While browsing today's New York Times, I ran across Thomas Friedman's most recent opinion article. It talks about the popularity of Harvard University philosopher Michael Sandel in countries in Asia, specifically China and Japan. He is an incredible lecturer, who can relate abstract moral concepts to real-world dilemmas, but he has become incredibly popular only because all the lectures for his most popular course, Justice, were released online in 2009. They are free to watch, and contain assignments and forums for the class as well. It is a near-stand alone class, as the textbook reading is not a major component of the course, as far as I can tell. In addition, his course was released in book form last year, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?. The book has already sold more than a million copies in East Asia alone.
He is not the only professor to have online courses though. MIT OpenCourseWare is MIT's online database of classes, all for free. Many contain class notes, forums, assignments and video lectures. Courses range across all topics, but unfortunately the textbook is necessary to learn from some classes. Still, OpenCourseWare is an incredible resource for students in high school, or even adults who feel like continuing their college education on the side.
I feel that online courses are the future of both high school and college education. A majority of my courses are online, and I think that in the future, most high school students will be learning through a computer for the majority of their work.
The Art of Problem Solving is a company that develops and teaches online math courses to students. Its classes are centered in a real-time classroom, where students and instructors are actively discussing solutions to problems. They focus on problem solving; the teachers merely explain the concept and assist students where necessary; the students do all the mathematical work themselves. They believe that you should always be challenged by a class, that it should always be an uphill struggle. I have taken all my math classes through them, and am currently in the middle of my seventh class.
There are many more online opportunities. Thinkwell, CTY, Khan Academy and EPGY, to name a few. I believe that eventually, everyone will have to make the transition to online learning. By creating online courses, colleges and companies open up opportunities for students who otherwise might not be able to attend a regular school. In fact, if online education continues to expand, and students in other countries continue to take advantage of the opportunity, then it is entirely possible that they will surpass our level of high school education within a few years. Taking college-level classes is much more difficult than taking high school courses, so the students that are prepared for college-level workloads will be the ones accepted to higher level universities, such as Princeton or Harvard.
I hope that classes such as Justice become a nationwide phenomenon in America, just as they have in Asian countries. The Art of Problem Solving is growing in popularity: this year, all United States Math Olympiad (USAMO) winners took courses through them. They are expanding their curriculum, and have a bright future. I hope that other companies take their classroom format into other subjects.
American high schools need to take advantage of online classes to remain competitive with education in the world. Once more colleges and universities realize the popularity of online education, they will start designing online classes. The trend will continue to grow, and I hope America managed to stay abreast of the newest developments.
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