The Testing Effect

Testing is a controversial subject. But, in spite of the controversy, kids who attend school are routinely tested and retested. They are quizzed, assessed, examined, graded and ranked in every grade and every subject. Given our cultural obsession with testing, it's almost inconceivable for teachers or administrators to think of education without also thinking of testing. It seems inescapable.

How did we ever become convinced that testing is the best way to ensure that learning takes place?

As a home educator, the idea of testing was foreign to me. I raised my kids from birth to age six without ever testing them, yet they learned to walk, talk, read, sing, dance, knit, bake, sew, write, and more. How is it possible that they could have mastered so many things without being tested on them? I don't know. They were curious; they learned. I tried not to interfere too much.

When Should You Pay for Learning?

"When should you pay for learning?" is a question most of us ask at some point in our lives. Home educators, who generally strive to keep expenses low, constantly perform a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether a particular resource or class will be worth the money. Parents, whether they homeschool or not, wonder if their kids would benefit from a private school or extra tutoring. High school seniors, planning for the future, wisely ask whether it is worth the high cost of tuition to attend college full time. Similarly, older adults weigh the expense of extra courses or special training against the opportunities for pursuing a new career or enhancing their weekly paychecks. 

Lately, the proliferation of free, online courses has encouraged people to think harder about what they are paying for when they pay for learning. Personally, my own experiences with online courses (both free and fee-per-credit ones) have been mixed. When I evaluate online courses, there are five factors I consider:

1. Content: How informative and engaging is the actual course material? Does it include only text and images (similar to a textbook) or are there also embedded videos and interactive experiences?
2. Expertise: Will I have access to a subject matter expert?
3. Social learning: Are there opportunities to learn with others who share my interest in a subject? What type of forums are in place for online discussions?
4. Motivation: Do I have enough self-discipline and interest to work on my own, or do I need a coach to push me?
5. Credentials: Am I studying this subject to improve my understanding or to improve my chances of being accepted into a program (or job) that requires a specific set of credentials? 

Course providers still seem to be in the learning phase, trying to design courses to meet a variety of needs. I believe online courses will continue to improve over time, and many are already quite good. Still, few succeed in doing everything well. That's why it's important to consider exactly what a course offers before spending any money.

www.AcademicEarth.org

Academic Earth, MIT OpenCourseWare, the Open Learning Initiative (from Carnegie Mellon University), iTunes University (with courses from  Stanford, Berkeley, and many other colleges and universities)—all these provide access to content in the same way that libraries give us access to books, but without the due dates or patron ID requirements. I can "take what I like and leave the rest," picking and choosing the lectures or subtopics I need from as many courses as I want. I can then remix the content to suit my own learning goals. If my main interest is in educational content, these free repositories serve my needs well. 

Free courses offered by providers like Coursera and EdX are similarly open to all, but they follow a predetermined schedule so the pacing is less flexible. While it is possible for students to participate as much (or as little) as they want to get what they need from the courses, the experience is less like accessing a library and more like attending a class—which can be a good thing, depending on what you want.

Fee-based online college courses (such as those offered by the Community College System of New Hampshire) package content in an inflexible way that limits access: I have to pay for an entire course, even if I'm interested in only a few topics within that course. "By the module" or "by the hour" options are not available, at least not yet. That's why, when I consider whether it is worth paying for a course, I consider how much of the course content will be of use to me (or my teenage son, who has also taken online courses). I'm also aware that my grade—and any credit I may be hoping to earn—depends upon how well I complete all of the assignments, even the ones that may not be of use to me (for example, if they cover material I have already mastered or have no interest in learning). 

When it comes to accessing expertise and social learning, neither MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses) nor formal college courses have a monopoly. Quality in either case varies from course to course, just as it does on any college campus. As a consumer, I'm going to seek out the best experiences I can find, wherever they might be. The professors and students who participate in an online program at an accredited college might be uniquely engaged and knowledgeable, and thus worth the expense. However, since I have had some positive experiences with free online courses, I would also consider them as reasonable options for learning. I wouldn't assume a free online course is inferior just because it isn't expensive or accredited.  

If I'm looking primarily for extra motivation, I'm going to need an instructor or peer group that keeps me engaged. For example, when I wanted to be sure I would set aside time every day to write, I enrolled in a formal writing program. Likewise, my son enrolled in a formal Latin course with teacher support when he was required to study a second language because he knew he'd never do it on his own. The course helped him to stay on track. In contrast, when he was looking for a course in programming, a subject he was highly motivated to learn on his own, he chose to enroll in a free online course (MIT 6.00x: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming). The free course lacked formal teacher support but offered forums for asking questions and participating in peer-to-peer interactions. 

Depending on your goals, perhaps credentials are the most important consideration. We've all suffered through at least one boring, ineffective course just to get the grade or degree we wanted. Still, I doubt I'm the only one who believes it would be best if students could choose from the most engaging, educational courses available—regardless of where the courses were offered or how little they cost. But in practice students are inclined, or perhaps required, to choose the expensive course for credit over the free one for no credit. (Not long ago, I saw this truth in action when I audited an undergraduate course at a small liberal arts college in my area. There was no fee for auditing: I simply asked the professor if I could, and he said yes. The subject was interesting, the teacher was good, and overall it was a great learning experience. "So, why don't more people audit classes?" I wondered. I still don't know the answer, but the reaction to my decision to audit a class was revealing as astonished students asked me, "Why are you taking this class if you aren't going to get credit for it?")

So, why do we pay for learning? There was a time when we paid for access to high-quality content and expert instruction. Now, with vast repositories of online information available to us 24/7, we question whether it's worth paying $100 for a single textbook. While we're still willing to pay for expert assistance, we'd like to receive it on our own terms, as occasional tutoring or the educational equivalent of a technical support hotline (especially if those options cost less than hiring a full-time professor for a semester). We'll also pay for coaching to help us stay motivated. And, until other options for demonstrating mastery become more widely acceptable, we're still willing to pay to get official credit for taking classes, even if we wouldn't be willing to take those classes (for free!) without the credit. 

The Biggest Class I've Ever Attended

I've recently registered for a course called "Learning Creative Learning," and the confirmation email I received indicated that I was one of 15,000 to sign up. Wait, is that correct? A course with 15,000 people? How exactly will that work? I guess I'm about to find out.

The course is being offered by Peer-2-Peer University (P2PU) and the MIT Media Lab. It isn't the first Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) to be offered, but it may be one of the most ambitious. Participants are connecting from all around the world (literally—see this map of participants, which was created by Adriano Parracciani), and the course will use subgroups to facilitate online discussions. The groups will be formed as participants sign up together or, for individuals who don't sign up with a group, the groups will be randomly generated.

Live seminars, readings, activities, and peer reviews are all part of the experience. It will be interesting to see how well the technology handles such a massive enrollment. I'm also wondering how the format and content will compare to other online courses. The course begins on February 11, so I plan to post more details then.

MIT Quality, EdX Accessibility

For his fall semester, my son enrolled in an Introduction to Computer Science and Programming course through EdX, a "a not-for-profit enterprise built upon the shared educational missions of its founding partners, Harvard University and MIT." If you have never heard of EdX, take a few minutes to read About EdX before you go on. At the very least, check out the selection of free courses they offer. While all of the courses are described as undergraduate level, a highly motivated high school student could learn from them as well.

As with all of the EdX courses, Introduction to Computer Science and Programming was entirely free, no strings attached. Students have the option of purchasing a textbook (for only $24.99—a great price compared to the cost of most college textbooks), but even so the course does not rely on it, so it is truly optional. In fact, instead of purchasing the optional textbook, my son decided he would take his chances with a book we already owned (Python in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference by Alex Martelli), and it was more than adequate. 

Now let me digress for a moment to point out that this, right now, is a special moment in time, and I predict it will not last. We have an opportunity to benefit from all of the prestigious universities who want to research how students learn and how technology can transform learning. To test their ideas, they need to experiment. So, here they are, offering free courses as a sort of preliminary field test. We get to explore these courses, for free, as they are being developed. Naturally, the courses won't be perfect, but I've noticed that they are getting better all the time. Eventually, they'll get really good, and at that point I expect the Great Course Giveaway will most likely end and be replaced by a pay-as-you-go type of system. But for now? Enjoy the freebies.