[ExI] virtual education, was: RE: virtual travel

Wed Apr 1 16:33:07 UTC 2020

Bear Bryant once said that he thought that he was a better coach of the
average player than of the great player.  I was the reverse.  My usual
problem was assuming too much of the students, as I found out on the
tests.  A colleague of mine had to hand over a class to me - gall bladder
operation.  They were due for a test on reliability and they flunked very
badly.  She assumed too much.

A related problem:  I am type A - impatient.  Too impatient for the
struggling student.  Those students I tried to get mentors for.

Are you saying that online education is mostly for the people to the right
in the distribution?  If so, then different teachers or methods or
something could be provided for those to the left.  One things about this:
the curve has changed along the way, as those to the left are dropping out
at every level (you can flunk first grade  - "one, two, three, many").  So
the whole curve shifts right as time goes on.  It, just guessing, probably
becomes skewed to the left rather than maintaining a normal shape.

I tried to 'follow' someone on Quora and never did get anything about her
in my email.  I am glad you are following and wish you would comment.  Do
my answers show up in your email. or what?

bill w - more later maybe on this topic

On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 11:19 AM spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>
>
>
>
> *From:* extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> *On Behalf
> Of *William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat
> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] virtual education, was: RE: virtual travel
>
>
>
> >…'vastly superior'   - research studies, please.   I will never be
> convinced that for some topics, some students, a live person is not
> essential…
>
>
>
> Agreed, no dispute there at all.  For subjective fields of learning I do
> agree collaborative efforts and personal interactions are required (humans
> in physical contact, eeewww, ick, take me away Calgon.)
>
>
>
> The fields of study which interest me and those which I know about are
> mostly solitary vices.  Interaction with other humans often involves
> reading what someone wrote a century ago, such as the marvelous
> accomplishment of Andrey Markov, which has kept my son and me entertained
> for the past week:
>
>
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Markov
>
>
>
> >…I answer thousands of questions on Quora…
>
>
>
> BillW I am one of your followers over there.  I haven’t posted anything on
> your responses, but might eventually do so if I deem myself sufficiently
> knowledgeable on the topic.
>
>
>
> Quora has noted the number of responses to my posts there and have offered
> to pay me a pittance for each one, if I register.  So now I am a
> professional internet influencer, or would be if I were to follow thru with
> registration, which I will not do.  Reason: I have casually mentioned what
> firearms I own in that forum.  I do not wish the world knowing who I am or
> being able to figure out where I live: it makes me a burglary target.
>
>
>
> >…I will refer again to the TV-taught psych 101 course I monitored.  The
> students hated it.
>
>
>
> If you have ever tried to watch even excellent lectures, such as those
> available thru Great Courses,
>
>
>
> https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/
>
>
>
> you already know why: a video tape of a classroom lecture introduces all
> the traditional shortcomings of any other course taught in a classroom with
> few advantages.
>
>
>
> >>…the academically rich are getting dramatically richer, the
> academically otherwise are getting little or nothing.
>
>
>
> >…Did you just contradict your 'vastly superior' statement?
>
>
>
> Not at all.  If one’s goal is increasing the average, then online
> instruction is superior.  If one’s goal is reducing the standard deviation
> of the bell curve inherent in education, then online learning is not only a
> failure, it is a catastrophe.  If one is over on the right side of the bell
> curve, online education pushes one farther to the right.  In that sense it
> is vastly superior: it is more concentrated and more focused learning.
>
>
>
> >…For psych 101 and some others, most of the A students and some of the B
> students just don't need to come to class if all you want from them is good
> test scores.  Is that all we want from students?
>
>
>
> Sure.  I am not suggesting I know how to help the unmotivated or
> under-skilled.  In my educational volunteer efforts, I work with the highly
> motivated highly skilled students only, for that is the only area in which
> I have anything to offer.  I have been repeatedly asked to help struggling
> students, and have repeatedly turned down those opportunities.  Reason: I
> don’t know how.
>
>
>
> I justify my existence however, since there are other volunteers who are
> willing and able to help struggling students, along with many local
> businesses in tutoring.  I modestly claim that there are very few
> volunteers available who know how to create a Markov Chain, derive a
> transition matrix from it, calculate an absorbing matrix, take the
> determinant and find the answer.  I might be the only one of the volunteers
> who knows how to do that.  So… I do.
>
>
>
> >…What about developing the ability to interact with a superior?
>
>
>
> I see your point.  If my students work at it, they are the superior.  They
> need to interact with inferiors.
>
>
>
> >…Virtual learning has a big place, but it's not the only one for sure.  bill
> w
>
>
>
> For sure.  No argument there.
>
>
>
> This loops all the way back to the efficiency available to us in
> education, at least in some areas.
>
>
>
> spike
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