There are self-organizing groups popping up around MOOCs. MeetUp is great for
facilitating things like that. Here's one example (in the Washington, DC area):
Data Everywhere (http://www.meetup.com/Data-Everywhere/?gj=ej1b&a=wg2.3_rdmr)
"This is a group for anyone interested in learning anything and everything
about Data Science, Analytics, Big Data, Data mining, Predictive Analytics and
Statistics. There are no presentations and pizza. Just learning and doing. We
will follow Data Science/Analytics related courses offered on Coursera as a
group and have regular meetups as the course progresses. Looking for people who
are serious about hand on learning. Come out and join us!!!!"
Admittedly, that group is for adults interested in doing self-directed learning
toward a subject that most likely has applicability to their livelihoods. The
situation may be different for students in HS and college who don't have that
context yet, and, especially in HS, may have had much of the joy of learning
sucked out of them...
Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" is what came to mind for me when reading
the last paragraph of the Washington Post article below, although I haven't
read Clockwork Orange and don't have much desire to given how disturbing the
movie is. Diamond Age includes a nanotechnology instruction book for the main
character (a young girl) which, if my vague memory is correct, behaved much
like the description in that paragraph.
Brent
________________________________
From: Steve Smith <sasm...@swcp.com>
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2013 12:51 AM
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] A Clockwork MOOC.
Or following the CO riff, the student groups could form in the same way street
gangs do... Sharks v Jets to put an almost sweet face on it compared to
Bloods/Cryps or whatever the wankers in CO were? The smartest (instead of the
toughest) would be a natural leader with some smart(ish) lieutenants helping
smartypants manage the lesser smarties... providing focus and loyalty and
interest. Would a diploma (in the form of a neck tattoo?) from the Bloods have
more street Cred than if from the Cryps? I'm feeling a Neil Stephenson novel
coming on.
My daughters partner is a former instructor at TVI who moved to
teaching HS in ABQ and then Portland, who finally moved to
tutoring. I will ask him if he thinks he (or others like him...
freelance tutors) could restructure their work around MOOCs?
Currently his students are mostly HS but some University in
conventional courses... but perhaps some of the HS students (often
either advanced or with special needs around focus/attention) he
tutors might want to take on college level work via MOOCs. He
tutors only physics and math right now but is often asked to do
Chemistry and other things which he is competent in but not up to
speed to actually tutor effectively. He could probably handle a
wider range in the context of a MOOC where he could "study ahead"
himself and be prepared before the students got to material.
I think the one thing he misses about TVI and HS teaching is the
group experience (though he doesn't miss baby-sitting teens and
running interference with interfering parents).
- Steve
What's missing is the matchmaking service to allow potential MOOC students to
find compatible fellow students for clustering together into collegia. Which
could happen in inner city squats, as long as there is some kind of coffee shop
in the neighborhood. More serious groups of students would probably try to
find a suitable tutor or two for their proposed course of study, again a
missing matchmaking service, or perhaps the tutors are acting as the student
matchmakers. Existing campuses are free to compete as matchmakers, squats, or
tutors, but most of them gave up competing to serve students a long time ago,
choosing a different path through the woods instead.
>
>
>-- rec --
>
>
>
>On Fri, Mar 29, 2013 at 9:53 PM, Steve Smith <sasm...@swcp.com> wrote:
>
>Kubricks CO was disturbing when I first saw it at 14 (much too young, despite
>having read Burgess' novel already) and easier to watch but still very
>disturbing even as a mature adult.
>>
>>I have to admit that Curt's observation matched my own
feeling that a great deal of the discussion around MOOCs
gave me eerie premonitions of dystopian times.
>>
>>I wonder if the lessons offered by CO are not being
ignored as we plow forward, creating more ways for our
youth to be disaffected, bored, confused and our
establishment even *more* incompetent but adamant (no
child left behind?).
>>
>>I had a mere handful of teachers/professors I can give
more than mediocre marks to and a few who taught me the
most as hugely bad examples. I'm not sure I would have
*any* if I had gotten my formal education through
MOOCs...
>>
>>I can give a lot more credit to mentors (including
nominal peers) but those were more self-selected. I
don't know if we have any *early career* educators, but
I'd imagine that the *good* ones would find this trend
disturbing... mainly because it separates you from the
students...
>>
>>Both of my daughters considered teaching at one point or
another and abandoned the idea after spending a little
time in rudimentary experiences... primarily because
they found the students undermotivated and the parents
too often more harm than help. MOOCs may support those
somewhere out on the Autism spectrum, but for many, the
only way they will learn is in a social context with
both competition and support from their peers. I don't
know how to replace that in a MOOC context.
>>
>>I do suppose that a few teaching assistants/mentors
coupled with the MOOCs and some *classroom*
discussion/troubleshooting/brainstorming/problem-solving
time might do well?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>One of mine, however.
>>>
>>>
>>>On Fri, Mar 29, 2013 at 8:01 PM, Curt McNamara <curt...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>Reminds me of A Clockwork Orange (*not* my favorite movie).
>>>>
>>>> Curt
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>On Fri, Mar 29, 2013 at 7:34 PM, Jack Stafurik <jstafu...@earthlink.net>
>>>>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Here is a link to a Washington Post article on mooc:
>>>>>
>>>>>http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/in-education-innovatio
>>>>>n-moocs-are-only-the-beginning/2013/03/29/88d77ae6-97ef-11e2-814b-063623d80a
>>>>>60_story.html?wpisrc=nl_tech
>>>>>
>>>>>At friam this morning we talked about
whether this approach could be used to
>>>>>develop a "best" teaching approach. The
last three paragraphs of this
>>>>>article gave an interesting perspective on
how this can be done. It's copied
>>>>>below:
>>>>>
>>>>>"But is there a method of detecting
whether a student has learned anything?
>>>>>Quizzes and tests are imperfect measures.
Enter, sensor-based technology,
>>>>>which could detect the interest, learning,
and emotion of the student.
>>>>>
>>>>>For example, NeuroSky markets a headset
called MindWave that the company
>>>>>says measures brainwave signals and
transmits them via Bluetooth to a mobile
>>>>>device. The $99 device, according to the
company, detects the attention
>>>>>level of students as they learn
mathematics, science, or any other
>>>>>pattern-recognition disciplines. Affectiva
is developing a biosensor
>>>>>bracelet called Q Sensor to measure
electrodermal activity, which changes
>>>>>based on one's emotional state. Ideally,
the sensor would detect when a
>>>>>student is anxious, bored or excited.
>>>>>
>>>>>Now, imagine the digital tutor of the
future. If a child likes reading
>>>>>books, it teaches mathematics and science
in a traditional way. If that
>>>>>doesn't work, the tutor tries videos. If
that's too boring, it switches to
>>>>>games or puzzles. The digital tutor takes
the student into holographic
>>>>>simulations to teach history, culture, and
geography. It teaches art and
>>>>>music through collaboration. The tutor,
via sensor data, knows what the
>>>>>child has learned and the time of day when
he or she learns the most. It
>>>>>asks experts from all around the world the
questions it can't answer. It
>>>>>tells the parents how the child is doing
whenever they want to know. It
>>>>>becomes the child's trusted guide - a
teacher tailor-made to fit them."
>>>>>
>>>>>This could probably be adapted to
determine if a student is cheating on a
>>>>>test!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>============================================================
>>>>>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>>>>Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St.
John's College
>>>>>to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>============================================================
>>>>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>>>Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>>>to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
--
>>>
>>>Doug Roberts
>>>d...@parrot-farm.net
>>>http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins
>>>
>>>505-455-7333 - Office
>>>505-672-8213 - Mobile
>>>
>>>
>>>============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>
>>============================================================
>>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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>>
>
>
>
>============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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