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YouTube University Gets Failing Grade From Prof, Students

arstechnica.com — The ease of video production has greatly expanded the academic world's ability to communicate, and has been used successfully as a supplement to the classroom experience. Most people who have taught in the college environment, however, would argue that there are limits to what can be accomplished outside the classroom environment.

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  • FromACanteen, on 04/26/2008, -39/+4FIRST!
  • refreshers, on 04/26/2008, -0/+18That's like using Myspace for a job interview.
    • jcc6655, on 04/26/2008, -1/+5unfortunately many of us do actually get pre interview myspace reviews from potential employers without our knowledge.
      • nmnnotmyname, on 04/26/2008, -0/+6Which is why I do things like converse via RealLife(tm).


        ...Come on, Obviously a joke, I have no friends.
  • IDIGTHEDIGG, on 04/26/2008, -8/+6Its a Stupid idea to actually think You tube can be run like a classroom. And secondly the lines between so called experts and people who know there stuff but dont have degree are being blurred.
    • fkr3, on 04/26/2008, -3/+9The lines aren't being blurred, only the people who "know there stuff but dont have degrees" think they're being blurred. Reading a couple wikipedia articles and getting an opinion from some forum is not the equivelent of years of study.
      • jcc6655, on 04/26/2008, -2/+3Thats not what he said at all. There are plenty of people who do ACTUALLY know just as much if not more in their specific field than someone with a degree. There is a difference between paying for a piece of paper & having knowledge contained in your head.
        • fkr3, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Depends how you read it. He could be arguing for people who do know what they're talking about, experience counts a lot for a lot in this world.

          Or he could be one of the many disgruntled kids who "know what they're talking about" because the internet gives them superpowers and because they were interested enough in a topic to glance at Wikipedia, they are now the ultimate authority on that topic. I read it this way because he wrote like a retard.
      • nmnnotmyname, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Sadly enough, No matter how much employers base importance on it having a degree does not mean your more intelligent than those that don't.
  • Cronikeys, on 04/26/2008, -4/+20I've checked out some lectures on YouTube, and this one is by far the best:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HrSN7176XI
    • dagnome1984, on 04/26/2008, -1/+9I found another good lecture.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B62p-dEfUZM
      • UtopiaInTheSky, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2That song sounds exactly the same as "Never Gonna Give You Up". I guess it was an 80's thing.
        • HonoredMule, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Pretty much looks the same too, except more psychedelic colors and claustrophobic closeups.
    • Nidy1, on 04/26/2008, -0/+8That lecture was both insightful and funny, something you rarely find in classrooms today.
    • Barclay1188, on 04/26/2008, -5/+1:(
    • anarchyinthekr, on 04/26/2008, -0/+7that is the wisest professor ever, he makes it apparent that he will always be there for his students
    • jban4US, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3I once had a good friend while at university. Unfortunately he decided to run around and desert me. What a jerk and a half
    • ekravchenko, on 04/26/2008, -1/+4I'm immune to rick rolling now :) Bring it on :D
      • NeoDarkSaver, on 04/26/2008, -2/+1yea same for me. i memorized all those links... lol
  • konaken, on 04/26/2008, -1/+4Here's the original piece that the professor wrote summarizing her experiment with YouTube:

    http://www.oculture.com/2008/04/teaching_on_youtub ...
  • DaviDTC, on 04/26/2008, -1/+5It failed cause it was open to anyone and they could ***** with what was going on. You can take a lot of classes online now and they dont fail. The only difference is that it was open to anyone. If they make it so only group members can do it, or just comment, it would work just fine imo.
  • PabloMac, on 04/26/2008, -2/+7Of course a YouTube-only course would deserve a thumbs-down. True online education incorporates much more than video lectures.
  • poopdigger, on 04/26/2008, -1/+10Anybody else get mildly pissed when they realized the Youtube video in the article was a ***** jpg, after clicking on it repeatedly?
  • Atomic1fire, on 04/26/2008, -0/+4Needs to be tied in with google docs and chat before you can truely call it a univerisity
  • Alix7, on 04/26/2008, -2/+3Hmm...teachers and professors saying YouTube is bad for learning. Maybe it's because all the crappy teachers will be out of a job.

    However, that's not to say that a good teacher can be easily defeated. Anyone who has had a good teacher or mentor (like me) knows that no electronic aide can beat them.
  • billbert, on 04/26/2008, -1/+2of course they'll say there's a limit to what can be accomplished outside the classroom environment, yet youtube still blows... censorship in favour of spo(o)nsors seems to be the way of present day advertisers and self sponsors(lolretardation)
  • BugMeNot2, on 04/26/2008, -0/+4Streaming video (such as Ustream.tv) would've done better, since the professor could teach while interacting with the students.
  • Flappy3, on 04/26/2008, -1/+2I was expecting a lesson from the Astley School of Rick-Rolling.
  • stonklit, on 04/26/2008, -2/+3It'd be amazing if more people taught things on YouTube.

    For the most part, classrooms are irrelevant if you have the textbooks in PDF since there are tons of places you can ask questions if you need help.

    I taught myself a good portion of physics without having stepped into a classroom. Guarantee you I could pass an exam with flying colors, too.
    • stonklit, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Up through the 300 level, anyway. Not saying I'm now a self-taught particle physicist or anything ;)

      Just basic stuff that people can learn to get their feet wet.

      For example, I'm sure most could teach themselves up through Calc 3 with the proper videos and following the textbooks.
      • JohnFlux, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I am a self-taught theoretical particle physicist :) I got physics degree with the Open University , meaning that you study from home. I then did a part time MSc Theoretical particle physics which was mostly done home as well.
    • nmnnotmyname, on 04/26/2008, -1/+1Well the most I've been taught via youtube is those important lessons from "You Suck At Photoshop".
  • aljean, on 04/26/2008, -1/+1I taught the course about and on YouTube so we could see the constraints of the site, especially in its architecture and video forms, given the hype around web 2.0 these days (even in higher education). Why does it have such limited functionality? Is popularity the best way to organize the world's largest archive of moving images? Why can't you find things there? While I knew it would "fail," my students made some pretty amazing videos, expressing their concerns and interests about a edutainment among a host of other issues about technology and education (www.youtube.com/mediapraxisme).
    • Singularitarian, on 04/26/2008, -0/+2Have you checked out iTunes U? It is an amazing resource.
      One of the best things about video lectures is that you can press pause to think over a difficult point, or rewind to hear a difficult idea explained again. This is invaluable.
      Another advantage of video lectures is that those explanations which were so carefully prepared and delivered are not simply lost forever once the class is over; they can be viewed again by anyone in the world at any time in the future. A lecture series can now be a great, lasting work--similar to a great novel or a great book, one of humanity's achievements that continually raises our level of civilization.
      When a professor uses video lectures, students get to see the material presented not by an average teacher but by a teaching genius. And the professor has much more time to do what he or she does best---to answer questions, to provide feedback on work, and to mentor students.
      • aljean, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Your points are well taken. It is not that I don't believe in the significant powers of these technologies to expand our teaching and learning, but rather that I engaged in a real-life thought-experiment to highlight their limitations if we were to move to a world where we exclusively used such technologies, developed not-for education but for entertainment. Certainly, best practices bring them to the classroom along with other things we fo well without technology, and altering practices and expectations along the way.
  • nitesoulja, on 04/26/2008, -1/+2what a desperate way of getting subscribers
  • markzgrigg, on 04/26/2008, -0/+5I realize that traditional colleges are afraid that distance learning will make them obsolete. I attend Phoenix by way of distance learning. For a fee of about 9,000 a year. We have decided my daughter will do the same after looking at 17,000 a year in a traditional environment. And like she said there are no shootings at home. The thought of using You-Tube is ridiculous. It was never designed to be an interactive classroom. This is the stupidity of the professor. I assure you after attending a tradition college and a on-line one I have found that I have to work harder to do it on-line.
    • JohnFlux, on 04/26/2008, -1/+2> And like she said there are no shootings at home.

      This line made me wince. I hope your daughter will get the social skills and social interaction that she'd get from a real university. The whole point of university is to move out from the parents and try to make it on your own in the world.
      • snypylo, on 04/26/2008, -1/+1Agreed. University is about far more than just learning. I would go so far as to say that's the least important part of it, actually.
    • drowningfish, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1How has your experience with Phoenix Online gone? How long have been going there? What is your primary area of course study?

    • NanoStuff, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1"The thought of using You-Tube is ridiculous."

      Youtube, maybe, but how far are video lectures in general from classroom lectures? Most of the time students sit, listen, and jot down notes. Occasionally you may have a question, however just the same the occasional question outside of lecture material can be answered online. To pay a lot of money for listening to someone speak what has been spoken thousands of times before seems somewhat redundant and generally inefficient from an educational perspective.

      Distance learning is a future with much potential, however I disagree that online learning must necessarily replicate the spoken redundancy of a physical classroom. That's generally how erroneous information is introduced and questions have to be asked in the first place. Instead you can have exceptional pre-recorded lectures and have them virtually for free.
    • kds405, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Ok, keep telling yourself that Pheonix is a real education. The extra 8,000 dollars is worth the wealth of experience, knowledge, and general "growing up" you do at a real university.
  • Mikhail101, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Maybe they were busy fapping than taking notes, just look at what the prof is wearing.
    • Vuredel, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3yeah most college guys find manly, aged professors so attractive compared to their peers
  • zspeed78, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1I went to Cal, which now posts MANY of its lectures online, and back in 2002-2006 only certain lectures were available on live (and archived for later viewing too) video, and those were the best lectures. Attendance was down atleast 50% on classes that had video, to where they stopped using video as a threat at one point. Or a professor would offer hints to test questions right before class started, before the videos kicked in.

    Either way, the videos work for MANY people. Why sit in a room with 400 people, 40 feet back, and watch some guy write on the board and give 5 minute speeches for each board. And to the guy above talking about 17k.. my god.. send her to public college and make her have roommates.. itll be less than 17k, and she wont end up living at home at 35.

  • avisotin, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1ANYTHING so I don't have to sit next to some tard who won't stop playing with his phone all class
  • Flyan, on 04/26/2008, -0/+3I think online videos are amazing for spreading knowledge. People can discuss these topics with friends or co-workers which helps spread it even further. Most people in classrooms dont pay attention anyways...so why not learn when you want to (by going online) and skip the classroom distractions. Just make sure to discuss the material with other people...it helps you further your knowledge on the subject while helping to teach others.

    Check out www.ted.com for some really inspiring lectures by some of the brightest minds in the world today. They have videos coving pretty much every discipline.
  • jab9990, on 04/26/2008, -0/+1Would you expect them to argue that they don't deserve to get paid anymore?
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