Lately I feel like I’m back in school
again. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just surreal. This morning I
got up early (well, early for me) and headed over to my old university so I
could take part in a research programme the psychology department is
conducting. Anyone who has ever been a cash-strapped university student is probably
familiar with these trials: They run the gamut from
sociological experiments to drug testing. Basically, you volunteer to become a
human lab rat.
The one I’m taking part in is pretty benign:
some students have developed a language-learning game and need testers.
Basically I go, play on the computer for half-an-hour, learn Spanish, and get
paid five bucks for each visit.
Afterwards I came home, ate lunch, and
wrote up my Dracula essay for the Coursera class I’m taking part in. Coursera
is website affiliated with various top level universities like Stanford, Duke,
and Princeton. Different classes are set up differently, but in the one I’m
taking (‘Fantasy and science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World’) the
lectures are uploaded and can be watched whenever you want. You’re also
expected to write a 270-320 word mini-essay each week. Your essay is evaluated
by four of your peers, and you likewise evaluate four essays.
It’s a pretty smart module. Aside from
recording the lectures, the prof doesn’t have to do any of the heavy lifting:
the grading is all done within the student body. Almost all of the reading can
be found for free online, another smart move.
I’m really grateful for the chance to take
part in both the Coursera and the Spanish study, though I know I’m not the only
one benefiting from this partnership. The Spanish study is done in conjunction
with a private company who will use the information gathered to build a better
product. Coursera is also trying to shape a product, an
online-learning module, which they can in turn sell to universities. In both cases
I am as much a beta-tester as I am a student.
Which is fine with me. Sure my work is
going to help a private company make more money, but it’s also
going to help
craft a better language learning-game or way to teach courses online, both
things I can get behind. I’m not so naive to believe that anything free is
really free, but in this case the cost doesn’t weigh on me as much as does with
other ‘free’ things.
I'm taking the SFF course at Coursera as well, and I'm really enjoying it. I love the open nature of Coursera and that I can put in or take out as much as I want. I don't really have the time (as I nod at your post title) to dive into the peer essay portion of the course, but I'm doing the reading and watching the lectures at my own pace.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a very nice experience, and it's led me to sign up for a few other courses as well. It's cool to see where online education is heading.
J.W
Yeah, there are so many courses they have that I'm tempted to take. There's a poetry one in the fall, but I also think it would be neat to take a science or math course in order to get outside my box a little. But I'm also weary of taking another one while I'm still taking the F&SF course. I'm able to coast by in this course a little because I've already read a lot of material (I was able to write my Dracula essay without barely having to check back with the book), so I'm afraid that taking a course where everything was completely new to me would be overwhelming.
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