“Teaching mathematics to 500 students is not the same as teaching mathematics to 120,000. The difference is huge and perhaps the intention of a university professor to reach the second figure is naive or a dream. Even more so when, in order to do so, the teacher himself disappears from the map, giving free rein to the students: he gives them the content, a method for self-assessment, a flexible schedule and, everything, free. Few restrictions, after all” ( Expansión newspaper )
Just a few years ago, if someone told us that it would be possible to teach thousands of students at once, we would probably tell them they were crazy. But today, thanks to technological advances, this is possible with the so-called " MOOCs " .
The word MOOC is an acronym that stands for Massive Online Open Courses . In Spanish , there is no generally accepted term to refer to these courses, but there are several that refer to the same thing. For example: CEMA (Massive Open Online Course), CAEM (Massive Open Online Course), COMA (Massive Open Online Course) or CALGE (Large-Scale Open Online Course).
MOOCs are massive, free online courses that are accessible to students from all over the world and which can eliminate the barriers of money, age and time, since they involve flexible hours. Beyond this, they are still traditional courses in which there are teachers, classmates, materials, activities and evaluations.
In this type of course, students watch recorded video classes (approximately 15 minutes long); they interact with each other and with the teachers; they make new notes and improve their answers to the proposed exercises. Finally, they take tests, which are automatically corrected to assess the knowledge acquired, although unlike a traditional online course, more importance is given to telemarketing leads colombia telephone number data the learning process than to the evaluation.
It is a massive course , there is no limit on places, and people from all over the world can access it.Massive Online
Free access , meaning you don't have to meet any requirements or take any prior tests to be able to access a course; you just have to register and want to learn.
Access is free , and I say access because sometimes tutoring or accreditation can have an economic cost.
It is developed entirely online , so it can be done comfortably from home.
It is designed to promote autonomous learning , using numerous resources (videos, forums, video conferencing tools, etc.).
It is the students who resolve the doubts among themselves . In case the doubt is not resolved or is resolved incorrectly, it is the teacher who gives the correct answer.
Obviously, this training model has a number of drawbacks :
The course content is the same for all students. It does not take into account whether or not students have the knowledge to carry out or achieve the objectives.
Since the syllabus is accompanied by videos, students can skip the text part and just watch the video to get to the exam as quickly as possible.
Many students start the course, but many also drop out. The most common reason for dropping out is that it does not meet the student's needs; and the fact that the course does not have an associated cost makes it easier to drop out.
Although the appearance of MOOCs is a relatively recent event, the idea of them is not so recent. In 1988, Isaac Asimov predicted computerized education and considered that an education in accordance with the tastes and interests of each student would be the solution for people to enjoy learning. I recommend that you take a look at the following video, in which you can see Isaac Asimov talking about this topic:
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Category: Professional Development