Udacity: Solve Real World Problems with Joern Loviscach

Udacity: Solve Real World Problems with Joern Loviscach: On September 3, 2012 Udacity is proud to release Joern Laviscach's new course Making Math Matter: Differential Equations in Action , as we...

When people don't understand some things about Education Online

A person took a class at Udacity just to try to confirm something very strange, here is the link and my answer:

http://ow.ly/cWtIg

David, you decided to become a professor because its employment projections. Have you ever wonder if those are correct? Do you know how they are made? If you know statistics you could be very aware of their validity, take a course at Udacity and compare them, there is nothing scarier than find out that you put your future in the wrong place.

Only 10 institutions delivering higher education in the whole world are an astounding result of human effort, and the advance of technology. You have seen in your History class that jobs evolve as technology does, so there is an amazing job for you where you can express your talents in the future.

You took CS101. So where is your project? Did you build a Search Engine, because that was the purpose, if not, your class is there for you to retake it, revisited and check the forums to see the new comments, the new ideas, the creativity at work.

What do you mean by cheating? I have seen young people very uncomfortable because they can break the traditional system and cheat blatantly and they feel that there is no confidence if they can break the rules, for them the system is weak. Change the parameters and you don’t need to cheat, you need to learn and have solid knowledge to apply it and create!

Do you want to shine? Just do it and show it to the world! How? Check the Social Networks class it is the key to reach your audiences, where? At Udacity.

Do you know that your resume nowadays is read by machines that look in words to be filtered? The letter of recommendations are done or read by the idiosyncrasy of one person at a specific moment which can be not to your advantage, and maybe nobody is going to read.

Define weird people? Have you seen the Olympics? What kind of humans are you going to named weird? The tallest, the strongest, the tiny? Have you gone to the cirque? Define weird? The flexible ones? Have you been at Google? Apple? Wall mart? Have you seen a movie? Define weird. It is just your perception of reality, and your scary thoughts that make you write in a very weird way. The tie and the suit is a very old fashion, and it is portrayed in some music bands as something funny that once existed. Which one is your favorite outfit? Imaging that you can wear it every time you want, it is not a bad idea. It is being good with yourself and grants you to free your unique personality.

Computers can grade learning and that is what we are talking about. Learning concepts that give you the tools to do things, any. Have you tried to learn a language online? You learn with a machine, one of the best things to shine with your new skill is if people read your written work. Not if it’s graded.

Do you have the ability to make money? The amount of money you have is a reflection of your abilities and how you portrayed them to the world. How do you know Udacity is combating cheating? You are assuming that. The way we learn, the way we educate is a different concept at Udacity, the advantages of knowledge are very powerful, for example when you share it, you don’t lose it, you spread it. This is not war; we don’t need to be aware. We need to understand, and learn. We need to evolve and have a mankind more capable to understand themselves.

Drop outs in online classes

The Drop-outs!!!

The great argument, the huge worry, the reason why.... I don't think so... In other forums my attention has been redirected to some talks about drop outs in online classes... So, here are some thoughts....

Online courses have had high rates of drop-out no matter if they pay or not for them, or any other circumstance, occurrence. Natural disaster, you name it... It is hard. You are not in contact with humans. You see people in the past. They are not with you. We are fragile; our human nature needs to exercise all their senses to communicate, and to feel the entire experience of learning. I have hearing some comments about persons thinking that the computer voice is actually a real person talking to them when they learn a language and having feelings for the computer voice. Yes, it is deceptive if you are looking for human contact. To isolate your brain and accept knowledge in its pure form takes time and self training, if you are used to read, study, or listen to audio books by yourself it is easier. It is like training people to drive cars for the first time, it took time, and a whole support system to develop humanity capable of detached themselves from the technologies before the cars. The answer you know it. It is going to take time and the ability with real inventiveness to move entire societies to this new way of learning. That is why we need a robot to follow the learning experience of every single student, and to catch up with our natural detachment from the learning machine. The technology is there. Udacity is putting it together. Have you noticed it? It is all around you, the messages, the forums, the announcements, the meet ups, the challenges. I know there is people that has been evaluating this in other ways than the expected, and that is because values, and culture differs from the main idea of Udacity, and also because  it is an experiment with incredible results right now that needs to be adjusted as it evolves. I have seen other online things going on, and clearly for me they have not  what Udacity has, but that is another theme to talk about.

Being Grumpy…

Being grumpy when your environment is changing and your routines are challenged is normal; everybody wants a peaceful invariant set of rules, traditions to follow, in person reassurance. I agree with you, sometimes when you sign to an online course seems really impersonal. Where am I? How come a person is just saying something without looking at me, at my reactions? So impersonal, but nowadays we need to do things in a very impersonal way, like buying clothes online… There is nobody telling you, wow! You look fantastic, but then you interact with people, you know that your online buying has an effect. It is the same with education; you know the effect of your learning, and knowledge, when you take decisions, when you get a job, when you create!
Are you worried about the drop-out rates? I encourage you to take a statistics class at Udacity, so you can measure, correlate, and have an ample perspective of a normal phenomenon.
Start with an experiment is the way science has advanced. So what is wrong with the word experiment? The freedom to stay in a class or to leave is linked to the survival state of a person, we have known of people struggling war, pregnancies, isolation, and many other extreme circumstances, while taking an online class that makes entirely successful the idea that free online education is there for humanity, it gives hope and confidence… It is for you at any time, and whenever you can.
What is the purpose of learning? Have you accomplished your dream job? Do you think that you need to improve your intellectual acumen? There are many fast ways to know if a person is learning, like quizzes, and so on. At the end of each course in Udacity and in Coursera you fill a questionnaire. So they are asking, they know your score, and maybe they know how you are learning. And that is personal, very personal. Change is scary but Nature changes. Don’t worry and embrace the change, at no charge
And BTW there are specific causes for drop outs in traditional education institutions, but that is another theme to give it a thought some other time.

Social Networks. Why am I studying that?

Social Networks. Why am I studying that?

Why am I studying Statistics?

Why am I studying Statistics?

The Challenge still ON!!!!!! You are invited!!!

Julian Milosavljevic

Aug 3, 2012 - Public

Team Jusix is going into the last weeks of the #Udacity Highschool Challenge and right now we're the 19th biggest team in the world! Also now we're looking for motivated and smart new members of all ages who want to join us. Just enter this link to join: http://www.udacity.com/hschallenge/team/join/agpzfnVkYWNpdHl1cgwLEgRVc2VyGK_daww
For more information visit http://www.udacity.com/hschallenge/
Check also out our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/332196263522707/
Have a nice time and share the post ;)

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