Online learning could change academia -- for good | Tyler Dewitt

Transcriber:

翻译人员: Tingting Zuo 校对人员: Bruce Wang

到了在新英格兰的, 我爸爸在那里教书的

一所小大学毕业典礼的那一天。

这里充满了色彩与激动。

It's graduation day

我小的时候，他会把我举到肩膀上，

at the small New England college where my dad taught.

然后我会惊叹地看着这一场盛会。

It's a burst of color and excitement.

我喜爱着所有教授们 穿的像魔法师一样的学位服。

When I was little, he'd carry me up on his shoulders

我父亲跟我解释了 如何从学位服和垂布

and I'd marvel at the pageantry.

I loved the wizard-like academic robes that all the professors wore.

看出谁有哪个学位 和他们曾上过的学院。

My father explained how you could tell what degree someone had

学位服就像一个大学文凭， 一个你可以穿的证书。

and the school they'd gone to,

based on the color and design of their gown and hood.

我迫不及待的想要 一个属于我自己的。

我爸爸教了数十年的生物化学，

It was like a diploma, a credential that you could wear.

并且是那种特别被喜爱的教授。

I couldn't wait to have one of my own.

毕业典礼，对于他来说， 是一阵充满感激的拥抱和握手，

My dad taught biochemistry for decades

与被热切的介绍给家长们的狂热。

and was one of those beloved professors.

他的生物 101 课程推出了 无数个科学和医疗方面的职业生涯。

Graduation, for him, was a frenzy of thankful hugs and handshakes,

eager introductions to parents.

很显然他有所作为。

Countless careers in science and medicine were launched in his Bio 101 class,

我想我应该是从我爸爸 那里继承了对教学的热爱，

我计划要像他一样做一名教授。

and it was clear he made a difference.

我到研究生院上了一个博士学位，

I suppose I inherited a love of teaching from my dad,

读的是微生物学和微量化学。

and I planned to be a professor,

just like him.

但是在这个过程当中， 我和我爸爸的道路开始分叉了。

I headed to grad school to do a PhD,

studying microbiology and microchemistry.

在实验室里那些漫长的日子里， 我开始不耐烦了。

But along the way, my dad's path and mine started to diverge.

我想教书。

我不想等到毕业后再做一个博士后，

During long days in lab, I got impatient.

然后花上几年的时间 横渡奸诈的就职市场。

I wanted to teach.

所以我转向了正在打破进入和

I didn’t want to wait to graduate and do a postdoc,

移除很多已确立行业内的 传统把关人的壁垒的网络。

spend years navigating a treacherous job market.

So I turned to the internet,

从我厨房的桌子上，我开始录制教程视频，

which was breaking down the barriers to entry

and removing the traditional gatekeepers in many established fields.

用着简单的手画图表教着基础化学。

From my kitchen table, I started recording tutorial videos,

我把我的视频放在了YouTube上。。。

teaching the basics of chemistry using simple, hand-drawn diagrams.

然后居然有人开始看我的视频了。

起初只有少数人再看，然后越来越多，

I put the videos on YouTube ...

越来越多。

致谢的电子邮件涌入了我的收件箱。

and people actually started watching them.

我还不是一名教授，

First, a few folks, and then more,

我连博士学位都还没念完，

and then more.

但是我帮助了世界各地的学生们通过他们的化学课。

Thank-you emails poured into my inbox.

I wasn't a professor yet,

I hadn't even finished my PhD,

我感觉到了有很大的东西正在酝酿。

but I was helping students all over the world

get through their chemistry classes.

但是我爸爸对这些很排斥。

I got the sense that something big was brewing here.

当我解释我想为了探索网络教育这个新世界

But my dad would hear none of it.

而放弃传统的教授职位道路的时候，

When I explained

他怒火中烧。

that I was thinking about abandoning the traditional professorship route

“哦，Tyler，你必须是个傻子

to explore this new world of online education,

才会觉得任何人会在意这个愚蠢的YouTube东西。”

he exploded in anger.

我以羞辱的方式反驳了他。

"Oh, Tyler, you'd have to be an idiot

我说，“每一天，

to think that anyone would care about this stupid YouTube thing."

我的视频会教十倍你整个职业生涯会教导的学生。”

I shot back with a dig.

I said, "Every single day,

要是他当时对我想描述的事有任何概念的话，这句话会特别伤人。

my videos teach 10 times as many students as you'll teach in your whole career."

但是有可能他害怕想到他世界，

It would have really hurt,

if he'd had any conception of what I was trying to describe.

沉浸在传统的世界，

即将改变。

But maybe he was afraid

曾经，学生们只会有一位教授，

to think about the way his world, steeped in tradition,

就是站在课堂前端的那位。

was on the brink of change.

但是逐渐的，

如果一名教授不是很适合的话，学生们可以到网络上

It used to be that students had one professor,

the one standing at the front of the lecture hall.

寻找别的教师的视频来帮助他们学习。

But increasingly,

if that professor wasn't a good fit, students could go online

就像一个学生们基本上可以选择他们自己的教授的网络市场一样。

and seek out videos from other educators to help them learn.

而且是免费的。

It was like an online marketplace

这些视频制作者当中有一些是教育机构里的教师，

where students could essentially choose their own professor.

但是其他人可能是甚至连大学文凭都没有的杰出的老师。

And it was free.

Some of these video creators were instructors from institutions,

学生们可以选择最能帮助他们学习的老师们，

but others could be brilliant teachers who didn't even have a college degree.

而且最受欢迎的老师们升到了顶峰。

Students chose the teachers that help them learn best,

我想把我爸爸带到这个新世界里。

我建议我们创造一个基础生物学的视频系列。

and the most popular teachers rose to the top.

他的讲座，经过了几十年的精心制作和完善，

I wanted to bring my dad into this new world.

I suggested we create a video series for intro biology.

把如三羧酸循环和转录等恐怖题材

变的清晰易懂而美丽。

His lectures, crafted and perfected over decades,

它们有可能一天帮助到上百万学生。

took terrifying subjects like the Krebs cycle and transcription

我玩笑的说，“别的大学还有原因需要任何其他的生物101教授吗？”

and made them crystal clear and beautiful.

They could help millions of students a day.

但是这是一个我真的考虑了很久的一个想法。

"Why would any other college need a Bio 101 professor?" I joked.

如果你辨认出了一些非常有才华的教师， 比如我爸，

But it was something I'd seriously thought about a lot.

然后给了他们基本上是无限的资源，内容编辑，

What if you identified a few incredibly talented educators like my dad

与动画师和制作组，

而且他们可以每天一整天专注与

and gave them essentially limitless resources, content editors,

做这些精彩的，美丽的教育内容会怎么样呢。

and animators and production teams,

这看起来是有潜力从根本上改变一个领域。

and they were able to devote all day, every day,

一个在全球各地的很多教授在教本质上类似的课程的领域。

to making incredible, beautiful educational content.

It seemed like this could fundamentally change a field

尤其是在基础课的程度。

where many professors all around the world were teaching essentially similar courses,

但是各个教师很少有时间和资源来全力以赴。

particularly at the introductory level.

精彩的教育内容感觉是一个可扩展的东西，

But each professor rarely had the time and resources

一个在驾驶着科技领域里新的改革的关键概念。

to go all in.

Incredible education content felt like something that could scale,

我说，“你可以当整个世界的生物学老师。”

a key concept driving so many of the new revolutions in tech.

”哦，你必须是个傻子才会觉得我会愿意当一个什么YouTube明星。”

"You could be the world's biology teacher," I said.

哎。

我当时非常气愤。

"Oh, you have to be an idiot

然后，不久之后，

to think that I'd want to be some kind of YouTube star."

出乎意料的，他死了。。。

Ugh.

I was furious.

就在我从MIT毕业之前。

And then, shortly thereafter,

这颠覆了我整个人生。

unexpectedly, he died ...

但是有感觉稍微有秩序的一点慰藉。

right before I graduated from MIT.

他留了一点钱给我。

It upended my life.

这让我可以走下学术的道路

But there was a silver lining that felt slightly cosmic.

然后尝试我自己的方式。

He left me a little bit of money

我把自己全神贯注在工作上，

整天整夜的大量生产着视频。

that allowed me to step off the academic path

我也开始更多的与我的观众互动，

and try my own thing.

I poured myself into work,

然后发现到他们几乎都是没有受到

churning out videos day and night.

生硬的传统学术界教育体系的有效服务。

And I also started to interact more with my viewers.

And I learned that they were almost all folks who weren't served well

无数的大学生

告诉我他们所有的学习都是通过像我做的视频。

by the rigid structure of traditional academia.

他们每个学期只会去上三四次课，

Countless college students

只是为了去考试。

told me how they did all their learning from videos like mine.

其他人是想换职业的中年人，

They attended class only three or four times during a semester,

需要一块一块的学习课程。

just to take the tests.

他们需要一半的这个专业

和四分之一的那个专业。

Others were trying to switch careers in middle age,

一名单身父亲写信给我说他想尝试上护士学校，

and they needed to take courses piecemeal.

They needed half of this degree

为了证明给他的女儿们看他是可以的。

and a quarter of this one.

A single dad writes me and says how he's trying to go to nursing school,

他的教授说的他一个字都不懂，

但是我的视频帮助他过了一门紧要的课。

to show his young daughters he can be something.

像他的这种评论经常会跟着一个不祥的。。。

He can't understand a word his professor says,

but my videos get him through a critical class.

“那我为什么在付钱给学，而不是付钱给你？”

Comments like his are often followed by an ominous ...

我疑惑着为什么虽然这些人在自学所有学习资料的同时

“So why am I paying the school, and not paying you?”

还是必须要去上课。

为什么他们不能以别的方式获得学分呢？

I wonder why these people have to go through the motions

为什么没有人在注意到这些人的需求呢？

of attending a class,

when they are learning all the material on their own.

Why can't they get course credit in other ways?

我不能在我的YouTube频道上提供文凭，

Why isn't anyone paying attention to what these people need?

但是一旦有办法让学生可以获得学分，

无论他们是怎么学到这些知识的，

I can't offer diplomas from my YouTube channel,

是在课堂里或者是以自学的方式，

有着不同的老师和不同的教学方式的网络市场将会炸开。

but once there is a way for students to earn course credit

no matter how they learned the material,

in class or on their own,

那时，对于谁能最好的教会学生将会有激烈的竞争。

the online marketplace of different teachers and different learning approaches

will explode.

与此同时，在我疯狂的上传视频的时候，

There will be serious competition for who could teach students the best.

我的收视率也在飞涨。

我开始收到工作邀请。

人们开始在街上认出我。

Meanwhile, as I madly upload videos,

my views go through the roof.

一个尴尬的 “嘿，那个。。。

Job offers start to come in.

你做YouTube视频吗？”

Random people start recognizing me on the street,

紧跟着的是拥抱与握手，自拍，

an awkward "Hey, um ....

和甚至偶尔的眼泪。

Do you make YouTube videos?"

差不多这个时候，

It's followed by hugs and handshakes, selfies,

我的职业生涯从教室挪到了实验室。

and even occasional tears.

我加入了专注于制药 和生命科学公司的教育的一个公司。

Around this time,

my career moves from the lecture hall to the laboratory.

这个公司的CEO大胆而古怪，

I joined a company focused on education

她想挑战极限，完全在虚拟现实里教导复杂的实验方法。

for pharmaceutical and life-sciences companies.

The CEO is bold and eccentric,

在学术界外，很多事情发展的很快，

and she wants to push the envelope and teach complex lab methods

而且利益关系不一样。

我的目标以前是一个期末考试的分数。

entirely in virtual reality.

Outside of academia, things move fast,

现在，是一位患者的健康， 一个可以挽救生命的治疗方案。

and the stakes are different.

The goal for me used to be a final exam grade.

对于我加入的团队，

是一个深度思考实验指导的稀有机会。

Now, it's a patient's health, a life-saving therapy.

在读本科时，我很少知道我在实验室里在做什么。

For the team I joined,

it was a rare chance to think deeply about lab instruction.

一两滴这个一两滴那个，

然后哇！--

In undergrad, I rarely knew what I was doing in labs.

它成红色的了。

一些实验管会碎裂。

一位疲惫不堪的教师助理尝试着同时间指导30名学生。

A couple of drops of this and a couple of drops of that,

and poof --

但是虚拟现实可以成为一名教导一致，时刻保持警惕的教练。

it would turn red.

Test tubes would break,

a frazzled TA tried to guide 30 students at the same time.

一名学员可以重复的练习，

But VR can be a consistent, constantly vigilant one-on-one coach.

直到他们真的理解他们在做什么

和他们为什么要这么做。

然后学生也不需要一名教员或者教师助理 --

A learner can practice activities over and over,

until they truly understand what they're doing

程序会做教学。

and why they're doing it.

And students don't need an instructor or a TA --

戴上一副虚拟现实耳机，

你就不需要一个数百万美元的微生物实验室

the software does the teaching.

来教微生物学了。

Put on a VR headset,

and you don't need a multi-million-dollar microbiology laboratory

而且很明显的学术界不是唯一一个

可以提供高质量教学的机构，即使是在先进技术领域里。

to teach microbiology.

And it's clear that academia isn't the only player

编码训练营因为给人们提供了

that can provide high-quality learning even in advanced technical fields.

让他们可以过渡到编程职业的证书而收到了很多关注。

但是用虚拟现实的话，

Coding boot camps have received a lot of attention

你就可以想象到各个公司提供生物科技证书

giving credentials that allow folks to transition into programming roles.

和教导实验技术。

比如说，用于生产最先进的细胞和基因疗法的技术。

But with VR,

you could imagine companies offering biotech credentials

当你把这些势力放到一起来看，

and teaching lab skills

needed to, say, manufacture cutting-edge cell and gene therapies.

高等教育会有实打实的改变到来是很明显的。

When you look at all of these forces together,

当时我在我父亲的肩膀上，

it's clear that real change is going to come in higher education.

那些毕业典礼上的各色学位服代表了分别从

各别学院里的教室和研究时间获得的凭证。

When I was up there on my father's shoulders,

those colored robes at graduation represented discrete credentials,

有可能未来的比喻性的学位服

会更像一个拼凑而成的披肩？

earned from classroom and research time at specific schools.

一个在MIT的面对面讨论课。

Maybe the metaphorical academic robe of the future

一个在YouTube视频的帮助下通过的一个入门内容的证书考试。

is more of a patchwork cape?

A discussion class taken in person at MIT,

一个在学术界外的公司提供的虚拟现实实验课。

an introductory content certification passed with the help of YouTube videos.

毕业将不会是一个单一，定义明确的事件。

A VR laboratory course from a company outside of academia.

而且不是机构，反而是学者

Graduation is unlikely to be a single, defined event.

将会有选择他们需要哪种证书

And learners, instead of institutions,

与他们什么时候和如何掌握必修课程的权利。

will have the power to decide what sort of credentials they need

新冠病毒的影响很可能只会促进这个。

and when and how they master the prerequisites.

即使是最有威望的学校

现在也在给在线完成的课程学分。

The impact of COVID is likely to only accelerate this.

把这个改回原状会是一件困难的事。

Even the most prestigious schools

are now giving credit for courses completed online.

而且但愿，

这些改变的幽魂会逼着大学和学院

It's going to be tough to put that genie back into the bottle.

双倍的提供他们能独特提供的服务。

And hopefully,

这有可能是鼓励学生投身于研究，

the specter of these changes will force colleges and universities

或者提供于教授一起的宝贵一对一时间，

to double down on what they can uniquely provide.

促进讨论与指导。

Maybe that's getting students to dive into research,

MIT一直在创新的第一线，

or providing valuable one-on-one time with professors,

而且在这里有一个独特的机会

fostering discussions and mentorship.

能让它领导学术界进入这个新的未来。

MIT has always been on the forefront of innovation,

and there's a unique opportunity here

但是我知道这个改变会有多困难。

for it to lead academia into this new future.

我的父亲，一位杰出的教育家，

没能看出这个或者不想看到这个。

But look, I know how hard this change is going to be.

你必须是个傻子才会觉得会有任何东西会改变。

My father, who was a brilliant educator,

couldn't see it or didn't want to see it.

但是同时，

跟很多其他伟大的老师一样，他对学习的重视超乎一切。

You would have to be an idiot to think that anything was going to change.

他曾说教育的重点应该是学习，而不是教学。

But at the same time,

he valued learning over all else,

like many other great teachers.

这些新的教学，获取证书的道路

不是无关紧要的捷径。

He used to say the focus of education should be learning, not teaching.

它们只会帮助学生更有效的，更有效率的

These new paths of teaching, of certification,

掌握同样的基础技能。

they're not trivial shortcuts.

They'll help students master the same fundamental skills,

你知道吗。。。

我会想起我第一次

体验我帮助建造的虚拟现实实验室产品。

just more effectively, more efficiently.

You know ...

一个团队的很多杰出，有才华的人们

I think back to the first time

I tried the virtual reality lab product I'd helped to build.

曾一起为了这个产品工作了数月。

我带上了一副虚拟现实耳机，然后我就到了那里，

A team of so many brilliant, talented people

一个实验桌就在我前面。

had worked on it for months.

主题是一个基础微生物实验方法。

I slipped on the VR headset, and there I was,

这可能是我爸爸在读研的时候最先学的东西之一，

a lab bench in front of me.

The focus was a fundamental microbiology method.

而且也是我最先学的东西之一。

It was probably one of the first things my dad learned when he was in grad school,

我有一瞬间沉思如果他有机会看到这个

他会怎么想。

and it was one of the first things that I had learned.

我当然有些希冀的想象着，

I wondered, for a moment, what he would have thought

他会戴着耳机在周围看一看，

拿起一个培养皿，

if he could have seen this.

用本生灯给他的金属工具消毒

I imagined, somewhat hopefully, of course,

直到它们发出明亮的橙光。

that he'd look around in the headset,

然后他有可能会用他的一个口头禅说，

grab a petri dish,

sterilize his metal tools in the Bunsen burner

“哇。。。

until they glowed a bright orange,

这个挺实用。

你必须是个傻子

and maybe he'd say, with one of his trademark phrases,

"Whoa ...

才看不出这是教育领域的未来。”

This is pretty nifty.

谢谢。

You would have to be an idiot if you can't tell ...

this is the future of education."

Thank you.