Ask HN:The actual benefit of Open Courses?

by rick_2047 on 10/26/2009, 5:54 PM with 2 comments

I just joined my college this year. I was not at all satisfied with the teaching done at my college, so I started to search for materials which will aid my learning (and in some subjects entirely do the part of the lecturers). I knew about MIT OpenCourseWare but knew that wouldn't help in the least bit for two reasons, one it is made to be taught at MIT so sometimes it may go above my head, second...umm...because it is made to be taught at MIT...so it would not match the curriculum taught at my college. So then after some research I found about NPTEL(nptel.iitm.ac.in) while searching for video lectures on YouTube(I feel ashamed that I didn't knew about what my countries Elite Universities are doing in the first place and knew about MIT, but more on that later). I looked at some videos and quickly realized the content absolutely,and I quote, "god sent". I have not seen much due to bandwidth issues (which will be solved next month with an unlimited connection), but it was enough of a stimulus for this question to come into my mind:-

"What exactly is the actual benefit of Open Courses like NPTEL and MIT open course ware?"

I ask anyone who has used such means for his personal education: When you think of being tutored by the High Priests of engineering in india the IIT professors but in an long distance way, what is the main advantage you get above people not using it. Like is it just about better marks?Or a better understanding is what matters to you?In anyway you are going to get a degree from whatever college you are in, then why opt to give time to such an activity.

Disclaimer: In the above post I in no conceivable way am denying the importance and significance of such initiatives.This post is just for an academic discussion :)

  • by mahmud on 10/26/2009, 6:55 PM

    I knew about MIT OpenCourseWare but knew that wouldn't help in the least bit for two reasons, one it is made to be taught at MIT so sometimes it may go above my head,

    So? If something goes over your head it's just a sign that you need to learn prerequisite concepts. Click pause and read a more introductory text, even wikipedia helps to clarify things. Then go back to following the lecture and it shouldn't be too difficult anymore.

    Not wanting to take difficult courses is a sign of laziness, and unwillingness to push yourself to keep pace.

    second...umm...because it is made to be taught at MIT...so it would not match the curriculum taught at my college.

    Who cares? You would be a dysfunctional human being if you only learned what it's prescribed in school curricula. In fact, the school syllabus is an invisible fence that could hold a mind captive; smart students learn to rush it, jump over, and run free in the vast open fields of knowledge.

    Get over your obsession with school brands, btw. You need to lose that respect you have for "esteemed" institutions, specially the ones in India, like IIT, which are intellectual concentration camps. The students there are miserable, what not with all the pressure from parents and society.

  • by on 10/27/2009, 3:15 AM

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