{"id":376,"date":"2012-10-04T17:45:43","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T21:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/?p=376"},"modified":"2015-05-14T12:42:49","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T16:42:49","slug":"whats-next-in-online-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/whats-next-in-online-education\/376","title":{"rendered":"What’s next in online education?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, I wrote and performed\u00a0Public Speaking Fundamentals<\/a>\u00a0for the Lynda.com Online Training Library. I wrote the scripts from April through June, and then flew out to California to shoot the series in July. The course went live on August 31. Go check it out — beyond my course, Lynda.com provides a massive library of very high quality video instruction. (Get 10 days of free unlimited access to lynda.com.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/F-qN6fyLcqg<\/p>\n

Now that it’s October, I find myself back in the traditional classroom. I’m teaching Creativity in Marketing and Social Media\/Web Marketing at Grand Valley State University. And I coach\/train corporate clients, as well.<\/p>\n

I enjoy teaching. Always have.<\/p>\n

But it’s not a classroom that makes you a teacher. More likely, it’s a passion for learning and the desire\u00a0to enthusiastically share knowledge makes you a teacher.<\/p>\n

Other than the traditional classroom, there must be a zillion different ways to teach and learn. Some of the best computer programmers I\u2019ve ever worked with are self-taught. They read, they tinker, they pick things apart, they experiment…and they become absolutely phenomenal at what they do.<\/p>\n

My Lynda.com adventure this year got me thinking — what’s next with education? I see and hear vivid discussions about college courses going online. For example, sites like Coursera<\/a>\u00a0partner with top universities to offer college courses online — for anyone, for free. Other sites like Udemy<\/a> and Skillshare<\/a> let teachers create and market hybrid courses that can feature both online learning as well as in-person workshops.<\/p>\n

Where are we going with online education? I hear mixed reviews. Some of my colleagues and students bristle at the idea of online education: they feel it cheapens the credential of obtaining a ‘real’ education in the ‘real’ world. Others view online education as new material that can help enhance the learning experience.<\/p>\n

Obviously, I’m biased. After all, I’m a learning junkie. And I never would have participated in the Lynda.com adventure if I didn’t believe in the quality and efficacy of online education. (And did I mention that Lynda.com people are particularly great at delivering high quality content?)<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I also believe we learn tremendous amounts by bumping into each other in the real world. Grand Valley State University<\/span> fosters a diverse and inclusive atmosphere. When students get to jam it up with people with different backgrounds and perspectives, why, that in itself drives creativity and innovation.<\/p>\n

I have my own opinions, but I’d like to hear yours.<\/p>\n

Where are we going with online education? What’s new — and what’s<\/span> next?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, I wrote and performed\u00a0Public Speaking Fundamentals\u00a0for the Lynda.com Online Training Library. I wrote the scripts from April through June, and then flew out to California to shoot the series in July. The course went live on August 31. Go check it out — beyond my course, Lynda.com provides a massive library of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coaching","category-presentation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":683,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}