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edX: Harvard and MIT form new online school
Xwords59
128 replies36 threads Junior Member
23 replies
Post edited by Xwords59 on
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Replies to: edX: Harvard and MIT form new online school
Metro - Top US colleges to offer free classes on the Web
https://oli.web.cmu.edu/openlearning/
It remains to be seen how these types of programs will integrate with the in-person offerings of elite schools. At some point, will you be able to earn a Harvard degree entirely online? How would the online experience have to be structured to make it as meaningful as the classroom experience? (Though I guess I've had a lot of classroom experiences that were far from amazing.)
Where's the pricing sweet spot? It would have to be cheaper than the cost of doing the coursework in person, but presumably would still require significant cost for faculty/student interaction, technology, etc.
I am not quite sure what MITx intends to achieve that OCW Scholar isn't already doing, save for "credentials". How will that be useful? I don't know. It sure as hell won't replace a degree from MIT or Harvard though. At least, not any time soon. An interesting question is "How do you convince people to pay 50k per year for an education?" and an even more interesting one is "How do you convince people to pay 50k per year for an education through the internet?". The medium changes everything. A lot of going to either college, in my opinion at least, has to do with the people one has the opportunity to meet and the things one has the chance to do there.
Now that I think of it, getting credentials for a course or two might come in handy for people who are already in the working force. Some people go get part-time MBAs (some MBAs are actually taught in 2-3 different schools - can't remember which ones but they exist!), so why not just take a few courses to go up the ladder or tick some arbitrary box that HR or whoever requires be ticked? (by that I mean that the content can be learned without need of the credentials might serve as proof)
Less than a degree, for sure, but more credible than "I took these free courses online..."
I wonder what kind of impact this will have on college applicants. Already we're seeing students taking courses from ArtofProblemSolving or Stanford's Online High School (which, as a side note, looks pretty good), perhaps this is next in line, seeing that it's probably cheaper than paying for actual credit for an online course with the college.
Now, besides counting towards a degree, what else is "college credit" good for? We've agreed that edX is more likely to be looked at favourably from an employer's perspective but what about from that of a college, looking at the application of a student? My view - note that I am only applying to college this year myself and I have not step foot inside an admissions' office - is that performing well on edX courses will be regarded on the same ground as taking a class from a college and while such a course won't grant an exemption, one may perhaps be allowed to take a placement test of some sort.
Overall, it looks like a good thing but I'm not certain if it merits all the publicity it has been getting, seeing as this is only a simple modification of a previously established "program" (for lack of a better word).
It's open for everyone. Currently, there is an electrical engineering course available from MIT but it will require having math up to differential equations.
mitx.mit.edu, ocw.mit.edu
The latter website has access to more complete courses, however, credit is not awarded for them.
It's not very hard to make a Google search, you know?
The only difference is that Udacity is much more computer science or artifical intelligence-driven, so it does not offer any humanities or social science courses.
oh yes, my vote is for Hermit! haha
There is substantial differences between OCW and EdX. EdX, in addition of providing the educational contents for free online, will implement a new system of qualification. Not based on academic degrees but on specific courses certification. The way courses are accessed online will also be different with interactive quizzes and integrated materials. So, the whole delivery platform will be different.
from the MIT web site, regarding MITx, the predecessor to EdX
This seems to indicate that in future versions, the actual certification, which could be verifiable and possibly peformed ina controlled testing center would add signficant value to the course.
Another main benefit not available with OCW, which became clear during the first course offered by MIT to over 60,000 students, is collaborative learning. Students can work interactively to solve problem sets and discuss the material. They may also be able to interact with faculty.