOOCS is a massive open course that allows participants to take advantage of these courses to earn credits because they are usually free. I think this model is great in that it allows people from all walks of life in addition to students to join in and share different perspectives. Another benefit is that all interactions and activities are conducted via the Internet., but there are those who think this may create a stratified education system that provides onsite education for the privileged. But it does also lose some of the benefits of live teaching compared to traditional courses, such as seeing students in real time, having visual cues such as eye contact and body language. Online learning has become a regular and accepted way by now, but is there any way that online learning can make up for the benefits of offline teaching?
In ” Openness and education: a beginner’s guide”, In the article, the authors mention their research together to try to map open educational spaces. They have selected twenty key articles from the web and have included relevant data tables and references below. The ideas mentioned by the authors in the article have been brought back to the forefront by the renewed focus on Mooc, bringing the idea of openness in education to the forefront. The relationship between openness and education has been conceptualized decades ago. Open Education represents a field of study. People come from all over the world and may learn together across different disciplines and perspectives. I think open education is a trend for the future. I think if I were a teacher of an open course, I would divide all my students into tasks in the class. For example, put some common interests in a group and let them work together on a related topic. This would be a great way to increase productivity.
| Major, C. H. (2015). Teaching Online – A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=3318874 (pp. 76-108)
Jordan, K. & Weller, M. (2017). Openness and Education: A beginners’ guide. Global OER Graduate Network. |
Mengqi Zhang
hello Minrui Han，
Moocs are an excellent course model, but you seem to be missing one point. Not all students who attend classes receive credit, and students still have to pay tuition if they want to earn credit. As you mentioned, compared with offline courses, there is less eye contact, body language and other things that can improve the interaction between professors and students in online courses. I really want to know if there is a good way to solve this problem.
minruihan
Hi Moky，
I appreciate you pointing out the missed point to me. I then went back and read the article and it does say that if a student wants to get credit they still have to pay tuition. Then there is the fact that in this epidemic we do experience a lack of interaction with the instructor in online courses.
zitongzhao
Hi minrui,
Although offline courses and online courses are both ways of teaching, the teaching effects obtained by different ways are vastly different. Teachers can communicate with students face to face in offline courses. However, in online courses, students may not want to communicate with the teacher in time. However, tuition fees for offline and online courses are paid in very different ways.
leihan
Hi, Minrui
I agree that it’s good for people from all walks of life to join and share different perspectives, which is more effective at helping students see the perspectives that different people are making from different perspectives. The convenience of online courses we can not deny, we can learn new knowledge without leaving home, we can also communicate with more people to learn knowledge more conveniently, with the popularity of online courses, I think students’ self-discipline ability to digest the knowledge learned will improve a lot. I also agree that having students in different groups based on their interests is a great way to effectively improve learning efficiency.
The best
Lei.
minruihan
Hi Lei Han,
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I also agree with you that with this epidemic pandemic online classes are becoming more and more popular. We really can’t deny the convenience of online classes, they allow us to learn from anywhere in the world all the time. I also think that there is a growing trend of online classes.
rbanow
Thanks for the post, Minruihan! I appreciated that you closed with an explanation of how you would approach an open course. As you may know, a difficulty with open courses is retaining students until the end because there is no cost associated with enrolling. Do you think your approach would help with that.
Also, going back to your question: “Online learning has become a regular and accepted way by now, but is there any way that online learning can make up for the benefits of offline teaching?”. Most of my undergrad was face-to-face, but almost all of my graduate courses were online. In my view, I wonder if offline learning can make up for the benefits of online learning? Online learning has been so much better for me, as I am fairly introverted and I like to be able to take time to provide answers and respond. To me, that outweighs any benefits of face-to-face courses. I also really appreciate not being tied down to a specific schedule (e.g., sit in a classroom from 1-2pm). What do you see as the benefits of offline teaching?
yilinwang
Hi Minrui Han,
I totally agree with your sharing. The MOOCs course model provides a platform for many students who do not have a learning platform, and also provides convenience for students in school. It provides opportunities for more and more people who want to learn knowledge, and paid courses also allows students who want to learning knowledge deeply. Although online education doesn’t have visual cues like eye contact and body language unlike in-person teaching, online education platforms are constantly improving with more features to help professors check what students are learning.
hbramxj
Hi Minrui,
I agree that MOOCs create a huge convenience for people who are interested in those studies but have no opportunity to go to university to learn. MOOCs are friendly to people from all fields, creating a diverse online environment that is very good. because if there have a group project, you can learn more than what you learn from the textbook.
Julie