Comments on: World History MOOC Report 1: In which I am underwhelmed.

By: World History MOOC Report 12: In which I am in a state of confusion. « More or Less Bunk

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:00:44 +0000

[...] platform really isn’t serving the cause of global education very well at all. I’ve already complained about the old method of lecturing not fitting the new MOOC delivery system. As I’m writing [...]

By: That Was The Week That Was « The Pietist Schoolman

That Was The Week That Was « The Pietist Schoolman — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 17:50:03 +0000

[...] Carr isn’t sure they’re all they’re cracked up to be (H/T Alan Jacobs) and Jonathan Rees is less than impressed after his experience with a Coursera world history course (H/T Mark [...]

By: MOOCs and the History Classroom « Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 11:35:07 +0000

[...] of my favorite bloggers, Jonathan Rees, has been hammering the MOOC (massive open online course) that he enrolled in. Led by Princeton University history professor [...]

By: VanessaVaile

VanessaVaile — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:22:13 +0000

PS this from Steve Krause just landed in my reader, http://stevendkrause.com/2012/09/19/17-more-universities-jump-aboard-the-coursera-express/

Recently I’ve come across references to homeschoolers getting credit for courses and high school teachers using them to meet PD requirements (now that public schools are having a harder time picking up the tab).

By: VanessaVaile

VanessaVaile — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:12:46 +0000

A number of FantasySF students from non-affiliated FB group registered in history. When I mentioned a “real history prof” being it, they clamored for the link and are now discussing it. More than a few are also underwhelmed and agree with other points.

By: Vim, Ph.D. (@Exhaust_Fumes)

Vim, Ph.D. (@Exhaust_Fumes) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:17:23 +0000

…and of course that was a terrible thing to say, for Valeria’s sake, and impolitic for my own, since I will probably apply to History PhD programs this year. Still, as a feminist scholar in another field who has spent multiple years in 2 graduate programs and nearly as many in a tenure-track job, I guess I shouldn’t be afraid to say what I think in public.

By: Vim, Ph.D. (@Exhaust_Fumes)

Vim, Ph.D. (@Exhaust_Fumes) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:08:05 +0000

The exchanges (if you can call them that) with Valeria are pretty awful. They reminded me of when Howard Stern would ask Robin for her response after going on and on so that she basically had one thing that she could possibly say and maintain the point he had laid out. Obviously, the lectures are not akin to Howard Stern rants–I admit it’s not really fair to make this comparison–but the brief moment in which the female subordinate gets to say something so basic nonetheless brought the dynamic to my mind. I would feel humiliated if I had that role.

By: Jonathan Rees

Jonathan Rees — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:00:45 +0000

James:

Did I hear right that the grad students write the quiz questions?

By: RAB

RAB — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:42:58 +0000

Depressing to have my expectations confirmed!

By: James Atherton

James Atherton — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:33:03 +0000

My copy of the textbook has not arrived yet, so I admit that I may not have got the whole picture–I’m expecting to find details such as dates, there.

I’ll go into this in more detail on my own blog in a day or two, but I too have been struck by the gratuitous conservatism of the presentation. And the treatment of Valeria as interlocutor–is this guy aware he is insulting her with elementary-school questions?