Self study is never going to be as good as immersion in an academic environment. The impact that ad hoc conversations and events with peers and professors have is profound. You just don't get this with online or remote learning.
I'd say online doesn't work for all programs or courses. But do you need to sit in a room with 1k people in order to learn calc 1? It's just the prof going through some examples on the powerpoint/overhead nothing more. Asking questions isn't easy either.
Upload some lecture videos and then hold office hours instead of lecture hours. It's not like what you taught in psyc 100 last semester is much different than this.
What university is that? It sounds awful.
> But do you need to sit in a room with 1k people in order to learn calc 1? It's just the prof going through some examples on the powerpoint/overhead nothing more. Asking questions isn't easy either.
> Upload some lecture videos and then hold office hours instead of lecture hours. It's not like what you taught in psyc 100 last semester is much different than this.
That's only kinda true of 100-level courses and massively popular generals, and quickly becomes false the farther you advance.
And even if it is a 100-level general, you can still ask questions if you're motivated and curious. When I was considering a career change, I retook general chemistry and a few other lower-level science courses as an adult. I asked a lot of questions, though many were picking at things that were too advanced for the course. You can't do that with a recording.
Rather not say, but a few do that. Plus in something like CS there's an hour long wait for office hours which are 2 hours twice a week with maybe 3 profs - so 6 hours for 500+ students - not much opportunity to ask questions.
> That's only kinda true of 100-level courses and massively popular generals, and quickly becomes false the farther you advance.
Absolutely. Get rid of the 1k lecture theatres for the undergrad courses and build some labs. Get some 3D printers/CNC machines for the Engineering students. A mock court room for the Law department? Some chemistry labs? Move the "I don't need to be here to learn" courses online and expand office hours, TA availability and provide more hands on experience.
Ya, I wouldn't want to see a doctor who learned online. But one how took some calc or basic med courses online but has more hands on/practical experience? Sure!
I have learned literally more than 99% of my knowledgefrom strangers on the internet and ad hoc conversations on irc and reddit.
So? What's your "knowledge" and who were the strangers that taught it to you? It could be anywhere from Alexander Graham Bell to Alex Jones, but knowing IRC and Reddit, my money is that it's closer to the latter than the former.
Not everyone indulges in "ad hoc conversations and events with professors". Some maybe, but most people just get by with minimal work.
I've done both for a very long time. There used to be value in going to the computer lab and spending hours and hours working through problems with peers and seniors.
But that doesn't happen anymore. I've learned just as much in slack chatrooms with fellow students at Georgia Tech, if not more.
If you want to learn, you'll learn. If you don't, you won't -- no matter what the environment is.
Events and conversations might offer superficial exposure to new ideas or areas of interest but actual understanding requires extended, focused thought that nobody else can do for you.
But yeah, I guess it depends on a lot of factors; I just can see more benefit from msc/phd physically with peers and profs while bsc is more imaginable as online course. For my feeling at least.
I self studied for a long time, topical, learned online mostly. You can do this, and can be very successful.
The point of academic environments is much like that of an office over remote work. One of the pros is the cross pollination of ideas across expertise barriers. This is where innovation happens, faster and more frequently.
For example video chats or text chats or audio chats or VR chats.
Honestly when people make statements like the one you made, it makes me suspect they actually don't understand the internet.
Plus there's no replacement for the ancient human social tradition of eating a meal with someone after a long day of work.
It's true that effective text communication in async forms is a skill, but that is a competency that is very important even when not on lockdown.
I don't know why this pattern makes my blood boil, but it does.