Imagine this:
A high-school class - lectures are via online videos taken at home; practice exercises are online, done at the student's own pace and the results can be tracked by the student/parent/teacher; "homework" is done in class, with the help of teacher/peers
helping - a more humanized, social classroom, where everyone learns, interacts, and gets a better shot at the things they love to create - write software, paint a picture, compose music...
helping - a more humanized, social classroom, where everyone learns, interacts, and gets a better shot at the things they love to create - write software, paint a picture, compose music...
This is not science fiction. Its already happening in a big way. Sal Khan, founder of Khanacademy.org, has 2200, ten-minute Youtube videos covering everything from Math - pre- algebra all the way to vector calculus, to Science to Finance (comparable to a top B-School lecture). Also, for many people, total control over the pace of learning helps you you internalize stuff faster.
The best part is - its free. And, not only is this building social capital in a huge way (has a million views a month), it has the potential to turn the traditional classroom form of education on its head!! And it turns out there are some teachers using it right now.
Transfer this whole idea to say, a remote village in India or sub-Saharan Africa - with a common computer for 10 students. These students can educate themselves at their own pace and have access to high levels of quality-education. I foresee accelerated benefits to remote communities, connected to the internet.
My view is - the nature of one's thinking and actions, depends on one's view of the world - defined by the kind of information and knowledge one can lay hands on. Further to that, better information would have a) less sound bytes b) balanced opinions and c) insight i.e. connecting the dots.
My view is - the nature of one's thinking and actions, depends on one's view of the world - defined by the kind of information and knowledge one can lay hands on. Further to that, better information would have a) less sound bytes b) balanced opinions and c) insight i.e. connecting the dots.
Online education complemented with the traditional class room, can become a huge leveler in learning. It has the potential to break down the traditional power dynamics of teacher vs. student in a class room and potentially, become a tool for social change. The glaring question is - will enough people (many fearful) use it for its merits?
PS: A few other good sources of high-quality, evidence-based, educational material using video:
No comments:
Post a Comment