Khan/Koller Review

     Sal Khan created Khan Academy, an educational organization which offers online lectures for anyone. I have actually used Khan Academy myself to supplement my learning in higher education math and science courses. It's incredibly useful, easy to use, and best of all, free. The videos are short but clear, and they include examples in each one. I would love to use Khan Academy in my future classroom as well. I may just suggest the website to my students for personal use, or I may include it in my curriculum. It would be extremely beneficial for a high school math class if students could watch videos of the material at home on their own time, reviewing it as much as necessary, as this would free up class time to work on example problems together. Being available to help students during the problem solving process is critical if teachers are to correct misconceptions and answer questions along the way. 

     Sal Khan also believes that future generations will rely more on "credentialing" from online courses rather than traditional university degrees. This would be beneficial in that it allows for very specialized instruction, and it would be more accessible for students who do not have the financial means for higher education or those students who don't want to relocate. It also allows incredible flexibility with scheduling since online coursework can be done anytime when a student has access to a computer and the internet. 

     Daphne Koller created Coursera, another online program that offers lectures and courses to students anywhere. Koller's website uses videos recorded by professors from top universities, and offers a large variety of subject areas. I used Coursera in the past to review Calculus from an Ohio State professor, and it was very easy to navigate and helpful for covering content I haven't studied for several years. I think I would also enjoy taking a course on social media marketing, as this is sure to be a necessary skill for future generations. For now, courses are not eligible for transfer credit at Columbus State or Ohio State, but they still offer a great opportunity to supplement university coursework. As far as level of difficulty, Coursera courses seem to offer the same challenge that a normal course would. They do carry the name of top universities in the country, but I still believe the curriculum is the same. These so called MOOCs, massive open online courses, may be the wave of the future since they can reach large numbers of students from anywhere in the world in a very efficient manner. This is incredibly cost effective for the student, and can also allow for greater flexibility for students who have to work a job along with college courses. I hope to see this greater scheduling flexibility and increased access to a variety of courses and universities be accepted as commonplace in the years to come.