A Happy Experience, with Tremendous Empowerment for Their Students and Completely Adorable by All?

    
     Universities, centers of knowledge have been created many years ago. They have for missions to spread, among other virtues, wisdom and true in their communities. There have been many philanthropists that are or were sharing their wealth to create these fascinating places. All of them have rules, timelines, and costs. Some of them are created by national systems and there is no tuition involved, or is just symbolic.

  The poor, the isolated, and the minorities have to struggle with all the deficiencies that their trades have, before they can join without stress the full experience of higher education. Some people can deal with a big amount of stress, others don’t and that has nothing to do with their wealth, gregarious personality, or if they are part of the general population, or normal people (statistically speaking). Nevertheless it helps to have enough money to have acquired a good basic education to pursue a higher one. To be connected to find out the easiest path with the best results, and to be part of the group to work together and enjoy the synergy of learning as part of a team.

   How to know if the course, courses you are taking are going to enrich in an effective way your career? Wow! For that, I have heard so many opinions; you almost can have a book of them. Just some of them are; it doesn’t matter what courses you take as long as you know, you have connections, you must be part of the people with influences so, go to institutions where the children of the top society are. Another opinion is; go where you know the institution has more successful and prestigious alumni and/or professors. Go where you can have personalized guidance and mentoring. Go where you can have the most diverse community, go where you are the opposite of your family values, go where you can afford it, go where moral and religion is first; go as far (or as close) as your parents are. Go where they value the people’s voice. Go where you have the most parties, best installations, best dorms etc, etc, etc… When you are there;

    as a student sometimes you get into the stressful facts of a) a great deal is expected of you and b) you have no control over whether you will perform well; according to Martin Seligman. And well, that is not nice.

  Oh no! What are all those aspects, why is not simply, what are the institutions of knowledge doing?

   Besides the campuses, and personal, they have a master plan for each career. They got into that plan with some key elements; the industry, the government, the professors, and students. They plan for the future, they analyze trends, market, necessities and the most probable scenario that can occur when people graduate.

   As you can see, it is a combination of facts that can be target with accuracy, if you know your data, and you have a good stochastic method to apply; the outcome will have a reasonable, hopeful outcome. We can use the term believe in many statements explaining why an institution decides something over many options. The truth is that there is the technology and mathematical methods to be more precise than ever if we can simulate with enough and correct numbers. The future can be known with a narrow clearance; to a scale so narrow that we can almost said that we are certain of a successful career. And that is why I totally know that the technology used in Udacity to choose the classes, the professors, the amount of time expending, and the grading system is the best. Just take the class of Artificial Intelligence with Sebastian Thrun.

    As a new way of learning, or new system, data is needed. It is not sprouted randomly, they have to collect enough information to create a model, which by this time, it is very optimistic to say but perfectly reasonable to think they do.

    So, Udacity is a center of knowledge, they have rules, timelines and costs. They have philanthropists, a mission, and a virtual campus that is composed by the forums, coffee breaks, hang outs, contests, and other beautiful and useful things, to interact with their community.

     Udacity have the collaboration of not only one university but several, and the industry has a vital presence. They have a verify certification which is a key factor to acknowledge the rigor and recognition of a learned skill.

    When you are a student, you are the product of an educational institution, one of the most stressful things for a mentor, teacher, professor, or educator is the idea that…” The ability of a student to do well in a class has something to do with their class”… a quote from the book Brain Rules by John Medina.

    To solve this anguish statement people go to the statistics and if they have, like at Udacity, a pass rate of 83% surpassing many of other classes in other campuses; it is when we can dance in the rain because we know, they conquered a storm. That is a huge achievement! As a student your concerns of performance are gone, and yes, a great deal was expected from you; you have sweated it and earned it; in a controlled, wonderful, and nice environment; with an assertive amount of stress. Because think of it, you know you did it, and you feel it in your brain, nothing can change that inner satisfaction, that helps to go on and on.

    So, who are the clients in a center of knowledge? Students, their families, communities, countries, and the world are. The students have the duality of being the product and the client, this paradox come from the bare nature of knowledge which is part of the unique trait of being humans and have fun learning and developing our cortex during our existence.

   Many of these thoughts have been evolving in me for many years, due to my experience as a professor of Industrial Engineering, and as an Educator and Tutor; I think this is the time to put them down as a response to a call by Sebastian Thrun for a public discussion about Udacity offerings, and the future of higher education. For the enrolling of many, we can see it as a happy experience, with tremendous empowerment for their students and completely adorable by all Udacian’s Communities.

What a CEO said... really!!!

The most interesting thing about being a CEO is that you can tell whatever and most people believed you, which sometimes it is not the best thing, like for example; the other day I read about how to be a CEO from a CEO…
One of the recommendations was to deliver bad news in a sandwich… that means
with layers of good comments and in the middle the bad news. So that
the person who is listening to the CEO does not understand the whole thing
until he gets out of your sight.
When the news are written, and everybody has received a letter from a CEO you can see the paragraphs, the first one is the good news, in the middle goes the worries, and at the end goes some kind of empathy message, or how things can change in time, or how uncertainty can be taken as hope.
In an interview, the mere mortals think about the mysterious savvy words the person said and kept analyzing for some time the secrets inside the CEO’s wisest words of the entire Universe.
I know some CEOs follow that advice, but there are others that cut all preambles and go straight to say the bad news from the beginning. Which one is best? I do not think that amazing people should follow recipes, sayings, formulas unless the person that is in front of them is not ready to digest the grandeur of the CEO and put the interview in a simple 3D approach. I think, it is the job of the CEO to get in the same tessitura of the listener. He needs to have knowledge of who is in front of him, otherwise why bother to even talked to him. Speak in his terms, in a universal understandable way. That means simple and with a neutral tone of voice. Aha!! The voice tone and the body language make the whole message. Sometimes it doesn't matter what the person is saying because the personality, the mood, the pose… can say a thousand words, and the way people emphasize the words can result in a completely different message. And that is very old school.
Almost everybody can catch emotions, attitudes, and even intentions. That is one of the reasons you can’t get personal, otherwise is a profound intrusion on the mind of the other person and it is completely disrespectful. A CEO doesn't know how he is going to interpret the words, and while there are no words everything can stay in oblivion for the sake and safe of both sides.
The blog I read is completely impersonal yet is infused with analogies that for some are going to be hilarious and for others exactly the opposite. I suppose he choose them because he wanted an impact, for me was the first. The only power of the person is that he is an almighty CEO and with that; all the power and money he posses give him credibility and a kind of immunity...
One of the most important things that a CEO has is information. It is like seeing the world from a helicopter while ordinary people is just looking from street level. The values, the views, the goals are totally different and especially the needs are in a different rank to be covered. While we are all humans and in a physical level we are the same, our brains give us ideas and claims of different order, and that is why social classes exist. The interesting part nowadays is that I knew about this CEO through the internet, that means that, like me, people is looking, analyzing, learning, comparing, contrasting and getting their own conclusions and with that, we can expect some mobility in the ancient way of societies and that is very interesting!! :D
Here is the link http://bhorowitz.com/2012/10/17/making-yourself-a-ceo/ I went to read the blog again and now it has a better format, and it is not as hilarious as it was the first time, good job! Now it is more serious, with more bullet points, and with activities to do and test. How fascinating! Thank you. :D

Answer to a blog designed to look for flaws, where there is no such thing...

Answer to a blog designed to look for flaws, where there is no such thing...

Read the link first, so you can followed the answer :D

The Angrymath blogger wrote about Udacity Statistics 101

 http://www.angrymath.com/2012/09/udacity-statistics-101.html

He wrote:“It feels like lack of planning…” That is a completely subjective approach, everybody can feel whatever. It is a particular emotion.

Sebastian’s weight… That is very personal; a woman generally speaking doesn’t use that example. A person can use it because it is very trivial for him, and the important part is the manipulation of the numbers; or also can used it because other data can be subjected to the rigorous scrutiny of the world.

The syllabus was done by a statistician engineer not by a statistician Angrymath… so, the language is correct because it was used in a very practical way. I can tell you beautiful and pretty, and means the same. The accuracy of the syllabus depends of the point of view of the user.

Terms and symbols…they were either written or said, so what is the problem? That is why is a video that you can repeat it, and also is for people that can go to any internet search engine and go deeply in anything, if not, you have the forums. That way the class was light and fun, I was not lost in definitions. I usually emphasized the difference between the symbols we use in samples, populations, or examples because it is very important in Quality research… when you are dealing with a computer software or program that is giving you the answer no matter how much data are you dealing with the terms start blending in the software or program so that is why it does not have that much importance, the answer, for practical purposes is going to be the same.

The words that the Angrymath blogger uses are religious, cardinal sin and unforgivable, legitimate good idea, and the phrase “beauty is the enemy of expression” are philosophically extreme and in Science or Math that does not count. The ways a person communicates it is entirely personal, and that is call style, if the phrases “Be amazed…” or “…if you don’t know the answer…” are perceived differently of what it is literally said, that is being subjective, and again it does not count for further speculation. I rather be challenged with an intuitive question than to just followed the lecture, and that approach is very good for learning.

In engineering we use many data from other sources, how deep we go into them it depends always in the practical approach we want to show, or is going to be useful… if an empirical rule needs to be established, then we can do another empirical one, called it in a very loose way “magical” and nobody believes that the ancient perception of the magic term is used.

The way Sebastian Thrun developed the formula for a normal curve it is actually one of the most practical, easy to understand ways I have seen without using complex math. It is entirely practical and useful for people interested in the use of a tool no how it was made.

To blink or not to blink? What does it matter if you are going to repeat the video…. “Thrun actually does finally explain the technique…” So, he did it!!! And that is his style, a very unique way of making the class interesting; you were supposed to be puzzled!!!

Final Exam Certification… well, Mr. Angrymath can give me his grade and who cares. If Sebastian Thrun gives me a grade, excuse me!!!!! OMG!!! One of the most intelligent persons in the whole planet. I am absolutely honored.

Hucksterism can be applied to Mr. Angrymath just because of his own nickname. Most people like to be motivated and confident and that was the purpose of the cheering. Other vocabulary is just not practical worldwide. It needs to be simple and people need to use the tools.

Udacity is improving and moving itself organically to maximize the learning of their students, so the suspicions of this blogger are totally unfounded.

The summary concludes in a total reverse of a new most rewarding attempt to share knowledge. It seems that some professors are really touched and shake by the new learning style. Flexibility, adaptation and relearning should be priorities instead of hopeless attacks. New technologies, reviews of old syllabus or specific approaches could be his new religion. 

Does free education pay? A conversation with Mary on MOOC business models.

People use education online in very different ways. Some use it entirely to learn, others as a platform to help them to have a better job. Others use online education just to mingle around trying to decide what to do. The ones that don’t like the idea at all and feel threaten by it and just go and look for flaws in the system. The moles, that are the intentional ones, and the ones that are just saying out loud whatever they please everywhere. Other users of online education are the owners and/or associates of other institutions that have been looking at massive learning as a menace to destroy their own training services business and the competition. Well, that is the market... How to convince them that this is an enormous effort that needs everybody involvement, participation and will? How to make them realize that is a win-win situation with prosperity and gain for everybody? Sometimes people see only one part of a situation instead of looking at the whole transformation of a system… How dare you to threat well established institutions? One thing that is totally favorable is that many excellent universities are having an online model; with the hope that they are going to be recognized as equal as the traditional certification of knowledge. The thing is that we cannot have a better world if we don’t have educated people. How can we have a critical mass of humanity going in the right direction, taking the right decisions, doing the correct activities and make money with it? It is already perfectly established that for the students is free or almost free. There is going to be a head-hunter situation and kind of an employment agency to have revenues. There are online shops with memorabilia with logos of the institutions for fans. There is going to be special contracts with firms that required special training. Also worldwide renowned universities that are participating are going to have agreements with other universities or branch out the online model in different continents. So, what else? There are online students that are using the online classes to get better grades in the institutions they are studying, so that goes underground. How about the persons that are going to continue their entrepreneurship and use the knowledge acquired for their solely benefit; that is another absolutely one side free benefit. How about countries where the black market is a mayor way of living and they are going to copy, use, translate, make profit of the knowledge that is shared. That is another way of not getting pay for the efforts and it can also destroy the good will of some people. I think negotiations, talks, agreements, tailored contracts, and advertisement need to be involved. I rather have in the side of ads of my Facebook full of things that I like and promoting permanently my online school than other institutions that are already there just annoying me. Or in all the other sites I participate. Why are people so reluctant to advertise? Like Pinterest, that is a site that could easily sell the pins… which is already happening but with many steps to follow and to search for. Ads can be very muted or not, I would like to choose from a set of different styles of adds of the brands that I like than to have imposed things that I don’t even care about. And that is a completely change of structure of how online marketing is imploding in the costumers instead of showing off and promote brands. I know there are some people doing that already and they get paid, because they need to write or do something that involves the promoted brand. I think it should be the option for everybody to choose what is going to be done with the ads that are in their sites without further compromise or not.

Other thing that it needs to be accurate is if a real living person is using the online services which can be corroborated with many tools, and it is happening right now.

 In a final thought I would like to share with you, that, the other day I was listening a TED talk about how other online educational institution is doing. The talk was informative, but at the end the way that people reacted was totally uniform in a matter of seconds which only you have that kind of reaction if people is going just to pledge adherence?! To move crowds, to be in tempo with the masses is a talent that needs to be cultivated by online educational institutions. To inform people, to send news, to prepare events is something that gives the character of any school, to feel the alma matter  can move mountains and make prosperous agreements.

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.