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Comment by roguecoder | Hacker News Reader

I'm sure we've all experienced the HR videos with the questions at the end of each section to make sure you didn't just leave it running while you watched The Big Bang theory. Do we really think kids are going to become more engaged if school is more like an HR training session?

I do agree that lectures make no sense at all (the were pioneered when books were extremely expensive to reproduce; books are now free to reproduce), but I think limiting ourselves to "lectures, only now not live so we don't have to pay teachers and with extra busywork tests" isn't going to revolutionize the field unless all we care about is cutting spending further.

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The Stanford class videos are not at all like what you are referring to.

The difference between HR videos and lecture videos like what Stanford is doing now is huge - the people watching the HR videos don't want to be there. People that signed up for the Stanford classes are interested students, which makes all the difference in the world.

So true. Someone should look at learning tools and systems from the "customer" perspective. Are they already interested/willing to learn? How hard is it to motivate them?

I think we all had these moments when we really wanted to learn something. Than the medium of delivery is more or less the least important aspect of it.

I see what you're saying about the quiz questions every few minutes.

On the other hand, she's not arguing for limiting ourselves to video lectures. Her point (see page 2) is that class time is precious and shouldn't be wasted on lecturing but on problem solving, critical thinking, and discussion, and this I totally agree with. (Why is it taking institutions so long to figure this out?)

The best teachers practice differentiated learning, teaching to a variety of learning styles at once. This is essentially using technology to maximize the human element necessary in teaching and then facilitate groups of students who are working at their own pace to demonstrate learning. Keeps students engaged and holds them accountable.

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