Chrysalis Academy Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I'm pretty excited about the flush of new online courseware available. I don't know whether it will revolutionize college education in this country, but it sure makes planning for high school fun! How has/are/will the newly available free online course offerings changed/changing/change the way you plan or implement homeschooling for high school? What are the best classes/sites you have found/used? Any you have tried and not liked? Here are those I am aware of, please add any others I am missing! (I'm only thinking about free courses at the moment) MIT Open Courseware EDX Coursera Open Yale Udacity World Lecture Hall Khan Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 No! I look at them as supplemental -- but since I'm not prepared to do them alongside my kid and there is no feedback on the assignments, I'm reluctant to use them as more than a supplement, sort of like the Teaching Company tapes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 No. To me, a canned online course without teacher feedback and class discussions is no better than using a textbook with TC lectures as supplements. It may make a nice change to have a different kind of presentation to mix things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 No. We already used videos to supplement, and that's how we use these, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Since we don't have money for outside classes right now, maybe. I don't plan to use anything but bits and pieces this year, but next year I'll be looking into them again. Because of the way we do school and there is no teacher interaction, I'll be doing the work with or alongside ds. I hope they will add to our discussions. I looked at the new entries for Coursera yesterday, some of those look promising for down the road. For the shorter classes, I'd probably add more in-class (at home) work to round them out to a .5 credit. Ds is interested in technology and it's changing so rapidly, I'm sure we'll utilize some free classes for those type courses over the next few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited) I am planning to take full advantage of the available offerings for high school. DS has already done a computer science class with me through Coursera (I am the "student" as he's not 13 yet). I am signed up for the History of the Internet class through Coursera, but I'm not sure I'll actually have time to take it- it starts next week! The Intro to Physics class through Udacity is very good so far- but again, time constraints are keeping me away. There's no time limit for the Udacity class so I can watch it whenever I get around to it. My biggest struggle is fitting in the classes (obviously). We are signed up for another 13 months of VP self-paced history classes and those take 30-50 minutes of online time some days. Plus we have an online science class that we are taking right now, then there's math, langauge arts, etc. But, yes, I will probably plan to let some college professor teach my child math, science, computer programming and art appreciation in high school. ;) ETA: With regard to feedback- the Coursera class I took had exercises to be completed for each lesson, an active forum with other students and a TA to assist with difficulties. Also the professor actually took student questions and incorporated them into the last lecture for the class. The Udacity class would be highly interactive if I were participating... the teacher sends out e-mail challege questions, asks people to discuss extra material in the forum and even weighed in on the recent Higgs boson discovery. Besides, it's not as if I leave the house and never come back while the kids take the classes. I wouldn't consider the programs any less interactive than anything else I might use. These sites do a good job, IMO, of compiling offerings: Open Culture Open Coureware Consortium iTunes University would be another place to look. Edited July 20, 2012 by MomatHWTK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brii_Dreams Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 And I have now experience my first long post being eaten by the Internet... :glare: Saylor online courses are my current favorite OCW for several reasons: 1) Majority is composed of free online resources, meaning I don't have to price and buy things like with MIT OCW; 2) Majority of the courses have time advisories per unit, making it easier for me to figure out whether to give half or full credit to a course; 3) If you pass the final exam at the end of each course you get a certificate of completion. The site is still a work in progress, but there are forums to discuss each course and an Eportfolio system which keeps track of courses you're working through and have completed (I believe you can also later print off a transcript, but I'm not certain on that). I do wish occasionally that I had known about sites like NROC and Saylor when I first started high school as it would have avoided so many rough bumps in the road with me agonizing over how to piece together inexpensive resources or debating which typical, although rather expensive, curriculum to buy that would work for me (I have ranged from a video/audo course to actual textbooks that didn't work and had to deal with my mom's wavering faith in homeschooling with each monetary loss impacting our tight budget). These sites provide a structured yet flexible path for me. (If I wasn't so worried about having to be on another's schedule--something that isn't possible at the moment--I would love to dip into either the fantasy/scifi or greek/roman mythology course at Coursera. :001_smile:) And now I'm crossing my fingers that this post goes through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Saylor online courses are my current favorite OCW for several reasons: 1) Majority is composed of free online resources, meaning I don't have to price and buy things like with MIT OCW; 2) Majority of the courses have time advisories per unit, making it easier for me to figure out whether to give half or full credit to a course; 3) If you pass the final exam at the end of each course you get a certificate of completion. The site is still a work in progress, but there are forums to discuss each course and an Eportfolio system which keeps track of courses you're working through and have completed (I believe you can also later print off a transcript, but I'm not certain on that). . Thank you so much for this information. I knew about coursea, opencourseware, khan. But have never seen this option. It looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladykayaker Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I have tried a couple of the khan videos - but I find them very slow and plodding. For my family, not a good use of our time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I don't think they've changed much for us, except saving us a few bucks. I use some of those courses like a textbook or spine, usually, adding my own supplements and resources to create a full course. So, where I might have purchased a used text or made do with something I found at a thrift store in years past, now I have freebies at my fingertips. Oh, and here's one to add to your list: www.ck12.org It isn't video lectures, but free texts available for download. I'm planning to use the chemistry text for my son next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 And I have now experience my first long post being eaten by the Internet... :glare: Saylor online courses are my current favorite OCW for several reasons: 1) Majority is composed of free online resources, meaning I don't have to price and buy things like with MIT OCW; 2) Majority of the courses have time advisories per unit, making it easier for me to figure out whether to give half or full credit to a course; 3) If you pass the final exam at the end of each course you get a certificate of completion. The site is still a work in progress, but there are forums to discuss each course and an Eportfolio system which keeps track of courses you're working through and have completed (I believe you can also later print off a transcript, but I'm not certain on that). I do wish occasionally that I had known about sites like NROC and Saylor when I first started high school as it would have avoided so many rough bumps in the road with me agonizing over how to piece together inexpensive resources or debating which typical, although rather expensive, curriculum to buy that would work for me (I have ranged from a video/audo course to actual textbooks that didn't work and had to deal with my mom's wavering faith in homeschooling with each monetary loss impacting our tight budget). These sites provide a structured yet flexible path for me. (If I wasn't so worried about having to be on another's schedule--something that isn't possible at the moment--I would love to dip into either the fantasy/scifi or greek/roman mythology course at Coursera. :001_smile:) And now I'm crossing my fingers that this post goes through. Wow. This looks very cool - thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) No, for the most part I've found that the courses that are free don't offer what I want for the more core classes I'll be teaching. We might use an elective at some point, but that's as far as I see it going for now. Edited July 21, 2012 by Candid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I've been reading "Virtual Schooling: A guide to optimizing your child's ed." Thier take is that virtual offerings put the world of educational superiority at your kids fingertips. To make it really worth it, it takes money and time. Dh, who teached (loosly defined) on line for both grad and undergrad classes is not gung ho about virtual classwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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