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[Renato Assunção <assuncao@est.ufmg.br>]

Somebody's Eating Your Lunch
Blog @ CACM, September 28

Stanford University's new mass teaching experiment in classes for AI,
Machine Learning and Databases is drawing attention as a possible new
online teaching method. The university, drawing on computer science
expertise within the university and tapping into the excitement around
technology start-ups, is a natural for this type of serious online
teaching experiment. With nearly 100,000 people already registered for
the AI class alone, this places the new mass teaching experiment on
the same scale as the number of computer science undergraduate
students each year in the US.

It's too soon to say how successful these classes will be and there
are many easy criticisms to make. The first criticism is that simply
registering for a class does not imply learning. Yet, if only 10%
complete these classes, the scale of teaching still surpasses the
scale of any traditional process. The second criticism is that 1st
year excitement is difficult to maintain over time. Yet, if only 10%
take future classes, the scale of teaching still surpasses the scale
of any traditional process. Online teaching misses out on other
aspects of education, but for students not enrolled in a high quality
university program, this is simply not a relevant comparison. There
are also benefits to being online as well, as your time might be
better focused.

While critics debate the pros and cons of this teaching project, they
are not taking into account what's possible and what motivates people.
The prospect of teaching 1 student means you might review some notes.
The prospect of teaching 10 students means you prepare some slides.
The prospect of teaching 100 students means you polish your slides
well, trying to anticipate questions, and hopefully drawing on
experience from previous presentations. At nearly 100,000 students,
you must try very hard to make the presentation perfect including
serious testing with dry runs. In addition to Stanford, a number of
other top research universities could operate at the same scale. Going
forward, the success or not of Stanford's attempts will raise
questions about the differences between "mega-classes" and "boutique
classes."