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Comment by ypeterholmes | Hacker News Reader

What about all the tutorials online that have taught countless people countless skills? Did that just never happen?

If I understand, the core argument in this article is that there is a social layer of learning. And that's probably true to an extent, but how does that completely dismiss the value of self-directed learning?

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Self directed learning like this happens within the social constructs in areas where people are very interested at a time or have a specific need. My understanding of the article is that is more focused on the general approach to learning, where the social construct, and help, support, even understanding where compared to others you are, is helpful.

These self directed platforms can be useful in certain use cases but can’t replace the base education system with classrooms.

I've learned all sorts of stuff from online tutorials; like how to tile a floor, fix my range, install a dishwasher, etc.

I'm not sure how many people have actually learned Calculus or European History or PHIL101 to the point of expertise...

I think Paul's online math notes got many of us further than our professors did

It’s not like we learned it for fun, we had to in order to pass. I don’t think I (nor anyone in my class) would ever learn strictly school related subjects (calc, chem and etc.) just for fun. And I went to an extremely competitive public school.

Everything else though, like programming, video editing, some crafts and etc. is an entirely different thing. I would definitely argue without former, I wouldn’t be somewhat well-rounded as I consider myself right now.

The kind of people who can self direct learning don't really need much schooling. I don't understand it but some people need the textbook read to them in a classroom to learn anything.

I would argue it helped older, more mature people who have greater self-discipline. Not only that but they are quite self motivated. They are great - for those people.

If you want to teach every child (which is what we do) then the classroom is by far a better model. Teachers do this every day. They set online tutorials and quizzes for homework.

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