[Offtopic] Uni of NSW computing initiative

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

The following initiative is primarily aimed at NSW Yr11 students. It may
seem excellent, and one hopes other Aussie unis follow this UNSW example.

Uni computer lecturer makes YouTube his classroom

http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/uni-computer-lecturer-makes-
youtube-his-classroom/2009/03/04/1235842462189.html

Asher Moses March 4, 2009 - 12:34PM

A computer science lecturer at the University of NSW, who has pioneered 
the use of YouTube at Australian universities, is offering high school 
students the chance to get started on their computing degrees early.

Senior lecturer Richard Buckland is frustrated that people with a passion 
for computing are not being challenged by courses offered at high school.

Over the years he invited some of them to attend his university lectures 
but found they struggled to fit it in during the school day.

So last year he filmed all of his first-year computing lectures and 
published them on UNSW's YouTube channel and on Apple's iTunes.

 http://www.youtube.com/user/unswelearning

UNSW is the first university in Australia and among the first in the 
world to make lectures publicly available online.

This year, Buckland is inviting high school students with a strong 
interest in computing and mathematics to study an advanced first-year 
university level computing course for free.

 https://wiki.cse.unsw.edu.au/info/HighSchoolComputing

With the lectures now published online, the students will be able to do 
most of their work from home. They will only come to the university one 
evening a week for a two and a half hour lab and tutorial, where they can 
ask questions and socialise.

"I'm not aware of anywhere else in the world doing this," Buckland said.

The students will complete the same assessments and exams as university 
students and the course will be credited to their degrees once they enrol 
at the university.

Buckland is mainly looking for year 11 students but said he would also 
consider applications from students in years 10 and 12. There are limited 
places, so Buckland is asking students to submit a short statement on why 
they want to take the course and an academic reference from a teacher.

"If you have a love for computing or if you're an exceptionally smart or 
talented mathematical thinker you would find high school computing 
wouldn't be stretching you as much as you'd like," he said.

"I'm hoping this will really motivate and switch on a lot of students who 
are starting to feel bored."

By publishing his lectures on YouTube, Buckland has also made the courses 
accessible to people from around the world who may not have the same 
opportunities as Australian students. He said his clips had been viewed 
in places as far-flung as Africa, Saudi Arabia, India, Iran and China.

"It's allowed people who normally wouldn't have access to university to 
visit university for free, without leaving their lounge room," Buckland 
said.

Overseas universities such as Stanford, Berkeley and MIT publish hundreds 
of hours of lecture material online but Australian universities have so 
far used YouTube as little more than a marketing tool.

Buckland is now filming and uploading his second-year computing lectures 
to the video sharing site.

He hopes other educators will follow his example to give time-strapped 
students more flexibility and the ability to learn in their own time.

--

Cheers,
Stephen