By Sam Somani, Technique
I decided to try out a MOOC—partially to try and understand any and all hype behind these massive online courses—but primarily because Coursera is free to use, and to a college student on a budget, the word free is alluring. “Introduction to Mathematical Thinking” was the course, taught by a professor from Stanford who would send lengthy yet enlightening emails to the 60,000 plus students enlisted in the class in addition to posting forty-five minute lectures of class instruction two to three times per week. What I learned most from watching one lesson was not anything pertaining to the content of the video, but the quality of instruction in the subject matter to his viewers. The engaging behavior in which he was able to communicate to the audience was remarkable. Perhaps some professors are better in front of a video camera than a lecture hall of a few hundred students in all sorts of moods ranging from actively critical to comatose. Even though it was simply a one way lecture, his communication skills effectively managed to keep my attention after a full day of classes.
http://nique.net/opinions/2012/10/05/online-courses-add-quality-to-education/
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