“This class felt like sitting in a bar with a really smart friend who’s explaining something you haven’t grasped, but are about to.”

This morning we stumbled upon Peter Norvig’s TEDTalks about “The 100,000-Student Classroom” where he shared about his experience setting up and teaching Introduction to Artificial Intelligence online class to students from more than 200 countries.

And then we learn at least 3 reasons why online class works so well:

1. Online class is just like a one-on-one tutoring.

Maybe you’re one of those students who take one-on-one tutoring session after school. There’s a reason why tutoring is effective: the teacher gives you his/her full attention, and you are not going to get distracted by your peers. And that’s just the case with online class. Even though the teachers actually teach thousands of students, it feels like a one-on-one tutoring session. Only you and your tutor (and your laptop, of course).

2. You’ll be less bored.

Why? Because aside from the fact that you can just pause it everytime you don’t feel like studying, the videos can be made shorter, with interactive quizzes between every topic discussed. Norvig realized that the best way to learn is for students to be actively participating, so he made interactive quizzes with open-ended questions that stimulate students’ mind.

“We didn’t want students to memorize the formulas; we wanted to change the way they looked at the world,” said Norvig.

3. The discussion forum!

It is no longer about teacher telling students what they know. Online class, with its discussion forum, enables peers to interact with each other. After all, one teacher can’t handle all the 100,000 students.

Norvig believes that, “…peers can be the best teachers, because they’re the ones that remember what it’s like to not understand.”

Baca juga: Alasan Daphne Koller Membuat Coursera

Header image credit: broward.edu.vn