[ti:Another Look at Massive Online Open Courses ] [ar:Christopher Cruise] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Education Report. [00:04.91]Last week, we talked about Massive Open Online Courses, [00:09.95]also called MOOCs. [00:12.65]Tens of thousands, or even more, [00:15.39]people can take these classes all at once. [00:20.12]You can be anywhere in the world to take a MOOC. [00:25.10]All you need is a computer and a network connection. [00:29.84]MOOCs add to a tradition of what is known as distance learning. [00:35.66]For years, many colleges have offered classes [00:39.86]that are taught partly or mostly online. [00:44.15]MOOCs are available in subjects like computer science, [00:49.13]engineering or mechanics. [00:53.01]Can MOOCs in subjects like arts [00:56.39]or the humanities be as effective? [00:59.99]Scott Anderson teaches philosophy [01:02.88]at the University of British Columbia in Canada. [01:07.01]He sees both good and bad sides to MOOCs. [01:11.35]SCOTT ANDERSON: "There are parts that will be fine, [01:13.64]insofar as mostly when students listen to a lecture, [01:19.41]there is no special reason [01:22.18]why they need to be physically present to hear and get it. [01:25.91]There is certainly no reason [01:27.45]why they need to be physically present [01:28.85]to get the readings and to think about these things." [01:33.54]Mr. Anderson says increased numbers of students in MOOCs [01:37.77]can mean less communication between them and teachers. [01:42.59]He says two ways to deal with this are [01:46.47]by adding more teachers and setting up online discussion groups. [01:52.65]Lisa Jadwin teaches English and American literature [01:58.11]and writing at St. John Fisher College in New York. [02:02.40]She says online education has some weaknesses for her subjects. [02:08.78]LISA JADWIN: "What's lost in online education [02:11.07]is face-to-face interaction. [02:13.46]And the teaching of literature [02:16.09]is an interactive face-to-face discipline. [02:20.03]And that old-fashioned approach [02:21.82]is not going to be unseated very quickly [02:25.50]by computer-aided instruction." [02:27.85]Professor Jadwin says some students could learn very well [02:32.13]from talks and reading assignments, blogs and discussion groups. [02:38.25]But she believes that hybrid courses work best. [02:43.08]She describes hybrids as mixing face-to-face course elements [02:49.25]with computer-aided teaching and writing projects. [02:53.48]Bill Pogue teaches communications [02:57.61]at the University of Houston-Downtown. [03:00.56]He says that after leading classes for more than thirty years, [03:06.18]he would not attempt to teach a MOOC. [03:10.06]However, Mr. Pogue sees good value in online education. [03:15.98]He noted a strong sense of community [03:19.81]in an online course he once took. [03:22.95]He said the students worked together on a project [03:27.49]while living on four continents. [03:30.62]BILL POGUE: "I just thought that was really exciting, [03:33.21]would hardly be able eve to be replicated in a single, [03:36.10]traditional classroom or face-to-face setting." [03:40.43]And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, [03:44.81]written by Jerilyn Watson. [03:47.10]For transcripts, MP3s and now PDFs of our programs for e-readers, [03:53.52]go to 51voa.com. [03:57.60]I'm Christopher Cruise.