Millions of students
worldwide have signed up in the last year for online courses. But when those
students take the final exam in calculus or genetics, how will their professors
know that the test-takers on their distant laptops are doing their own work,
and not asking Mr. Google for help? The issue of online cheating concerns many
educators.
Technology plays a big role in solving this
problem. Squads of eagle-eyed humans at computers can monitor faraway students
via webcams, screen sharing and high-speed Internet connections. The developing
technology for remote proctoring may end up being as good — or even better —
than the live proctoring at bricks-and-mortar universities. Having a camera
watch you doesn’t seem any worse than an instructor at the front constantly
looking at you, and it may even be more efficient.
Other remote proctoring services offer different
solutions. At Software Secure in Newton, Mass., test-takers are recorded by
camera and then, later, three proctors independently watch a faster-speed video
of each student. Compared with services where proctors are monitoring students
in real time, this combination of recording first and viewing later gives
greater latitude for the institution to adjust the timing of exams to whenever
they want.
Employees say they are well versed in the sometimes-ingenious
tactics used to dodge testing rules. “We’ve seen it all,” said Matt Jaeh, vice
president for operations. “After you’ve sat there a while watching people, the
patterns of behavior for normal people versus the people trying to sneak in a
cellphone to look up information are very clear.”
Beyond the issue of proctoring, online courses
are also addressing the problem of making sure that credit-seeking test-takers
are the same students who enrolled in the course. Some companies now offer the
service that confirms students’ identity by matching webcam photographs as well
as pictures of acceptable photo IDs. Students also type a short phrase, which
is analyzed by a software program. It takes note of the typing rhythm and other
characteristics, like how long the keys are pressed down. Then, when a student
submits homework or takes a test, the algorithm compares a bit of new typing
with the original sample.
What do you
think about the services? Do you think schools should use those technologies
for monitoring their online courses’ students? Do you think that’s ethical?
One of the most common things people say when approaching an online class is that they lack the motivation to take one. Besides the obvious difference between an online class and a regular class in a classroom setting, another difference is that because in an online class you don’t have to attend any lectures and you’re just given due dates, you’re left to figure out on your own how to get it all done without set class days. This can be hard for some people. So let’s look at some helpful tips that could get you through an online class.
First, it is going to take some successful online student discipline. You’re going to want to make a schedule for yourself in order to make sure you participate in the class. With this it is going to help you make sure you get your assignments done on time. Secondly, you’re going to want to work on time management skills. Also, you want to have determination. If you aren’t good at the first two then with some determination you will get better and you will succeed.
It is also known to help if you can somehow connect with your classmates. This might sound hard since it is an online class but if they are near you, you could form a study group or you could form an online forum in order to hold each other accountable or even ask each other questions about the material. Another way to stay motivated is to discuss what you’ve learned. So this means explain to your family or your friends what you’re learning in the class, that way you can stay on top of the material and you know you’re not falling behind.
The last two ideas are just as important as everything else I’ve discussed. You should reward yourself when you’ve finished a task, turned in that assignment, or just for doing well in the class. And lastly take some time for fun. More than likely if you’re taking an online course it’s because you also have a full time job and don’t have the time to make it to a University for a class. This means you are taking on a lot of work and you are going to want to make sure you take that extra time for fun in order to re-group or else it might show in your work.
So really online classes aren’t that scary and no one should think that they lack motivation to take one. If you just stick with your determination and power through with these tips you should be just fine!
Have any of you taken online classes? What tips would you give to those that think they lack the motivation to one?
Technology has drastically
changed the way we work and live; computers have had a great impact on our
lives. In today’s high-technology world, games now commonly exist in the form
of computer-driven, interactive, audio-visual experiences called video games.
Some people assume that video games are just mindless and contain violent
content that is inappropriate for young children. However, some video games can
offer an enriching, even educational experience for young children; in fact,
some games are designed with the ultimate goal of educating instead of just
entertaining (these are called “educational video games”). Based on the
interests of children, many educators try to use methods similar to mainstream
games to develop educational video games.
The use of video games in
education provides a way to catch and keep young children’s interest while
educating them. When given such games that are appropriate for learning at
their current level, kids not only feel entertained, but also can learn. Some
schools encourage their students learning this way by providing educational
game software on computers at school. One of the first widespread educational
video games was “The Oregon Trail”. This is a survival game that taught history
by challenging the player to travel and survive as pioneers of the 19th century
traveling on a famous trail that stretched across half of the US.
Educational games can also
be used not only in schools, but at home and in online courses as well. Young
students can learn about a topic at school, and do their homework by accessing
online games and completing assigned goals. Many online educational games can be
found on the Internet. There are websites devoted specifically to online
educational games such as FunBrain.com, which features games that teach K-8
levels of math, reading, and more. New touch-based computing devices such as
tablets provide an easy-to-use and affordable computer that is ideal for young
children and a great device for educational games. According to
TeachThought.com, there are educational apps that teach maps and geography,
human anatomy, basic word reading, history, algebra, and more. Duolingo is a
well-regarded (and free) language-learning app. It works by using picture and
word matching, completing sentences by dragging words into the correct places,
and reading sentences to you and listening to you read them back.
What do you think about this "game" idea of online learning? Would you like to try it or let your kids try it in the future? What subject do you think you would be much more interested in learning if there are online educational games for that?
Another advantage to online learning is the ability to
access and learn from free or lower cost online classes or lectures. I am going
to provide some information and websites for massive open online courses
(MOOCs). MOOCs are web based classes that support a large number of people.
Some of the companies are Coursera, iTunes U, Khan Academy, TED, Kaggle,
LingoSteve’s Language Corner, edx, deka glossai, Udacity, and YouTubeThis
could help adults without college degrees or students who love to learn or need
help learning.
Coursera was founded by Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng who
believe learning should not have a limit. Coursera offers 217 courses from 85 colleges
and universities like Columbia, Duke, Yale, University of Chicago
and University of
Pennsylvania, which can
be up to 6 weeks in length. Although the colleges and universities offer free
online classes or lectures themselves they don’t allow there own students to
get credit using the MOOCs. Five of the online classes have been considered
college credit worthy by the American Council of Education (ACE) that is as
long as the anti-cheat policy is enforced. ACE is a boost to the reputation and
financial backing of MOOCs it represents college and university presidents.
This means that colleges may grant credit for them. Currently, Colorado State
University, Antioch University Los Angeles, and Excelsior College offers credit
for one or two MOOC courses, but the enrollment for these courses has been less
than desired or expected through Coursera. Now on the flip side even though
most classes don’t provide credit there is a better turn out for example approximately
40,000 people enrolled in the pre-calculus class. The majority of the classes
do not have the ability to be transferred or counted toward a degree. The
classes are usually free, but a fee from $30 to $99 can be charged for a
certificate of completion for ACE credit courses, to make sure you didn’t
cheat. A transcript is also available for ACE credit classes. It is different
from iTunes U because Coursera is interactive, you can ask questions and get
answers, and you can get assignments and grades as well. However, some of the
lectures maybe the same for more than one company, YouTube and iTunes U could
have the same lectures as Coursera. Another thing to note is that 90% of the
people who enroll in the classes don’t complete them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PojLL3E-zk0
iTunes U is an app for the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch and
it offers a wide range of complete online higher educational classes for free.
Downloads have exceeded 1 billion. It offers 217 courses from 1200 colleges and
universities like Berkeley, MIT, Oxford, Stanford, the University of
California, and Yale to name a few. Some of the lectures are offered from
famous people like Tomas Laqueur or David Blight. One course has had as many as
500,000 students at one time.
Khan Academy offers over 3,300 videos for free on math,
physics and history. Some of the videos have been used in K thru 12 schools
with some controversy. The videos were originally created by Sal Kahn to help
his cousins with their homework, but ended up going viral. Some teachers and
professors have stated that some of the information that has been provided by
Khan is not correct. If you would like to read more about the controversy
follow this link http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/sal-khan-responds-to-critic/2012/07/25/gJQA83rW9W_blog.html.
TED Talks is made up of the best TED conferences. It started
from the idea that ideas should be shared so a conference was placed online and
the audience grew so big that every inspiring talk is available on-demand. The
talks are on a variety of topics and have been viewed more than a billion
times.
Kaggle provides a platform for analytics and predictive
modeling competitions. It is free to data scientists. The winners of the
competition can be utilized to help answer questions for businesses that pay a
fee to Kaggle to answer complex data problems.
edX is a not-for-profit offered through Harvard University
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It offers online versions
of a wide range of subjects like Behavioral Economics, Intro to Computer
Science and Programming, and Circuits and Electronics. There are 77 courses
available. The courses are from several universities or colleges including
Harvard, MIT, University of Toronto, and Berkeley.
Udacity is another MOOC it was founded by Michael Sokolsky,
David Thrun, and David Stavens. There are currently 28 lectures. The videos are
interspersed with questions. The questions are there to help you judge what you
are learning and to make it interactive. The good thing is that the courses are
free.
YouTube, I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say you can
find almost everything and anything there. If you don’t understand a concept or
you just want to have someone explain a subject a different way search for it
by subject or content and there are usually several videos, lectures or
examples available for free. There are both broad and detailed topics available.
YouTube is also interactive. It provides the ability to ask questions of the
person that has posted the information, but there is not a guaranteed response.
Below I have listed examples of educational information available through
YouTube
LingoSteve’s Language
Corner is made up of YouTube videos that provide information on how to be
successful at learning another language. It does not teach you another
language. Deka Glossai provides
YouTube videos to help others understand and learn a few different ancient
words in a few ancient languages like Latin, Greek and Russian. The videos are
from 15 minutes or more.
I have reviewed 10 different options for free learning.
Maybe you are aware of one that I missed that may be helpful to others or have
a comment on one that I have listed. What do you think of free online learning?
I have included the website for the companies I have listed if available.
