Importance of online learning platforms Nurzhan Bakibayev, Advisor
Agenda Distance Learning Asynchronous: MIT OCW, Khan Academy, Udemy Synchronous: MOOCs Blended Learning 2
Distance Learning Distance learning is a mode of delivering education and instruction, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional setting such as a classroom 1728 shorthand courses through mailing list 1996 first online course by Jones International University (Colorado, US) 3
Launched in October 2002 Videos recorded during class lectures 2,150 courses available online 125 million visitors Non-profit initiative But no quality feedback 4
Opportunity for self assessment Created by Salman Khan, MIT graduate 4,300 videos available online Non-profit organization Automated exercises Over 1 bln. problems answered Sponsored by Microsoft and Google 5
School educational reinvented (Salman Khan): Need for change in education model Summer school camps in California Time World s 100 Most Influential People: 2012 6
Marketplace for online learning Paid courses Anyone can become instructor Several million dollar income courses 7
Interactive Courses 8
Massive Open Online Course Synchronous vs Asynchronous online courses 9
Massive Open Online Course Success element: Community Synchronous learning Interactive user forums/communities P2P grading Study groups in 190 countries The median response time on Coursera 22 min. Machine Learning course by Peter Norvig 100,000 students 10
Coursera Map 2013 11
Coursera Learning Hubs Physical spaces with an access to the Internet to take an interactive Coursera course. All for free. 12
MOOC criticism Dramatic rate of dropout: 85-95% For example, Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach course, Duke University s First MOOC, Fall 2012: 12 725 students enrolled from 100+ countries 7 761 students watched at least one video 3 658 students took any quiz during the course 346 students attempted the final exam 313 students earned a certificate 13
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Reasons for dropout No prerequisites Most registered students are just auditing learners Some students register for fun Dr Kevin Devlin, Mathematician at Stanford University: applying the traditional metrics of higher education to MOOCs is entirely misleading. MOOCs are a very different kind of educational package, and they need different metrics -- metrics that we do not yet know how to construct. We need other metrics to measure MOOC s success 15
Introductory Physics MOOC, MIT Offered by MIT from June 1 to August 27, 2013 Two major approaches were used to evaluate learning in our MOOC: The first was to give an identical pretest and posttest using the same set of mostly conceptual questions (Hestenes, Wells, & Swackhamer, 1992). The second approach involved using item response theory (IRT) to analyze the pre- and posttest results as well as the weekly performance of the students. IRT establishes an ability for each student based not on total score, but on the difficulty and discrimination of the questions (items) that that student attempted 16
Introductory Physics MOOC, MIT Both methods showed MOOC s advantage over traditional classroom Normalized gain: Traditional classroom: 0.23 MOOC: 0.31 +/- 0.02 Classes with interactive engagement activities: 0.48 17
Future: Blended Learning Blended Learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path and/or pace; Online Learning and the Future of Residential Education (summit hosted by Harvard & MIT in March 2013) Clayton Christensen (Harvard): in 15 years half of all universities will be bankrupt 18
Role of technology We must use ICT to address educational needs.? Online Learning 19
The importance of online learning Which problems could be solved through distance learning in developing countries? 1) Need for education 2) Need for teachers 20
Need for education According to UNESCO: 61 mln. primary school-age children not enrolled in school in 2010, out of which: - 47% never expected to enter school - 26% attended school but left - and only 27% expected to attend school in the future. The literacy rates in South America and Europe are 90-100%. In the meantime the African continent, however, has areas with less than 50% literacy among children aged 18 and under. In developing, low-income countries, every additional year of education can increase a person s future income by an average of 10%. 21
Need for teachers According to GCE and EI: 1.7 million additional teachers needed by 2015 31 countries report that fewer than 3/4 of teachers are trained In 2010 Niger had just only one trained teacher for every 1,318 children 22
Summary: What can be done further? Online courses as a tool for improving education level in developing countries; Improving Blended Learning models Making education more accessible through Concepts like Coursera Learning Hub; Support of big IT companies (Microsoft, Google, Facebook); Additionally: - infrastructure problems, including internet availability; - computer literacy; 23
24 Thank you for your attention! Questions?