Pros and Cons of Massive Open Online Courses

Post-secondary schools of all kinds—expensive, elite colleges, state universities, and community colleges—are flirting with the idea of MOOCs, massive open online courses, where tens of thousands of students can take the same class simultaneously. Is this the future of college? Nathan Heller wrote about the phenomenon in the May 20, 2013, issue of The New Yorker in Laptop U. I recommend you find a copy or subscribe online for the full article, but Ill share with you here what I gleaned as the pros and cons of MOOCs from Hellers article. What Is a MOOC? The short answer is that a MOOC is an online video of a college lecture. The M stands for massive because there is no limit to the number of students who can enroll from anywhere in the world. Anant Agarwal is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, and president of edX, a non-profit MOOC company owned jointly MIT and Harvard. In 2011, he launched a forerunner called MITx (Open Courseware), hoping to get 10 times the usual number of classroom students in his spring-semester circuits-and-electronics course, about 1,500. In the first few hours of posting the course, he told Heller, he had 10,000 students sign up from all over the world. The ultimate enrollment was 150,000. Massive. The Pros MOOCs are controversial. Some say they are the future of higher education. Others see them as the eventual downfall of it. Here are the pros Heller found in his research. MOOCs: Are free. Right now, most MOOCs are free or nearly free, a definite plus for the student. This is likely to change as universities look for ways to defray the high cost of creating MOOCs.Provide a solution to overcrowding. According to Heller, 85% of Californias community colleges have course waiting lists. A bill in the California Senate seeks to require the state’s public colleges to give credit for approved online courses.Force professors to improve lectures. Because the best MOOCs are short, usually an hour at the most, addressing a single topic, professors are forced to examine every bit of material as well as their teaching methods.Create a dynamic archive. Thats what Gregory Nagy, professor of classical Greek literature at Harvard, calls it. Actors, musicians, and standup comedians record their best performances for broadcast and posterity, Heller writes; why shouldnt college teachers do the same? He cites Vladimir Nabokov as once suggesting that his lessons at Cornell be recorded and played each term, freeing him for other activities.Are designed to ensure that students keep up. MOOCs are real college courses, complete with tests and grades. They are filled with multiple choice questions and discussions that test comprehension. Nagy sees these questions as almost as good as essays because, as Heller writes, the online testing mechanism explains the right response when students miss an answer, and it lets them see the reasoning behind the correct choice when theyre right.The online testing process helped Nagy redesign his classroom course. He told Heller, Our ambition is actually to make the Harvard experience now closer to the MOOC experience.Bring people together from all over the world. Heller quotes Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard president, regarding her thoughts on a new MOOC, Science Cooking, that teaches chemistry and physics in the kitchen, I just have the vision in my mind of people cooking all over the globe together. It’s kind of ni ce.Allow teachers to make the most of classroom time in blended classes. In what is called a flipped classroom, teachers send students home with assignments to listen to or watch a recorded lecture, or read it, and return to the classroom for more valuable discussion time or other interactive learning.Offer interesting business opportunities. Several new MOOC companies launched in 2012: edX  by Harvard and MIT; Coursera, a Standford company; and Udacity, which focuses on science and tech. The Cons The controversy surrounding MOOCs includes some pretty strong concerns about how they will shape the future of higher education. Here are some of the cons from Hellers research. MOOCs: Could cause teachers to become nothing more than glorified teaching assistants. Heller writes that Michael J. Sandel, a Harvard justice professor, wrote in a letter of protest, The thought of the exact same social justice course being taught in various philosophy departments across the country is downright scary.Make discussion a challenge. It’s impossible to facilitate meaningful conversation in a classroom with 150,000 students. There are electronic alternatives: message boards, forums, chat rooms, etc., but the intimacy of face-to-face communication is lost, emotions often misunderstood. This is a particular challenge for humanities courses. Heller writes, When three great scholars teach a poem in three ways, it isnt inefficiency. It is the premise on which all humanistic inquiry is based.Grading papers is impossible. Even with the help of graduate students, grading tens of thousands of essays or research papers is daunting, to say the least. Heller reports that edX is deve loping software to grade papers, software that gives students immediate feedback, allowing them to make revisions. Harvards Faust isnt completely on board. Heller quotes her as saying, I think they are ill-equipped to consider irony, elegance, and†¦I don’t know how you get a computer to decide if there’s something there it hasn’t been programmed to see.Make it easier for students to drop out. Heller reports that when MOOCs are strictly online, not a blended experience with some classroom time, dropout rates are typically more than 90%.Intellectual property and financial details are issues. Who owns an online course when the professor who creates it moves to another university? Who gets paid for teaching and/or creating online courses? These are issues that MOOC companies will need to work out in the upcoming years.Miss the magic. Peter J. Burgard is a professor of German at Harvard. He has decided not to participate in online courses because he believes the college experience comes from sitting in preferably small groups having genuine human interactions, really digging into and exploring a knotty topic—a difficult image, a fascinating text, whatever. Thats exciting. There’s a chemistry to it that simply cannot be replicated online.Will shrink faculties, eventually eliminating them. Heller writes that Burgard sees MOOCs as destroyers of traditional higher education. Who needs professors when a school can hire an adjunct to manage a MOOC class? Fewer professors will mean fewer Ph.D.s granted, smaller graduate programs, fewer fields, and subfields taught, the eventual death of entire bodies of knowledge. David W. Wills, professor of religious history at Amherst, agrees with Burgard. Heller writes that Wills worries about academia falling under hierarchical thrall to a few star professors. He quotes Wills, Its like higher education has discovered the megachurch. MOOCs will most definitely be the source of many conversations and debates in the near future. Watch for related articles coming soon.

Reflection Of Faith Based Nursing Essay - 1266 Words

Faith Based Nursing Following the Servant Christ, the early church took on the task of caring for and visiting the sick. A very important part of the church’s ministry from the beginning, has been healing and spiritual couseling. Parish Nursing began with the early work of deaconesses and other religious sisters who worked in parishes to provide whole person health promotion with an emphasis on spiritual care. The contemporary side of Parish Nursing was conceptualized by Reverend Granger Westberg as a result of his work with Holistic Health Centers in the 1970 s. In 1984 Reverend Westberg approached Lutheran General Health System, Park Ridge, Illinois, with the idea of partnering with local congregations in a parish nurse project. This resulted in six nurses being hired to work with six congregations. Represented in the six churches were two Roman Catholic Churches and four in the Lutheran and Methodist Churches (Vukelich, 2002). Today, the United States, Canada and many other parts of the world have Parish Nurses that are serving in the faith communities. When faith-based communities, parish nurses and community nurses form a partnership, the entire community will benefit from this partnership. Benefits of community nurses partnering with faith-based communities and parish nurses can help fill the gap in health services to poor and medically underserved individuals. By forming these partnerships we will have more people involved in the promotion of health andShow MoreRelatedReflection Of Reflection And Reflective Practice1584 Words   |  7 PagesThe purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate my understanding of reflection and reflective practice. Reflection means that we learn by thinking about our experiences and seeing them in a different way. (Dewey, 1938) suggested that, ‘we learn by doing and realising what came of what we did’. 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Drug Use Cause And Effect Essay Free Essays

You hear about more and more people using drugs these days, particularly prescription drugs. Doctors may prescribe these drugs to you and you may think they are helping but, what you don’t know is how they may change a normal functioning person into an addict. These drugs are habit forming and can seriously harm you, even kill you. We will write a custom essay sample on Drug Use Cause And Effect Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now For Years people go to the doctor for one reason or another. Some doctors prescribe pills that can sometimes be more damaging than helpful. Certain drugs these doctors prescribe like pain killers only mask the problem, not really solving it. Some names of these painkillers are: Vicodin, Lortab, Anexsia, Zydone, and Norco. After several weeks of taking these drugs, you can become physically and emotionally dependent. Even if you have never been an addict or used street drugs before you can become dependent. After a prolonged period, say a few weeks, of taking these drugs, not only are you dependent but, if you do not continue to ingest these pills you will experience withdrawal symptoms. Some of these withdrawal symptoms include: insomnia, night sweats, tremors and agitation. Studies have shown prolonged use or misuse of these painkillers can have other dangerous consequences. Dangers of these drugs include: liver disease related to prolonged or excessive use of the acetaminophen (contained in Vicodin). Physical tolerance to the drug after prolonged use, increased doses is needed to achieve the same pain relief. People tend to forget or do not read the interaction warnings or labels on these drugs. Mixing certain types of other drugs with painkillers can be extremely dangerous and end in a bad result. Drugs like MAO inhibitors and antidepressants can result in respiratory complications or death. How to cite Drug Use Cause And Effect Essay, Essays

I too.. free essay sample

Personal College Essay Like the pilgrims of our land Dirt forever embedded under their nails I too believe In a Jeffersonian euphoria Planting our seeds Of knowledge, hope, desire, insecurity Beneath the thriving noire soil We shall water them With our tears Of dedication and loss And then join hands With the wife, son, senator, victim, survivor And plow our fertile dreams Like the framers of our country Impending decisions weighing on their conscious I too have small hands Struggling to express, describe To write The words that sit upon my tender, tired lips Tired from defending Tender for reassurance Must I remind that, â€Å"A poem should not mean, but be† Like the sisters of the 19th amendment Suppressed for their saturated loins I too still stand As a second class citizen But rejoice with the hands of pax That shook with those of adversity I vow to never retreat the pride I harbor Or allow the daggers of our prestigious leaders To crack the glass figurine That I am Like the many blessed soldiers of our motherland Sacrificing their flesh due to the power of one man I too am scared And pray for the glory Of a new and forgiving day For this world can be unwelcoming So damned be, I keep my armor on I refuse to shed blood on this land When there has been enough lost On soils across our vast seas Like me A hybrid formed from parts Of the pilgrim, framer, sister, and solider I too do imagine my image is a puzzling one to create So if I end as a blur in your mind Look to your hands, For a part of me is you and a part of you is me

Problem of evil Essay Example

Problem of evil Paper A) Objections Arising from Evil in the World, explain what is meant by this claim The word evil is a word which can be used very loosely, usually used to describe something we think to be morally wrong, something that when in inflicted on a person causes pain and suffering. However, if an evil act is committed by someone who has been in all other aspects good, does this act make this person evil? There are many different situations where evil acts could be done all with different circumstances and consequences. For example; at Auschwitz, so many guards were involved in the slaughter of massive amounts of Jews but it seems unlikely that all of them were evil. The actions may be considered evil but they were normalised by the sense of responsibility felt by the guards. In their eyes, they were carrying out a duty so the question of whether they are to be labelled evil is indefinite. There are two recognised categories which evil can fall under: Moral evil and Natural evil. Richard Swimburne, a modern day philosopher describes moral evil as including all evil caused deliberately by humans doing what they ought not to do, and also the evil constituted by such deliberate acts or negligent failure. It is the result of a human action which is morally wrong, such as murder or war. Natural evil is the result of apparent malfunctioning in the natural world, it is according to John Hick the evil that originates independently of human actions. It is in disease, in bacilli, in earthquakes, in storms, and in droughts. We will write a custom essay sample on Problem of evil specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Problem of evil specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Problem of evil specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The fact that evil, or suffering is an undeniable factor in our lives presents an array of problems in todays world where there is a strong belief by many of a higher power which should in theory, be able to eradicate it from the world or in fact never have let it come to exist in the first place. For believers in the God of Classical Theism, this problem of evil as it is often referred to, creates a serious dilemma. Moral evil is an easier problem to tackle for a theist than that of Natural evil, as it can be said that it occurs from the misuse of freewill, but they are still faced with justifying the existence of Natural evil. If God created the world from nothing, then there is nothing beyond His control so for whatever reason, God must be the creator of evil and suffering. A theist can sometimes be faced with justifying both types of evil as natural evils like tsunamis and hurricanes are often the cause of people committing moral evils like looting. The problem is not easily justifiable and is illustrated in The Inconsistent Triad, which states the points: God is omnipotent and omniscient (A), God is all-loving (B), and evil exists (C). These three statements cannot all be true so it would seem that one of them is false, but since we know evil and suffering exist the inconsistency must lie in one of the other 2 points. The conclusions drawn from this are that either God is not omnipotent and cannot stop evil from existing, or that God is not all-loving and chooses not to stop evil existing, or that in fact God does not exist. This can be used as an argument for the non-existence of God. A quote from Swimburne on the Problem of Evil, There is a problem about why God allows evil, and if the theist doesnt have (in a cool moment) a satisfactory answer to it, then his belief in God is less than rational and there is no reason why the atheist should share it. An example of the problem being used in this way is in Humes combat of Thomas Aquinas Design Argument (Summa Thelogica) where he labels the Problem of Evil as The Rock of Atheism. However, whilst being a problem for theists in that it challenges the nature of God, it also poses problems in other ways. It presents itself as a philosophical problem as it compels the believer to accept conflicting claims that are logically impossible to reconcile. It is also a diverse problem; evil manifests itself in many different ways, demanding separate explanations. The problem of evil has proved itself to be a challenging problem, as it is not just going to disappear, evil and suffering are objective realities which are almost impossible to deny. B) Unpack two theodicies and analyse which how successful these are As I said, the justification of Gods allowance for the existence of evil is not easy, but there are many theodicies which have developed that provide strong arguments. A theodicy is a theory that justifies why God allows evil without qualifying the attributes of the God of Classical Theism. Two of which are those of Augustine and Irenaeus. Augustines theodicy has had considerable influence over many scholars since it was developed and attempts to provide justification for both moral and natural evil. According to Augustine, the perfect God created a flawless world where evil and suffering did not exist, and that God is not responsible for the existence of evil as it is not a substance, but in fact a deprivation of good. He uses an analogy of blindness to illustrate his meaning, as blindness itself is not an entity but an absence of sight. Augustine claims that evil comes from angels and humans who have deliberately turned against God and abused his gift of freewill. He states that evil is necessary in a created world as only the uncreated creator can be perfect, his creations are susceptible to change. Augustines idea on the existence of Natural evil is that it exists as a punishment for the Original Sin, which we are all guilty of as we were all seminally present in Adam at the time it was committed. Natural evil punishes us for the destruction of the natural order by human action. For these reasons God is right not to intervene and the fact that he does save some through Christ emphasises His mercy. God would be justified in sending everyone to hell for being guilty of the Original Sin, the fact that some go to heaven shows Gods goodness. Augustines theodicy has some substantial strengths, as is proved by its popularity. Brian Davies is an example of a scholar who supports his claim that evil is only a deprivation of good rather than having a proper existence, he said it is a gap between what there is and what there ought to be. To criticise would be to say that God should have created more than he did which doesnt make sense; how is anyone to know how much more should have been created. Augustines views on evil being a product of freewill have also been upheld. Despite its strengths, Augustines theodicy has many holes in it to be addressed, it contains logical, scientific, and moral difficulties. Augustines concept of Hell comes under scrutiny; Hell is part of Gods design of the universe, so it was created before the worlds flaws began to appear, which means that God must have anticipated and accepted that the world would go wrong. F.D.E Schleiermacher expresses his logical contradiction to Augustines views on the origin of evil and a perfect world going wrong, Schleiermacher informs us that whether evil is a deprivation or not it is still real and it is therefore logically impossible for it to just come out of nothing. This means that evil must be connected to God and he either never created the world perfect or he made it so it was able to falter. Another logical difficulty of this theodicy comes of the capacity to do evil in a perfect world and disobey God, as in a perfect world no knowledge of good and evil should exist. The knowledge of them could only come from God. Scientific difficulties stem from the modern worlds concept of evolution; the idea of a perfect world being damaged by humans does not allow for evolution. Moreover, Augustine refers to the Garden of Eden in his theodicy, and this paradise is hard to accept on the basis of evolution. A final difficulty lies with the concept of us all being seminally present in Adams loins, this is biologically impossible so we cannot all be responsible for the Original Sin. From comparing the strengths with the criticisms we can see that Augustines theodicy ultimately fails. The theodicy of Irenaeus is another which provides a formidable answer to the question of why God allows evils existence. As said by Irenaeus, Gods aim when creating the world was to make humans in his likeness, but to do this, humans could not be made perfect but had to develop through free will. It was therefore necessary for God to give us free will and therefore necessary to give us the potential to turn against him. If he didnt enable this, we could never attain Gods likeness as according to Ireneaus it requires willing co-operation. The natural order had to be designed in a way where humans could cause harm, which they did resulting in suffering, but God still cannot compromise our freedom by removing evil. Ireneaus claims that the evil and suffering will eventually be overcome and everyone will attain Gods likeness and reside in Heaven. This justifies temporary evil, which if complying with Ireneaus thought enables the understanding of good. Many philosophers have added to Ireneaus theodicy including John Hick (who claims that good developed from free will is better than ready-made goodness), and Peter Vardy who used an analogy of a king to illustrate this where a king falls in love with a peasant girl but rather than imposing his power on her and forcing him to marry her, he wins her over. They both believe that without development our goodness would be without value, we would be automatons. According to this theodicy, humans had to be created imperfect to be able to go against God, and they had to be created at a distance from God so they could decide for themselves to believe in him. If we were sure he was there, there would be no free will, John Hick called this the epistemic distance. If God wasnt separated from humans we would know he was real and would live a good, moral life because we would know that it is in our best interests, it wouldnt be real goodness. Humans also couldnt be created in a paradise or else qualities such as courage would not be attainable and there would be no development as good and evil would be indistinguishable. The theodicy justifies natural evil as it makes the world well adapted to soul making (John Hick). The Modern Additions to this theodicy claim that heaven is the eventual goal for everyone for three reasons; a future in heaven is the only justification for the suffering of the world. Secondly, if life were to end in death Gods purpose would be unfulfilled since we would not be reaching our goal of becoming Gods likeness. Lastly, nobody can be overlooked as evil acts are carried out in different circumstances for different people. For example, someone who was abused while being raised is much more likely to be abusive as an adult, it is something they are used to and have become desensitised to. There are solid criticisms of Irenaeus theodicy as well as Augustines: For example, everyone going to heaven defies religious texts as well as making it pointless to live a moral life, why bother if you are going to heaven anyway? It also takes away the incentive to develop into Gods likeness which Irenaeus regarded of utmost importance. Another critique is of the level of suffering needed to make the world adapted for soul making, e.g. Was the Holocaust really necessary? Finally, it can be said that love can never be expressed through suffering, supported by D.Z Philips who said it is not justifiable to hurt someone to help them. To conclude, neither of these theodicies can be considered perfect by any means, but Ireneaus is the stronger of the two. Where Augustine fails to provide room for belief in evolution, Ireneaus manages it and while Augustine cannot provide a logical explanation for the origin of evil, Irenaeus provides a stable reason for it. It is also popular, like Augustines for its views on free will.

Asturias, The Spanish Autonomy essays

Asturias, The Spanish Autonomy essays Spain is a country filled with diverse cultures and many exciting sights. These sights can be seen in the most rural part of the country or the most densely populated. Asturias is an autonomy located in the North West portion of Spain. Autonomies are self-governing bodies, which are comparable to the States of the United States. For those of you who arent familiar with Spain, Asturias lies between Glacia and Basque Country. In 1978 it was granted a pre-autonomy regime and on January 11th 1982 its Autonomy Statute came into effect. This officially gave the historic name of Principality of Asturias. The three largest cities in Asturias are Oviedo, Gijon, and Aviles. The region's capital, Oviedo, located more or less at its geographical center, is especially remarkable for its pre-roman monuments and its great cathedral. Gijon is a historic city, founded by Romans, and is today one of the most important sea-ports and offers active cultural life. Aviles is one of the oldest settlements of the area, is of great economical importance too, but conserves as well its traditional style. Some seem refer to it as the industrial capital of the autonomy. Throughout history, the Asturians have been regarded as quite rebellious. This attitude dates back to ancient times when they, along with the Cantrabrians, resisted the emperor Augustus at a time when the rest of the peninsula was under the tight grip of Rome. The Asturians succeeded and thrived for many years. Around the 10th century, the Asturian monarchy shifted southward. The capital of Asturias was changed from Oviedo to Leon. The monarchy began to call itself Leonese. Although it was now regarded as a providence of the Castilian Leonese Crown, Asturias played an important role in the Spanish battles during the Middle Ages. In 1388, during the rule of Juan I, a new government was formed and it was decided that the title Prince of Astu...

CASE STUDY Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Case Study Example The employees of AIG believed that the company had an obligation to pay them their bonuses, while the public thought that the bonuses were unethical as the money had come from federal reserves. Companies should have well-detailed contracts with employees clearly showing when bonuses should be paid and cases when the company may fail to issue the bonuses, to prevent such scenarios in the future. External regulations ensure that firms and individuals act ethically towards the general public. They are very efficient as in the AIG case where a 90% tax was imposed on the bonuses thereby protecting the general public. The company had an obligation to pay the employees their bonuses while at the same time had an obligation to the public to use the bailout money prudently. To ensure that both requirements were met the company needed to pay the bonuses in installments depending on future profits that the company made. The company should have used the bailout out money first to get back to profit ways and later pay the bonuses to deserving employees. eBay pursued international growth through their three main components; products, sense of community and aggressive expansion. It had a broad range of product categories and trading platforms that offered a wide variety of pricing formats allowing it to compete directly with major competitors such as amazon.com and to penetrate new markets. eBay created trust between buyers and sellers and enlarged their market ventures through the creation of more localized sites. The greatest source of competitive advantage for eBay at the moment is its broad capital base. With an average net income of about $2 billion yearly, eBay has a large capital base that allows it to deal with competitors through acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Through acquisitions, eBay has attempted to acquire a stake in the