[PD] Concept: Open Knowledge Online Univercity (OKOU)

[Anton Woldhek]

Hi Ian and the rest,

Ive cross-posted this to the pd-ot list, as Frank suggested, so i'll
continue this conversation there after my reply.

Ian wrote:
> I don't think it's a terrible idea, I just think it's a bit too... static,
limited, and immalleable to specific needs
> with being 'cleared' to take higher level classes and being required to
teach lower level classes.

I agree that there is a fair bit of responsibility involved in this concept,
I can see how that might detter a lot of people. But on the other hand, and
this is something that I miss in a lot of internet communities, it also
creates a structered learning enviroment, something i've yet to find on the
internet. This could mean a lot to people who might not have the best
self-discipline but do have the motivation to acquire knowledge on complex
issues can get that kind of structure.
Again, nobody is "required" to teach if all they would want is basic, or
introductory knowledge on a topic, if you then decide its not your intrest,
you can just venture on to a different course, however, if you think its
something you want to know a lot more about, we ask a favor in return, that
you recount what you've been taught to somebody that also wants to learn
about that topic. To me, this is also something that serves a great benefit
for the person thats going to teach because its been proven lots of times
now, that recounting what you have been taught improves your own level of
comprehension of it. Not only that, your students will be paying close
attention to what your saying, and when they spot a mistake in your thinking
their more then  likely to let you know about it! Which again, is only to
your own benifit.
I dont think being a "teach" in this class format will actually be taking
that much time from you. Because the teaching materials will allready be
there, so everybody does there reading as they would if they were just
browesing the topic on the web. But the extra is that you give them
assigments or tests that you check, which would be the most time consuming
part of it for you.
Perhaps a course should only take about 3 weeks, this would mean that the
strain on the teach wouldnt be too big.

Thank you for your reply, its given me plenty of food for thought, i hope to
continue this discussion with you.

Cheers
Anton