Group items tagged Thrun - HGSET561

The King of MOOCs Abdicates the Throne - 3 views

www.slate.com/...cessful_for_most_students.html

MOOC education technology learning educational_technology online

shared by Harley Chang on 21 Nov 13 - No Cached

Harley Chang on 21 Nov 13

Sebastian Thrun, CEO of Udacity, has openly admitted that his company's MOOC courses are a lousy replacement for actual university class and instead will be taking his company to focus more on corporate training. I personally will reserve further judgement until after I finish the readings for next week.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Sebastian Thrun, CEO of Udacity, has openly admitted that his company's MOOC courses are a lousy replacement for actual university class and instead will be taking his company to focus more on corporate training. I personally will reserve further judgement until after I finish the readings for next week.</div>

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Grif Peterson on 21 Nov 13

I posted this article in G+ a day or two ago. Some of the better commentary surrounding this article below. Tressie McMillan Cottom: "Thrun says it wasn't a failure. It was a lesson. But for the students who invested time and tuition in an experiment foisted on them by the of stewards public highered trusts, failure is a lesson they didn't need." Rebecca Schuman: "Thrun blames neither the corporatization of the university nor the MOOC's use of unqualified "student mentors" in assessment. Instead, he blames the students themselves for being so poor." Stephen Downes: "I think that what amuses me most about the reaction to the Thrun story is the glowing descriptions of him have only intensified. "The King of MOOCs." "The Genius Godfather of MOOCs." Really now. As I and the many other people working toward the same end have pointed out repeatedly, the signal change in MOOCs is openess, not whatever it was (hubris? VC money?) that Thrun brought to the table. Rebecca Schuman claims this is a victory for "the tiny, for-credit, in-person seminar." It's not that, no more than the Titanic disaster was a victory for wind-powered passenger transportation."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">I posted this article in G+ a day or two ago. Some of the better commentary surrounding this article below. Tressie McMillan Cottom: "Thrun says it wasn't a failure. It was a lesson. But for the students who invested time and tuition in an experiment foisted on them by the of stewards public highered trusts, failure is a lesson they didn't need." Rebecca Schuman: "Thrun blames neither the corporatization of the university nor the MOOC's use of unqualified "student mentors" in assessment. Instead, he blames the students themselves for being so poor." Stephen Downes: "I think that what amuses me most about the reaction to the Thrun story is the glowing descriptions of him have only intensified. "The King of MOOCs." "The Genius Godfather of MOOCs." Really now. As I and the many other people working toward the same end have pointed out repeatedly, the signal change in MOOCs is openess, not whatever it was (hubris? VC money?) that Thrun brought to the table. Rebecca Schuman claims this is a victory for "the tiny, for-credit, in-person seminar." It's not that, no more than the Titanic disaster was a victory for wind-powered passenger transportation."</div>

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Molly Wasser on 29 Nov 13

Grif - where did the Stephen Downes quote come from ? I read the Rebecca Schuman article and don't really agree with her. To expand on the Schuman quote you posted - it's really interesting how she says the massive lecture format doesn't work but then provides two examples of massive technology that do work - texting and World of Warcraft. This relates directly to some of what we talked about earlier this semester. I don't think it's the 'massive,' as Schuman implies, that causes the failure of a MOOC. It's part of the design. Once the design is better and more engaging, then MOOCs may find that they have higher retention rates. Schuman: Successful education needs personal interaction and accountability, period. This is, in fact, the same reason students feel annoyed, alienated, and anonymous in large lecture halls and thus justified in sexting and playing World of Warcraft during class-and why the answer is not the MOOC, but the tiny, for-credit, in-person seminar that has neither a sexy acronym nor a potential for huge corporate partnerships.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Grif - where did the Stephen Downes quote come from ? I read the Rebecca Schuman article and don't really agree with her. To expand on the Schuman quote you posted - it's really interesting how she says the massive lecture format doesn't work but then provides two examples of massive technology that do work - texting and World of Warcraft. This relates directly to some of what we talked about earlier this semester. I don't think it's the 'massive,' as Schuman implies, that causes the failure of a MOOC. It's part of the design. Once the design is better and more engaging, then MOOCs may find that they have higher retention rates. Schuman: Successful education needs personal interaction and accountability, period. This is, in fact, the same reason students feel annoyed, alienated, and anonymous in large lecture halls and thus justified in sexting and playing World of Warcraft during class-and why the answer is not the MOOC, but the tiny, for-credit, in-person seminar that has neither a sexy acronym nor a potential for huge corporate partnerships.</div>

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Grif Peterson on 09 Dec 13

The Downes quote was from OLDaily, which is a daily listserve of his that I subscribe too. I think the difference between texting/WoW and MOOCs is that, while both have many many users, the former two have means in which those groups are disaggregated into smaller units that are largely responsible for the UX/individual growth that goes on. I agree with you that massive is not necessarily the failure, in fact, I think it's the best thing they have going for them. However, until the design can leverage meaningful collaboration, like WoW and texting, the massive will remain a burden.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">The Downes quote was from OLDaily, which is a daily listserve of his that I subscribe too. I think the difference between texting/WoW and MOOCs is that, while both have many many users, the former two have means in which those groups are disaggregated into smaller units that are largely responsible for the UX/individual growth that goes on. I agree with you that massive is not necessarily the failure, in fact, I think it's the best thing they have going for them. However, until the design can leverage meaningful collaboration, like WoW and texting, the massive will remain a burden.</div>

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After Setbacks, Online Courses Are Rethought - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ine-courses-are-rethought.html

MOOC Education learning educational_technology online

shared by Mirza Ramic on 11 Dec 13 - No Cached

Mirza Ramic on 11 Dec 13

""I care about education for everyone, not just the elite," he [Sebastian Thrun of Udacity] said in an interview. "We want to bring high-quality education to everyone, and set up everyone for success. My commitment is unchanged."" Let's hope so...

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">""I care about education for everyone, not just the elite," he [Sebastian Thrun of Udacity] said in an interview. "We want to bring high-quality education to everyone, and set up everyone for success. My commitment is unchanged."" Let's hope so...</div>

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Udacity and Khan Academy ed-tech CEOs call for disruption in higher-ed - 2 views

venturebeat.com/...ed-tech-disrupt

t561 DisruptSF khan academy Udacity Joel Klein salman Sebastian Thrun technology education

shared by Jeffrey Siegel on 11 Sep 12 - No Cached

Jeffrey Siegel on 11 Sep 12

"We need high-quality education for the fraction of the cost and to give anyone a chance to learn throughout their lifetime."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"We need high-quality education for the fraction of the cost and to give anyone a chance to learn throughout their lifetime."</div>

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Moocs are no magic bullet for educating Americans - FT.com - 0 views

www.ft.com/...99-11e3-9250-00144feabdc0.html

Education MOOC educational_technology t561 technology learning online

shared by Trung Tran on 24 Nov 13 - No Cached

Trung Tran on 24 Nov 13

Optimists have scoured the dictionary for superlatives to describe the future of internet education. But the cult of the Mooc - massive online open courses - took a blow last week when one of its leading Silicon Valley pioneers, Sebastian Thrun,

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Optimists have scoured the dictionary for superlatives to describe the future of internet education. But the cult of the Mooc - massive online open courses - took a blow last week when one of its leading Silicon Valley pioneers, Sebastian Thrun,</div>

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The King of MOOCs Abdicates the Throne - 3 views

After Setbacks, Online Courses Are Rethought - NYTimes.com - 0 views

Udacity and Khan Academy ed-tech CEOs call for disruption in higher-ed - 2 views

Moocs are no magic bullet for educating Americans - FT.com - 0 views

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