Critique of an Open Course Site

 I would like to introduce to you Open Course Sites, sometimes known as Open Course Ware. I choose MIT, yes, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for an example. At MIT Open Course Ware there are ten duooctogintillion (1 followed by 250 zeros) courses. Ok, maybe not that many, but there are a lot of courses!

The example I will evaluate is 8.01 Physics I: Classical Mechanics with Professor Walter Lewin (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-01-physics-i-classical-mechanics-fall-1999/index.htm). This course stated that it is one of the most popular courses at MIT Open Course Ware. 

In reference to layout and preparation, this was well done for a F2F (Face to Face) lecture. When it comes to distance education and planning, this course falls short on communication with the professor, but I believe they are in some way covered if it is a true distance education course for credit.  

This course was not designed to have a threaded discussion with the professor or facilitator. “The threaded discussion is one of the most powerful techniques used in distance education, and the role of the instructor and student related to threaded discussions is important to clarify.” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2009, p.186) according to Teaching and Learning at a Distance. This was the part of the course in regards to planning that was lacking, but they did use OpenStudy.com as a peer to peer discussion forum. 

What are the recommendations for an online learning environment? It is essential to list the components of the learning or instructional system. “These components are the learner, the content, the method, and materials, and the environment, including the technology. “(Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2009, p.127)  “The components must interact both effectively to produce quality learning experiences. There should be a balance among the components – none can take a higher position than the other.” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2009, p.127)

Dissecting the online learning environment that MIT Open Course Ware created is different in some ways. This course is Open Course which means it does not have grades or credits; but you can also say that corporate training does not have grades or credits either. In fact, corporate training should have interactions with the facilitator in some manner, such as email or a discussion forum. MIT uses OpenStudy.com as their discussion forum but it is strictly among peers or other students.

The course did follow all the other recommendations for online learning materials. MIT used video of the lecture, and PDFs of the readings, lecture notes, and tests. MIT gave a PDF of the answers for the tests. There were also an introductory video, a syllabus, and a calendar.

The activities were homework assignments and then an answer key for the homework. Therefore, the course did have activities. Optimally, there could be different types of activities and more interactive activities, but credit must be given because this is a class from 1999.

Overall this was a great course with a very interesting professor. I would recommend this course to a student who is interested in Physics.

Reference:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., and Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.