Digital Humanities & Content Management

(via MOOC vs. Book: Each Helps the Other (Part 3 of 3) | Class Central's MOOC Report)

In keeping with thoughts I’ve shared in previous posts, I’m in strong agreement with Dr. Oakley about the synergy between texts and MOOCs. I know for me personally, in future MOOCs, when books are recommended or available, I’ll be using them, as my best experience with a MOOC so far has been when I acquired the accompanying text. 

Last week, I finally completed Introduction to Philosophy. My final grade was just over 90%. I felt particularly proud of this one. I was proud because I stuck with it, even when I fell behind. I was excited to step outside of my comfort zone and explore a new subject to me (something that MOOCs are great for.) 

Here is my review: 

To start off, for an introductory class, this covers a large amount and variety of material. It might be better served to break it up into even smaller sections over the course of something like ten weeks or even twelve instead of cramming it all into seven weeks.

The lectures are enjoyable, but often they consist of nothing but the professor speaking. There are so many new terms, definitions, and ideas being introduced that it would help if these lectures also included slides or graphs with some of these ideas being broken down, as you would have in a regular class on a projector or on a chalkboard.

Frequently, the practice quizzes are just the same questions from the video lectures repeated over again, and offer very little prep for the actual quizzes, which can be a bit pedantic for a non-credit course. Every section has a different style of quiz, which is hard to prepare for. I am someone who usually tests well and have been struggling with most of these, even when I read all of the handouts and take notes.

So, if this same course could be broken up over a slightly longer time and the quizzes could be more uniform, the lectures contained some slides, the course would be a brilliant introduction to philosophy overall. It's got all of the meat there, the presentation just makes it tough to digest. Don’t be afraid to take this one more than once if you want to get the most out of it. 

(via Why you should take notes by hand — not on a laptop - Vox)

(via Testing the Possibilities of Online Education with Museum MOOCs)

(via Crash Course Philosophy: Hank Green’s Fast-Paced Introduction to Philosophy Gets Underway on YouTube)

via Open Culture -

“Vlogbrothers and “Nerdfighter” online personalities Hank and John Green set about conquering the world of educational media a few years ago—while also writing bestselling novels, recording popular albums, and creating startups and charitable organizations on the side. They’ve almost succeeded, with their “Crash Course” video series steamrolling its way through U.S. History, World History, and theHistory of Everything Else, as well as Psychology, Literature, the Sciences, and, now, Philosophy, just above, with Hank taking on the professorial duties. “It’s gonna be hard,” he says in the intro video above, “and enlightening, and frustrating, and if I do my job properly it’s going to stick with you long after you and I have parted ways.”

One thing I have not addressed yet since I’ve started sharing my experiences with alternative learning experiences is cost. 

A great thing about MOOCs (or, Massive Open Online Courses) is that they are usually free to access, particularly if you are seeking to follow the class at your own pace or do not need certification. While I’ve been primarily utilizing what’s available through the website Coursera, a few good online searches will show you that a number of traditional colleges and universities make some MOOCs available to the public on their own websites. There are a variety of open source courses across the web - from lecture videos made available through You Tube to open archives from museums and libraries. 

Naturally, for those accessing MOOCs for continuing education and for career purposes, the need to have some kind of accredited validation for one’s work and what they have learned arises. It’s one thing to say, “I learned about programming on this website.” It’s something else entirely to have confirmation that you have completed a course and have at least an adequate understanding of the subject matter. Because of this demand, some MOOC providers began offering optional certificates for satisfactory completion of a course, and even for specializations spanning several courses related to a specific topic or area of study. 

This is what I have chosen to do for the courses I’m pursuing. I’ve browsed similar certificate offerings on other course sites, and most seem to fall within a price range of $70-$100 per course, though some are as little as $50 and even $30. These are comparable and even significantly less than the cost of similar continuing education courses offered by colleges and community centers. Add to this that you have the convenience of being able to access your course material from anywhere that you can connect to the internet, and this further saves time and money. 

Some people opt to complete the free version of a course, then retake or apply for a certificate afterwards. Some enroll in the certificate program right away. While the courses and fees vary slightly, specializations are set up so that you can pay for each course one at a time, or for the entire series of courses. This is a huge advantage over other specializations I’ve seen from learning centers and bootcamps, which often require up-front payment for all. 

Coursera rolled out an option to apply for financial assistance. It is still relatively new, from what I understand, and is based on a kind of honor system. When you apply, you are asked to fill out a questionnaire with your income and why you need assistance, along with your goals and how you plan to contribute as a student. It’s because of this financial assistance program that I have been able to pursue these courses. I have to say, I’m thankful to have access to this kind of resource.

While the lecture videos, handouts, and links to reading material are adequate enough to pass each course, there are recommended texts you can purchase. Often, the courses are based on materials found in these texts. I purchased a book that coincided with the “What a Plant Knows” MOOC I took two years ago for fun, and it helped me to really understand the material. I have not purchased recommended books for any of the courses I’m taking now. Some of the books can only be found on Amazon and are difficult to find in other bookstores or in libraries. An upside is that many of them are available in Kindle versions, so you can save even more money by purchasing them this way, which is what I may do. 

The Intro to Philosophy course I’ve been taking is almost over, and while I’ve been passing my quizzes, I feel I would have had a better time grasping the material if I had the recommended book that went along with it. I plan on purchasing the book later (but soon) to read through - hopefully, it will help retain some of what I’ve learned and expand on the subject a bit. 

I made a wishlist that I have been adding titles to as I go along. It’s a smart way to keep track of that. Perhaps paying for course certification on MOOCs and other online courses could include a code for rental of e-books for the duration of the course? This would cut down costs without simply providing the book absolutely for free.

(via The 50 Most Popular MOOCs of All Time)

Introduction to Philosophy ranked #17.

Relevant to what we’re studying this week:

In Intro to Philosophy this week, we covered the primary types of morality

Objectivism, Relativism, and Emotivism. 

Good lectures, but the best information came from recommended external reading (Heavy stuff!) some of which included...

The Definition of Morality

Moral Realism 1

Putting these ideas into some contemporary context -

One might say that the sensationalist media that is popular right now appeals to the engagement of people’s Emotive Morality. 

However, many ideals being popularized by Intersectional Feminism and alternative media, especially online, aim to make the world more inclusive and are based heavily Relativism. 

If you want to read more there is:

Moral Realism 2

Non-Cognitivism in Ethics (this one’s a doozy, but worthwhile reading.)

Moral Cognitivism vs Non-Cognitivism

Moral Relativism 1

This week, it was all about Alan Turing. 

When I initially signed up for these courses last year, they were more spread out. The sections I moved to that started this year all overlap. It just so happens that sections on Alan Turing in both the Philosophy course and the Internet History, Technology, and Security course fell on the same week, and it was fitting. 

I decided to review all of my previously completed course lectures to stay up to speed. The stories of the origins of early computing and wireless communications are fascinating, as they take place in the thick of World War II. Turing’s role in development of the Bombe machine, which was used to decode messages created by the German Enigma machine, was instrumental in turning the war around in favor of the allied forces. 

Turing’s later work on and testing machine intelligence was instrumental not only in technology, but in the study of how the mind works, and how minds and brains differ from computers. This was covered in a section in the philosophy course entitled “Minds, Brains, and Computers.” 

Last year, I watched the film The Imitation Game about the life of Alan Touring and his work. It’s heart-breaking to see how the government treated him when his homosexuality was discovered. This lead to his suicide, just 4 years after his work on the Turing Test. 

In addition to what’s available on Wikipedia, I found this website with links to Turing’s papers and a timeline of his biographical and professional milestones. It’s astounding how prolific he was in his short life. I can’t help but reflect on how we can be using technology better, or bothering to understand it better, or to at least ask more questions. Computing and the Internet are not just about tubes, wires, and codes. They’re about how technology can be utilized to advance various areas of science and even the human experience, or at least they should be. 

Computer technology is such an essential part of our everyday lives, that we take it for granted so easily. Artificial intelligence is a hot topic in terms of what we will be able to do with it and how it will affect our lives, but a human side to this discussion is often lost in the din over ‘what is the next big thing?’ Why aren’t we spending more time discussing how all of this technology is helping us understand how our own minds work? Why aren’t we spending more time asking how some of this might be hindering some of our functions? 

Additional Reading

A great thing about the MOOCs I’ve been taking is that, for the most part, everything you need to read to go along with each course is included, whether it’s excerpts from texts or links to external articles or video that are offered in addition to the lecture videos. 

Many courses also suggest books from which the courses are based on. They aren’t required reading to pass with a certificate, but I do find it’s helpful to read the additional texts. I did this with the Biology course What a Plant Knows, and it was a valuable experience.

I made a wishlist for e-books of the current suggested reading, because it ends up being so much more cost-effective. I put a basic Kindle on the list, as well, just to make it a little easier. 

(via Google just published a free, three-month course on deep learning | The Verge)

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4SPQdSNHC4)

This is the intro video for the Specialization in Social Media Marketing. Currently, I’m enrolled in the first section, which I mostly completed in the fall. This is my first time pursuing a specific specialization, so it will be an interesting experience. The individual courses are a little bit shorter in length than some I’ve been taking via Coursera, but the overall specialization spans over a few months. 

(via Gettier Problems | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

We’re now on Week 2 in Introduction to Philosophy, in which we’re being asked to consider “What is Knowledge?” as well as explore the concept of Gettier Problems.