Comments on: Online Education Do’s and Don’ts

By: Lord

Lord — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 00:24:12 +0000

Linear forms like audio/video can make random access more difficult which is why breaking it into small portions complete with introductions and conclusions can be helpful. Text can be better at this for that reason though attention demanding.

By: Scott Gustafson

Scott Gustafson — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 22:04:40 +0000

The interaction component is the ongoing expensive part of online education. It is why a number of colleges have figured out that putting courses online doesn’t save you a lot of money.

To really scale things up, the interaction component either has to be dropped or picked up exclusively by the students.

By: Andrew'

Andrew' — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 19:02:15 +0000

The course logistics deals with the signaling value to the student and the monetization strategy of the teacher. Presumably someone with your “use case” needs actual knowledge, maybe even to complete assignments for courses offered elsewhere.

By: Jack PQ

Jack PQ — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 17:58:58 +0000

What about student-instructor interaction? A course is more than just course materials (videos, books, lecture notes, exercises). There is also an interaction component to learning.

I’m concerned that this distinction appears to be disappearing. But I also understand that interaction is costly, not scalable, and therefore probably doomed, at least in its old-world format. This could be replaced by tutors, who are not the course designers/instructors.

By: Thales

Thales — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 16:34:19 +0000

“In fact, if you ever encounter me giving a live event, you will find the prepared presentation disappointing and the Q&A to be the best part.”

Same here. Whenever I prep a presentation, I write the script to be about 1/3rd the allotted time to save the remaining 2/3rd for Q&A because a) there will be questions and b) most fun part.

By: Urstoff

Urstoff — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 14:55:31 +0000

Precisely because the 16-week course is an artificial construct that has nothing to do with learning, I am one of those contributors to Coursera’s high drop-out rate. I enroll in lots of courses just to have access to the content with no intention of following along during the 16 weeks.

By: Andrew'

Andrew' — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 09:56:45 +0000

How ’bout a modified paragraph structure. The script which you say verbatim is the bullet point in sentence form at the head and a rephrase repeating of the point for the emphatic button. The middle supporting points can be more improvisational.

By: MichaelG

MichaelG — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 02:02:44 +0000

It’s one thing to teach a class year after year and not have the best presentation skills. The university can’t afford to have actors deliver your carefully written talk.

But if you are preparing a video course that will be viewed thousands of times, then yes, do it professionally. If you don’t have a smooth delivery, hire someone who does.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 21:30:03 +0000

One possibility that might thread the needle for you is a multiple-take and/or iterative approach.

Record 3-5 ‘takes’ of the same module, then pick the best. Or, listen to each take after recording it, and decide if it’s up to spec. If not, re-do it until it’s satisfactory. The process accomplishes much of what a prepared script will do, does it more intuitively, and probably still takes less time than writing a prepared script

By: Floccina

Floccina — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 18:57:15 +0000

I think it is important to NOT wing it because people often use imprecise or unclear language that leave students with less that maximized understanding. I do not think that you need to read the script but in the act of writing it think about each word.