Online classes and accessibility

I am finally on my way to create an online class on Engineering Dynamics.  I am very excited about it, and I think it is coming along well.   My experience with Livescribe pens has been phenomenal.  I will post a sample of my lecture here soon.  Quite honestly, online classes have been my interest, and also a concern.   I thought at least for a month before I could make up my mind about moving this class online.  Our students work hard, they work full time or part time, and their schedules do not allow them to spend all days at school.  Sometimes the standard M-W-F or TR schedule does not work for them at all.   So after a lot of debate, I have offered this class online.  I am thrilled but also taking my time to design the lesson plan so it will be a meaningful experience, and not another online class.

As luck would have it, I came across this article in Chronicle recently, "Debating the ‘Flipped Classroom’ at Stanford" by Marc Parry (http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/debating-the-flipped-classroom-at-stanford/34811
).   While I did enjoy the article very much, (and I would encourage anyone developing an online course to read it to get a student's perspective on online classes),  I did not feel the word "Flipped Classroom" conveys the kind of teaching and learning that takes place. Actually I am a bit partial to the word "Hybrid class" - that conveys the meaning well in my opinion.   In the article, Parry informs the readers of a blog about online classes at Stanford by Ben Rudolf, a Stanford student.  The original blog post by the student is at http://pennyhacks.com/2011/12/28/stanford-free-classes-a-review-from-a-stanford-student.  In his blog, he says that “Online lectures suck. Sure, they’re great for rainy days or people learning at a distance or people that don’t go to Stanford. However, these new classes are getting rid of in-person lectures completely. I met barely anyone in my CS229a class. Everything was done alone in my room, which is kind of crappy especially when there is such a nice campus right outside." Rudolf also says at the end, "If all of Stanford’s classes are to be open to the public, then all those classes will quickly lose their value. By establishing a separation between the students and the public, Stanford will maintain the value of the classes for its students and the public will still be able to learn about a variety of topics."

While I sympathize with Mr. Rudolf about his unhappiness about the loneliness that he experienced during his online class, I feel he is missing the point about being open or accessible to public.  The first problem: loneliness students experience in an online classroom is a real issue.  To address this problem,  the instructor must be accessible, motivated and responsible to create engaging lectures, and assignments,  In addition the student in an online class also must assume a larger, more responsible role for his/her own learning.  When I am developing my online Dynamics class  this year, I am trying to focus on creating an engaging online environment for students to learn. 

But for the "separation" that Rudolf insists on bringing between public and students, I would like to gently point out that Stanford  is not educating Stanford students in isolation.  Yes, Stanford is responsible for most of the learning that happens at Stanford, but their students (like most students at most universities these days) receive education and information from a variety of online sources including news, blogs, DIY project websites, YouTube videos, Facebook or Twitter,  before they get into those classrooms.  While Stanford must have right to its intellectual property, I believe Stanford is doing a great service by offering increased access to its courses and expertise and by being inclusive, rather than creating a divide between public and Stanford students that is unnecessary and unnatural.