This semester I’m really enjoying following along with two different classes being taught in totally different circumstances. Both professors are blogging about their methods and motivations, and there’s some reaction from the students as well.
I love that they’re both blogging their processes, and I’m particularly enjoying the bizarre contrast that they make in my blog-reading.
One of them is Ellen Chisa’s evening product management class at Olin College, her alma mater. If you want to catch up on the class so far, start here.
The other is Diane Ragsdale’s course on beauty, which she’s teaching in a business school. If you want to catch up, start here.
The two courses have basically nothing to do with one another, but both Ellen and Diane are trying to make their work better by making it public. And for me, at least, the content is really interesting. I’ve never done a MOOC, but this stream of content, with real insight into what students are currently experiencing, is much more interesting to me. When I want to learn about an organization, and how to help it, I start by collecting the stories and the experiences of the people in it. For me at least, the vicarious experience of hearing how students are reacting to material is totally fascinating.
So thanks to both of you for blogging your courses, and everyone else: check out what they’re doing. I recommend reading both, since they’re super different.