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

Transcriber:

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

It's graduation day

到了畢業典禮日，

at the small New England college where my dad taught.

地點是小型的新英格蘭學院， 我爸爸在那裡教書。

It's a burst of color and excitement.

現場五顏六色，空氣中 盡是興奮的氣息。

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

我小時候，他會把我扛在肩上，

and I'd marvel at the pageantry.

這場盛會總讓我感到驚奇。

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

我喜歡所有教授穿著的學袍， 那讓他們看起來像巫師。

My father explained how you could tell what degree someone had

我父親會解釋要如何分辨 一個人拿到什麼學位，

and the school they'd gone to,

以及讀的是什麼學院，

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

判斷的依據是長袍 及後垂布的顏色和設計。

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

就像是穿戴式的文憑、證書。

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

我等不及要拿到我自己的一套了。

My dad taught biochemistry for decades

我父親教生物化學教了數十年，

and was one of those beloved professors.

且是很受愛戴的教授之一。

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

對他而言，畢業就是瘋狂地 接受感謝擁抱和握手，

eager introductions to parents.

還會被熱切地介紹給家長。

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

他的基礎生物課，讓許多學生

走上了科學和醫學的職涯，

and it was clear he made a difference.

很明顯他造成了不同。

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

我想我對教學的熱愛 應該是遺傳自我父親，

and I planned to be a professor,

且我打算要成為教授，

just like him.

像他一樣。

I headed to grad school to do a PhD,

我去就讀研究所，攻讀博士學位，

studying microbiology and microchemistry.

主攻微生物學和微量化學。

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

但在過程中，我父親走的路

和我走的路開始分歧。

During long days in lab, I got impatient.

長時間待在實驗室裡， 讓我開始失去耐心。

I wanted to teach.

我想要教學。

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

我不想要等到畢業， 做博士後的研究，

spend years navigating a treacherous job market.

花數年時間在變化莫測的 工作市場上找方向。

So I turned to the internet,

所以我轉向網際網路，

which was breaking down the barriers to entry

在許多既有的領域中，

and removing the traditional gatekeepers in many established fields.

網路打破了進入的門檻， 除去了傳統的守門人。

From my kitchen table, I started recording tutorial videos,

我開始在我的餐桌上錄製指導影片，

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

用簡單、手繪的圖來教基礎化學。

I put the videos on YouTube ...

我把影片放到 YouTube 上……

and people actually started watching them.

真的有人開始看這些影片。

First, a few folks, and then more,

開始只有幾個人，接著越來越多，

and then more.

再接著又越來越多。

Thank-you emails poured into my inbox.

我的收件匣被感謝信灌爆。

I wasn't a professor yet,

我還不是教授， 我連博士學位都還沒拿到，

I hadn't even finished my PhD,

but I was helping students all over the world

但我在幫助世界各地的學生，

get through their chemistry classes.

通過他們的化學課。

I got the sense that something big was brewing here.

我感覺到有什麼大事正在醞釀中。

But my dad would hear none of it.

但這些我父親都聽不進去。

When I explained

當我解釋我在考慮要放棄 繼續走教授身份的傳統路線，

that I was thinking about abandoning the traditional professorship route

to explore this new world of online education,

改去探索線上教育的新世界，

he exploded in anger.

他暴怒了。

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

「喔，泰勒，只有笨蛋

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

才會認為有人在乎 這個愚蠢的 YouTube。」

I shot back with a dig.

我用挖苦來反擊。

I said, "Every single day,

我說：「每一天，

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

我用影片教的學生數目，

是你整個職涯能的十倍。」

It would have really hurt,

如果他能或多或少 了解我想要描述什麼，

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

這句話就真的很傷。

But maybe he was afraid

但也許他害怕

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

去想他那個沉浸在傳統中的世界

was on the brink of change.

已經走到了改變的邊緣。

It used to be that students had one professor,

以前是學生只有一個教授，

the one standing at the front of the lecture hall.

就是站在階梯教室前方的那個教授。

But increasingly,

但，漸漸地，

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

如果那位教授不夠適合，

學生可以上網，

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

尋找其他教育家的影片， 來協助他們學習。

It was like an online marketplace

那就像是個線上市場，

where students could essentially choose their own professor.

基本上，學生可以在那裡 選擇他們自己的教授。

And it was free.

還是免費的。

Some of these video creators were instructors from institutions,

製作這些影片的人， 有一些是各種機構的講師，

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

但也有一些是甚至連大學文憑 也沒有的出色老師。

Students chose the teachers that help them learn best,

學生會選擇讓他們取得 最佳學習效果的老師，

and the most popular teachers rose to the top.

最熱門的老師則會爬到頂峰。

I wanted to bring my dad into this new world.

我想要把我父親帶進這個新世界。

I suggested we create a video series for intro biology.

我建議我們做一系列的 入門生物學影片。

His lectures, crafted and perfected over decades,

他的課經過數十年的精巧製作， 已經修正到完美，

took terrifying subjects like the Krebs cycle and transcription

能把讓人怯步的主題， 如三羧酸循環和轉錄，

and made them crystal clear and beautiful.

呈現得超級清楚且出色。

They could help millions of students a day.

一天就能幫助數百萬名學生。

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

我開玩笑說：「這樣別的大學 根本就不需要基礎生物教授了。」

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

我常認真地思考這件事。

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

如果找到幾位像我父親這樣 非常有才華的教育家，

and gave them essentially limitless resources, content editors,

提供他們基本上完全無限制的資源、

內容編輯者、動畫師、製作團隊，

and animators and production teams,

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

且他們每天都能投入整天的時間

to making incredible, beautiful educational content.

來製作非常出色的教育內容。

It seemed like this could fundamentally change a field

這種做法似乎會從根本上改變那些

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

全世界有許多教授 在教類似課程的領域，

particularly at the introductory level.

特別是入門程度的。

But each professor rarely had the time and resources

但教授多半不會有時間和資源

to go all in.

可以全心投入。

Incredible education content felt like something that could scale,

這種超棒教育內容， 似乎可以把規模做大，

科技上有許多新革命背後的驅動力

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

就這種重要觀念。

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

我說：「你可以成為 全世界的生物老師。」

"Oh, you have to be an idiot

「喔，只有笨蛋

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

才會認為我想要成為 什麼 YouTube 網紅。」

Ugh.

呃啊。

I was furious.

我好生氣。

And then, shortly thereafter,

接著，沒多久後，

unexpectedly, he died ...

出乎意料，他過世了，

right before I graduated from MIT.

就發生在我即將從 麻省理工學院畢業之前。

It upended my life.

這讓我的人生顛三倒四。

But there was a silver lining that felt slightly cosmic.

但，也有些感覺 有點不太真實的慰藉。

He left me a little bit of money

他留了一些錢給我，

that allowed me to step off the academic path

讓我得以脫離學術之路，

and try my own thing.

嘗試我自己想做的。

I poured myself into work,

我完全投入到工作中，

churning out videos day and night.

日以繼夜量產影片。

And I also started to interact more with my viewers.

我也開始和我的觀眾做更多互動。

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

我得知，他們幾乎都是

在傳統學術環境的死板架構中

by the rigid structure of traditional academia.

感到格格不入的人。

Countless college students

有無數的大學生告訴我 他們如何透過這類影片來學習。

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

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

他們一學期只進教室三、四次。

just to take the tests.

只是去參加考試。

Others were trying to switch careers in middle age,

還有些人是在中年想要換跑道，

and they needed to take courses piecemeal.

他們需要上零零散散的課程。

They needed half of this degree

他們需要半個這種學位，

and a quarter of this one.

還有四分之一這個學位。

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

一位單親爸爸寫信告訴我，

他想要去讀護理學校，

to show his young daughters he can be something.

證明給他的女兒看，他也能有所成。

He can't understand a word his professor says,

他的教授所講的內容， 他完全聽不懂，

but my videos get him through a critical class.

但我的影片幫助他 修完一堂重要的課。

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

像這樣的留言，後面通常 會接著不祥的……

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

「為什麼我要付錢給學校？ 而不是付給你？」

I wonder why these people have to go through the motions

我很納悶，這些人為什麼 非得要去做出席課堂的形式，

of attending a class,

when they are learning all the material on their own.

明明他們都完全 靠自己在學習所有教材。

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

他們為什麼不能 用其他方式取得學分？

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

為什麼沒有人注意到這些人的需求？

I can't offer diplomas from my YouTube channel,

我不能用我的 YouTube 頻道來授予學位，

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

但一旦有辦法可以讓學生 以不同方式學習教材

no matter how they learned the material,

取得課程學分，

in class or on their own,

不論是去教室或靠自己，

the online marketplace of different teachers and different learning approaches

那麼，不同老師 和不同學習方式的線上市場

will explode.

就會迅速擴大。

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

會有激烈的競爭，

比賽看誰能把學生教得最好。

Meanwhile, as I madly upload videos,

與此同時，當我在瘋狂上傳影片時，

my views go through the roof.

我的點閱率飆升。

Job offers start to come in.

開始有工作找上門來。

Random people start recognizing me on the street,

街上開始有各式各樣的人認出我，

an awkward "Hey, um ....

尷尬說一句：「嘿，呃……

Do you make YouTube videos?"

你是做 YouTube 影片的嗎？」

It's followed by hugs and handshakes, selfies,

接著就是擁抱、握手、自拍，

and even occasional tears.

偶爾甚至有人落淚。

Around this time,

此時，

my career moves from the lecture hall to the laboratory.

我的職涯從階梯教室移到了實驗室。

I joined a company focused on education

我加入了一間公司，公司的重心在

for pharmaceutical and life-sciences companies.

藥品及生命科學公司的教育訓練。

The CEO is bold and eccentric,

執行長很大膽也很古怪，

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

她想要挑戰極限， 教授複雜的實驗室方法，

entirely in virtual reality.

且完全採用虛擬實境。

Outside of academia, things move fast,

在學術圈外的世界變化很快，

and the stakes are different.

賭注各有不同。

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

我以前的目標是期末考成績。

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

現在則是病人的健康 以及救命的治療。

For the team I joined,

我所加入的團隊則是有難得的機會

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

可以深思實驗室教學。

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

大學時，我幾乎不知道 自己在實驗室裡幹嘛。

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

加幾滴這個，加幾滴那個，

and poof --

然後，呼一聲——

it would turn red.

就變成紅色了。

Test tubes would break,

試管會打破，

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

疲憊的助教要同時指導三十個學生。

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

但虛擬實境可以成為始終如一

且經常保持警覺的一對一教練。

A learner can practice activities over and over,

學習者可以不斷重覆練習，

until they truly understand what they're doing

直到他們真正了解自己在做什麼

and why they're doing it.

以及為什麼要那麼做。

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

學生不需要老師或助教——

the software does the teaching.

軟體負責教學。

Put on a VR headset,

戴上虛擬實境頭戴裝置，你就不需要

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

數百萬美金的微生物學實驗室

to teach microbiology.

就可以教微生物。

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

很顯然，就算是在 進階的技術性領域，

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

學術界也並非唯一能夠 提供高品質學習的玩家。

Coding boot camps have received a lot of attention

程式語言密集班因為能夠 提供證書，讓參加者可以

giving credentials that allow folks to transition into programming roles.

轉型為程式設計角色， 因而受到很大的矚目。

But with VR,

但若使用虛擬實境， 可以想像由公司來提供

you could imagine companies offering biotech credentials

生物科技證書

and teaching lab skills

並教授實驗室技能，

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

比如在先進的細胞及基因治療領域 就可能會需要用到。

When you look at all of these forces together,

把上述這些影響力通通加在一起看，

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

很顯然，高等教育也將會 發生很實在的改變。

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

當我坐在我父親肩上時，

those colored robes at graduation represented discrete credentials,

畢業典禮上的那些彩色長袍代表的是 區別開來的不同證書，

earned from classroom and research time at specific schools.

從特定學校的教室 和研究時間取得的證書。

Maybe the metaphorical academic robe of the future

也許在未來，學袍的象徵

is more of a patchwork cape?

會比較像是拼布拼出來的帽子？

A discussion class taken in person at MIT,

親自在麻省理工學院修習的討論課、

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

靠 YouTube 影片協助 通過取得的入門內容認證。

A VR laboratory course from a company outside of academia.

學術圈以外的公司提供的 虛擬實境實驗室課程。

Graduation is unlikely to be a single, defined event.

畢業就不太可能是單一、 明確定義的事件。

And learners, instead of institutions,

學習者，而非機構，

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

會有權力決定他們 需要什麼樣的證書，

and when and how they master the prerequisites.

以及他們要在何時以什麼方式 來精通必要的知識技能。

The impact of COVID is likely to only accelerate this.

新冠肺炎的衝擊 可能會加速這個趨勢。

Even the most prestigious schools

即使是最有名望的學校，

are now giving credit for courses completed online.

現在也有完成線上課程 取得學分的機制了。

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

很難再把精靈放回到瓶子裡去。

And hopefully,

希望，

the specter of these changes will force colleges and universities

這些改變的幽靈會迫使大專院校

to double down on what they can uniquely provide.

加倍投入在它們自身獨有的特色。

Maybe that's getting students to dive into research,

也許是讓學生埋首於研究當中，

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

或者提供和教授進行 一對一討論的寶貴時間，

fostering discussions and mentorship.

促成討論和師徒制。

MIT has always been on the forefront of innovation,

麻省理工學院一直都 走在創新的前端，

and there's a unique opportunity here

這裡有一個獨一無二的機會，

for it to lead academia into this new future.

可以引領學術界進入這個新未來。

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

但，我知道這樣的改變有多困難。

My father, who was a brilliant educator,

我父親是個出色的教育家，

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

他就看不到這樣的未來， 或者不想看到。

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

只有笨蛋才會認為會有任何改變。

But at the same time,

但同時，他也把學習看得最重，

he valued learning over all else,

like many other great teachers.

和許多偉大的老師一樣。

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

他以前總會說， 教育的焦點應該是學習，

不是教學。

These new paths of teaching, of certification,

這些教學和認證的新途徑，

they're not trivial shortcuts.

它們並非無價值的捷徑。

They'll help students master the same fundamental skills,

它們能協助學生精通 同樣的基礎技能，

just more effectively, more efficiently.

還能更有效果、更有效率。

You know ...

你知道嗎……

I think back to the first time

回想我第一次嘗試

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

我協助打造的虛擬實境實驗室產品，

A team of so many brilliant, talented people

由眾多聰明有才的成員組成的團隊

had worked on it for months.

投入了數個月的心力。

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

我戴上虛擬實境的頭戴裝置後，

我就進去了，

a lab bench in front of me.

一間實驗室就擺在我眼前。

The focus was a fundamental microbiology method.

主題重點是一種基礎微生物學方法。

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

那可能是我父親在研究所時 最先學到的內容之一，

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

也是我最先學到的內容之一。

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

有那麼一刻，我好想知道， 如果他能看見這個，會有什麼想法。

if he could have seen this.

I imagined, somewhat hopefully, of course,

在我想像中，當然也是我的期望，

that he'd look around in the headset,

他會在頭戴裝置裡環顧四周，

grab a petri dish,

拿起一個培養皿，

sterilize his metal tools in the Bunsen burner

用本生燈來消毒他的金屬工具，

until they glowed a bright orange,

直到它們閃閃發光，

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

也許他會說出他的招牌金句之一：

"Whoa ...

「哇……

This is pretty nifty.

這好棒。

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

只有笨蛋才看不出……

這就是教育的未來。」

this is the future of education."

Thank you.

謝謝。