

Lessons learned from MITx’s prototype course - tjr
http://www.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/mitx-edx-first-course-recap-0716.html

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KC8ZKF
I really like the idea of allowing the student to take a year instead of a
semester, with the deadlines adjusted accordingly. This seems like a good
alternative to "dumbing it down" to accommodate those of us who don't have the
time or who find the material difficult.

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nitrogen
I was one of those 7157 that passed the course. Although I had to put a very
large amount of effort into the course to get an A, I found it much easier to
learn from a video lecture course than a live lecture course. The ability to
pause, rewind, play at 1.5x speed, etc. allowed me to take a break when I lost
my focus, speed through the sections I already understood, slow down and
repeat sections that didn't make sense at first, etc. None of this is possible
in a scheduled live lecture.

I wish I could have taken all of my college classes in this format, perhaps
with the addition of 10-15 person lab sessions on campus. Best of luck, edX.

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tokenadult
I thought it was interesting that the professor who commented on the attrition
rate said that another way to look at the student numbers is that the number
of students who completed the online course was many more than could be taught
in person at MIT over years and years.

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vineet
Glad to see the initiative sharing their notes.

As someone who has worked closely with MIT Faculty I did feel like one of
their challenges would be in discussing and iterating on their learnings
rapidly (as opposed to focusing on the learning quality them and seeing that
they are of academic rigor).

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UK-AL
What makes these courses look bad is the fact that many people will just sign
up just take a peek at the content, rather than genuinely want to see it all
the way through.

I guess this adds to the attrition rate.

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38leinad
why does that make the course look bad?

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mattstreet
It makes it look bad to people who judge it based on the attrition rate.

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Ralith
All manner of wonderful things look bad to such people.

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snikolov
What struck me most is that this course helped form lasting communities who
are now studying other material together. That is just wonderful. A community
you can discuss the material with will help people learn the material much
better. Also, these people might go and build something together afterward.

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visian
Love it that the students created their own version of the follow up course.

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tolos
To clarify, this has nothing to do with creating prototypes.

