Have you tried any online course? If not yet, I highly recommend it. Now you can get good knowledge from well-known institutions (Stanford, Harvard, MIT, etc) completely free of charge, that is, in vain. If you are among the lucky ones who have already tried out online courses or you are wondering how it happens - I ask for a cat. And I immediately warn you, inside there will not be another discussion about the incompleteness of our education.

Small introduction

It will be lyrical nostalgic, but I could not resist. Feel free to wind to the next section.
It all started in 2011, when I completed an online course on Artificial Intelligence, which was offered to the world by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig. The whole course was made entirely on the knee, using a pair of multi-colored pens, sheets of white paper and a camera on a tripod. This is how it looked:
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The site with the course often lay, yes, that there - almost always, when the deadlines for the delivery of the DZ were appropriate. The admins invented the mythical DDOSs, and the authors, squeezed in the end, like a pair of lemons, recorded the latest videos, breaking the common cold, the sonorous barking of pets and the negative on the forums.
But oh my god ... that was awesome! Just imagine: bearded guys, well over 30, after a 10-hour working day, putting the children to bed, at night ... they consider in a notebook the likelihood by the Bayes formula. Many sincerely rejoiced, getting just a passing score. Something has stirred in this world.

Main and longest part of the text

In the wake of AI class success, leading universities and simple startups realized that the train was leaving without them and decided to jump on the bandwagon. Appeared Coursera, MITx, Udacity, Udemy, etc. Russia has long had its heroes: INTUIT, Lektorium. And at first it seemed that here it was, a bright future, hurray, hurray. However, after passing several courses on different platforms, it became clear that the future was being postponed.

Of course, I could now start to bend my fingers on the topic of what I do not like about existing solutions: first. secondly, thirdly. And in general, so I will, but I will try to put everything on the shelves.

Topics

This is my favorite item, I even put it first.
Answer the question: why spend half the course on algorithms for sorting algorithms?
No, it is, of course, clear that to mathematically derive an estimate of the complexity of the pyramidal sorting, and then, with a confident and elegant movement, correcting the glasses on the nose is the best way to seduce young ladies. But the remaining 9x percent is useful only at the interview, because for us everything has been implemented for a long time, and with direct hands. I understand that there is the CS255 standard and its Russian half-brother and they need to be followed. But I want to be interviewed by Google in the end, and not another frame to hang on a nail. Give normal topics!

PS I know that I exaggerate, but you understand, right?

Solution: An open process to work on material with votes and ratings. In addition, this is an additional incentive for the teacher himself.

Time frame

Borders destroy freedom, but they give control. On many resources, you can still see lectures for 40 minutes and longer, where does it fit?


Udacity removed the dates of the beginning and end of the course and now we can pass it at a convenient time. But when will that time come? That's right - never.

Solution: Make restrictions on the length of the video, set strict deadlines for the course.

Interactive

Training is not going to the cinema, we came for knowledge that you can touch. Lectorium makes a big deal in Runet, but guys, this is still the Middle Ages and broadcasting from the pulpit.
On the other hand, the same Udacity slightly overloads content with tests and the course has become very time consuming.

Solution: Interactive should be and at the same time should be balanced regarding the size of the course.

Brand strength and motivation

Well, let's say, a couple of students from some MEPI (yes, forgive me Almamater) would write a course on AI, would you start it? And would you reach the end? Hmm, options are possible here.
In general, in my opinion, there are only 3 things that can motivate to complete the course to the end - this is a strong brand, a job in a good team or 10 kopecks, spent on training.

Solution: It is necessary to respect the work of the author and give him the choice of whether to publish the course for free or not. It will be easier for users to work as a team, but they should have a choice.

Help lagging behind

In general, the behavior patterns of those who are about to quit are easy to identify. Enough 1 missed homework - this is a wake-up call. Procrastination during training is not “our problem”, it is a problem of the teacher.

Solution: Promptly identify those who lag behind during the course and help them “return.”

Quality teacher => quality course?

Not everything always depends on the personal qualities of the teacher. Many courses are easy to take, as a kind of quest, and after 2 months 80% of what was learned is forgotten. When the course is completed, the matter is not yet done.

Solution: Using simple and proven methods, for example, the principle of interval repetitions, you can drastically improve quality. You just need to maintain knowledge and interest in the subject and after the course. And, of course, at any time after completing the course, the user should be able to open any question he has learned in the course.

Dry residue

When I thoroughly thought about these topics, confidence came: stop complaining, you have to do something.
Having joined forces with one developer (yes, it is not on Habré, but it was not written for the sake of invites) who is trying to implement online-learning in one of the major Russian universities, we started to make a product that solves the problems described above.
It will be a free mini-market of educational courses on the necessary topics, made so that people get knowledge there, not peels. We have 2 hands in favor of free courses, but we will leave it to the discretion of the author, their work must be respected.

There are a lot of problems in our education.
There is no point in waiting for the abstract education officials to decide them for us.
We consider our main task to inspire ordinary people, professionals in their field, who are many on Habré and not only, to transfer their knowledge.

Of course, we are still only at the beginning of the journey, but we already really want to consult with you and find out whether we are going there and what you think about all this.


PS: Many people ask for a link, so put it in profile, do not expect much, the work has just begun.
PPS: There was rational criticism in the comments, so I corrected the article