1. January - February 201450
Ever wanted to take a class that was not offered in
your school? Or a class that is beyond the spectrum
of your subject choices? The good news is that you
can! Welcome to the world of e-learning, which gives
everybody the chance to explore subjects beyond their
horizons and gain more insight into a specific interest.
E-learning is the use of technology for educational
purposes. It incorporates various media — audio, text,
animation, streaming videos and live conversations
online — to educate people across the world. Learning
online can be an individual effort, or instructor-led.
When you think of e-learning, today there are two
main options that the high school student can consider:
e-learning using available web resources, and the more
organised MOOCs. Let’s consider these one by one.
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2. E-learning using web resources
There are several websites that can help
a student enhance her learning, alongside
high school classroom learning (see end
of article for some recommendations).
One such website, for instance, is the
Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org),
a non-profit organisation that offers
more than 4600 video tutorials on
various educational subjects, with
interactive challenges and assessments.
Websites like Khan Academy can be of
immense benefit to high-school students:
• The tutorials and online resources
complement school work, allowing
students to explore classroom topics
in greater depth.
• Students can work at their own pace,
using these tutorials to strengthen
their understanding of a subject.
• They can also move beyond their
curriculum to discover and explore
topics of interest to them.
• Learning that happens through
interactive and visual means is
enriching and enhances interest
and retention.
From the Horse’s Mouth
Why e-learning? How can it benefit high-school students?
“E-learning enables self-paced, personalised learning. Self-paced because
students can learn at their own pace and can spend the time they need
to really understand the material before moving on to new material.
This allows every student to be challenged and does not leave any
student behind.
Students appreciate online resources, not just for learning new concepts
but also because they can apply those concepts by doing online problem
sets. In addition, students don’t feel pressured when learning online
since, as they report, they can watch a video 20 times, but would feel
stupid if they asked someone to explain a concept to them 20 times.
Doing problem sets online allows a student to get immediate feedback.
Instead of doing 10 homework problems and getting them all wrong,
students immediately know whether the first problem is correct, and
if not, why, since our site gives them all the steps to a solution if
they need it.
In addition, the data we collect is presented in coach reports and student
reports. Students can see exactly where they stand, and teachers too can
use the coach reports to see exactly where students are struggling, and
to provide highly targeted assistance — so learning can be personalised.
This helps students learn better.
Our goal is not to replace teachers. There are students without access to
teachers at all, or students who are struggling in school but who cannot
afford tutors, or who ‘feel stupid’ if they are struggling and need help. We
want to be a resource for all sorts of learners — both those with access to
wonderful resources as well as those without.”
ParentEdge spoke to Paulette Altmaier, Head of Education Partnerships,
Khan Academy and this is what she had to say:
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3. January - February 201452
MOOCs
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
offer online education to anybody around
the world. Some of the popular MOOCs
offered today have been started by the best
universities in world, offering courses from
their institutes: platforms/initiatives
such as Udacity and Coursera (Stanford
University) and EdX (Harvard and MIT).
These e-learning websites allow top
universities and professors to share
their knowledge with the world and give
everybody a chance to study something
they have a passion or interest for. And
the best thing about these courses?
They are usually free, although there is
sometimes a charge to get certifications.
Priya Prabhakar, 15, is a student of the
American International School of Chennai.
She has taken many e-learning courses,
ranging from courses in design and poetry
to how to reason, and music. She enrolled
in her first e-learning course when she
was in the 9th grade. Why? “Because this
learning is a great supplement to the
limited learning that happens in school,”
Prabhakar claims. She also points out that,
besides opening up her mind to new
fields these courses also give her an idea
as to what she could pursue in college in
the future. Although most of these are
college-level courses, anyone is free to
register for them and participate —
obviously, this helps students understand
what they can expect out of coursework in
college, and specifically, from a course they
are interested in pursuing.
How do MOOCs work?
The time taken to complete a course
depends on the subject and complexity.
Prabhakar, who has taken several courses
with Coursera, says that each course lasts
anywhere between four to 12 weeks.
A course typically involves a professor
and his team of teaching assistants (who
are often students from the college itself).
This team uploads around five teaching
videos a week and registered students have
to complete a weekly assignment based on
these videos. The course also incorporates a
discussion forum involving all the students
who have enrolled, allowing everyone to
discuss the subject, their assignments, and
clarify their doubts. Generally, e-learning
courses award students a Certificate of
Mastery on successful completion of the
course.
According to Prabhakar, while many courses
are rigorous, it is not mandatory to be a
college student to enroll.
From the Horse’s Mouth
How do these free online courses compare with courses that you
actually take in college that are paid for — in terms of quality,
teaching expertise, resources, etc.?
“EdX courses do not replace a traditional campus education. They are
as rigorous as the on-campus versions, but they differ in that they offer
convenience and are highly interactive and fun, incorporating video
gaming technology.
MOOCs and online learning also enable instant feedback through
automatically graded exercises, self-paced learning through the ability
to simply pause or rewind videos, peer learning through online discussion
forums, and the application of video gaming mechanisms to online
virtual laboratories. Feedback from edX students has been tremendously
positive. The courses are very hard, but the students like them because
they are engaging.
Because the coursework is released at the beginning of each week
throughout its duration, students can access it at any time and complete
it at their convenience, so online courses offer more flexibility.”
ParentEdge spoke to
Anant Agarwal, President, edX,
and this is what he had to say:
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4. Advantages of e-learning courses
“High School students can benefit from
edX courses in a variety of ways. We have
heard from some high-school students
who have taken courses on edX either for
high school credit towards graduation,
to supplement their course offerings in
preparation for college or an AP test, or
simply because they are interested in a
subject that is not offered at their school.”
– Anant Agarwal, President, edX.
• You can supplement your high-school
knowledge by taking college-level
courses in your chosen subjects.
• Students have the option of selecting
courses that they are interested in
and studying them in-depth, even if
they are not studying these subjects in
school. You may be studying science
in high school, but can always take an
online course in English Poetry from
Wordsworth to Eliot!
• These courses enable a person to study
something they are passionate about
but may not be pursuing in the future,
so you ‘can have your cake, and eat
it too’!
• The discussion board and group
chats are beneficial — they lead
to interactive learning and are
also helpful for finding out more
information on a particular aspect.
• There is a variety of activities and
assignments to complete within
the courses that can enhance one’s
learning — so it’s not just textbook
learning.
• It prepares someone for how
college will be in terms of rigour
and structure.
• You can test your competency and
interest in a certain area to see if you
want to take it up in college.
• Students gain a sense of confidence
and self-awareness by taking these
courses; they are chosen by the
student themselves, which enhances
their motivation in wanting to
learn more.
Taking these online courses
really allowed me to understand how
American colleges teach classes.
This is good learning for the future.
– Priya Prabhakar
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5. January - February 201454
However, it’s not all a bed of roses. Students would do
well to keep some of these pointers in mind:
• Since these courses are online and there is no
imperative to study, students may get lazy and may
not be as serious about daily activities and some
deadlines. In short, they have to be self-motivated
to complete a course.
• Students with poor studying habits and concentration
may lag behind.
• You cannot complete these courses without the Internet.
So if you have a slow connection, or a technical problem,
you may have difficulties in accessing the videos.
• Science courses that are based on lab work are not as
realistic as they are supposed to be, as it is difficult to
portray the actual lab setting via a video.
• There are many students enrolling, and hundreds can
attend a single course; this means that no student will
get individual or personal attention from the tutor or
even instant replies to her doubts.
“Many students enroll in e-learning courses solely because
they want to improve their resumes for college. This is not
why these courses should be taken! Taking courses just to
put this down on college applications means that you are
missing the very essence of what e-learning is about!”
exclaims Prabhakar.
So there you have it in a nutshell — the incredible power
of the internet and how it can be harnessed to educate and
enrich you. E-learning resources and courses allow you to
get so much more out of your education today, widen your
horizons and get a taste of college life and the world out
there by just sitting in your chair at home. Even if you
feel you are not ready to register for an open, online
course, don’t underestimate the sheer number of resources
available online — project ideas, pointers and resources for
field research, and tutorials. Don’t limit yourself to what you
learn in the classroom — go online and discover and explore
your interests and passions!
Recommended e-learning
resources and courses:
www.edx.org
www.udacity.com
www.coursera.org
www.khanacademy.org
www.academicearth.org
www.brightstorm.com
http://video.mit.edu – lectures and videos from MIT professors
www.skillshare.com – some of the courses here need to be paid for
https://developers.google.com/university
www.onlinecourses.com
www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses
Medha Nainegli, an engineering student from Bangalore wanted to pursue her passion for writing alongside getting
her degree. So she enrolled with The Writer’s Bureau (http://www.writersbureau.com/) in a course that would train her
to become a professional freelance writer. Nainegli says that during the course, students were expected to write on a
wide range of topics, from articles for women’s magazines to travel writing to restaurant reviews to covering features for
newspapers. A teacher assigned to each student helped them with every article they submitted. Writer’s Bureau provided
modules that gave many useful tips on how to improve presentation, strengthen your article in terms of content, and
increase the chances of your piece getting accepted for publication.
“What a student needs for this course is dedication, an interest in writing and a good command of the English Language.
A few hours every week are necessary to complete the assignments. The course may take anywhere from 1 to 3 years for
completion, depending on your speed,” says Nainegli.
Nainegli points out that enrolling for this course has helped her in a number of ways: her writing skills have improved;
she now writes more regularly, and also more professionally; she has gained knowledge about how to submit articles for
publication, approach people for interviews, and bend her articles to suit a specific magazine’s needs.
- Sakshi Bathija
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