First Real MOOC Failure

The first real failure of a MOOC course has drawn a lot of criticism - but the truth of the story will only serve to strengthen this new form of education. Here is why;

1. These are new and we are just learning how to use them and learn from them.
2. In the engineering world failure is the most important step of learning
3. The people involved are resilient and will learn from this failure.

If you need some proof - simply Google the term "importance of failure" - failure is not the opposite of success, it is simply a step the increases the stature of eventual success for those willing to learn the lessons it teaches.

And it really is that simple....

Coursera Experience

I am currently taking 3 courses from Coursera (one of which I am wrapping up this week) and have completed another 3.

1. These courses are incredibly well done - better than nearly any courses I took as an undergrad.

2. They are also very challenging, if anyone wants to take a look at the derivations I had to perform for Astronomy (and yes they have software that can grade mathematical derivations) I'd be happy to show them (or simply come to the online course improvement meeting Tuesday).

This will have a major global impact, there really is no debate. Here is some anecdotal information from one course (Astronomy). I have corresponded a lot on the bulletin board with 2 students, Σταύρος A. Αθανασιάδης - a student from Greece who is taking 6 courses and has this as his only real access to education and Khadija Niazi who is taking about 10 other courses - all advanced science courses (Astrophysics, Molecular Biology, Organic Chemistry). Now here is the kicker - Khadija is 12 and she is brilliant - her questions and analysis are better than nearly anything I have seen from any of my undergraduates..

I have learned a lot from the courses I have taken. Now I must go and determine in X | Y = y has an expected value of X that is the same as the expected value of X when Y is also random (doing my Data Analysis homework).