As a part of NYU’s recent Open Education pilot program, four courses’ lectures have been placed online, available to both students of the university and the general public.
Dean of Social Sciences Dalton Conley, who was a part of the decision to put the courses online, said that while “NYU students are welcome to use lectures for review or to sample courses,” the general purpose of the lectures being online is they can serve as a “public service to the wider community.”
“There are benefits to NYU.” he said. “In terms of highlighting what’s going on here and the great professors we have, there is a sort of public relations aspect. That’s good for the school and good for the students. It enhances the reputation of the school, which in turn enhances the reputation of their degree.”
Daniel Walkowitz, professor of New York City: A Social History, was approached last spring to have his class recorded for a podcast.
“I presume that the university thinks that it’s advantageous for them to get some of their professors out into the public as a way of attracting people to the University,” Walkowitz said.
“They expect, and I hope as well, that it will be a teaser, that it will excite people to want to know more about these kinds of things.”
There are some limitations to the online lecture series, which Conley made note of, saying the courses cannot be “a perfect substitute for going to college.”
Walkowitz agreed.
“There’s more engagement in the class [when students are present],” Walkowitz said. “I’m more animated in the class. There’s an opportunity to suddenly stop me, and talk about things. I would be unhappy if that were lost by students being satisfied simply with what’s online.”
Still, having classes recorded from semester to semester allows professors to rework material, which makes classes stronger, Walkowitz said.
Gallatin freshman Alison Driscoll said that she would never participate in the open courses program.
“I feel like if I had an online lecture I would just end up on Facebook or some other website,” she said.
Conley said that professors who do put their lectures online have the ability to “[use] them as a springboard… [to expand] face to face pedagogy, by putting them online and allowing more faculty-student interaction in the classroom.”