Deja Vu all over again
I’m taking a Coursera class on Machine Learning.
https://www.coursera.org/course/ml
I can’t believe I can get such great instruction for for free. I’m going to try the methods I learned there and a new box from BackYard Brains that records EMG signals form you muscles:
https://backyardbrains.com/products/EMGSpikerShield
to identify different movements. It is a great time to be an engineer.
So, enough background. These online classes attract a huge number of students (like thousands, or tens of thousands) all over the world and are still an new phenomena. Hence, how to teach these things is still an experiment in itself. I got the the chance to participate in an online chat with other students to work together on a few quiz questions. See, I am helping to shape the future of learning.
About 7 of us are in google hangouts (two other women besides me, Yea!). We get to the first question. No one wants to talk so of course I jump in and explain what I think the answer is. No one agrees with me. Typical. Most of you may not realize this, but I can’t convince anyone of anything. You know what “they” say about a group lost in the words? How the loudest, most confident person in the group is the one with the least sense of direction? Weill, I am the quiet one (actually, I’m not that quiet now that I’m in my old age) with an unconvincing voice, who does know the way out. I couldn’t convince a mathematical genius that 1+1=2. I couldn’t convince an arctic explorer that snow is cold. I couldn’t convince an artist that a clear mid-day sky is blue. I could go on, but I really can’t convince people of things. My charisma score is 3 (or less). I doubt I am even convincing you who are reading this that that my lack of convincing people of things is a as bad as it really is (but it really is just that really bad).
Back to the online chat. One guy did, actually, change his mind when he heard my reasoning and tried to convince everyone else. No dice. So we click on to see the real answer, and guess who was right. Yep. After everyone read the explanation (which was kind of exactly what I said), the moderator asked if anyone had any comments, or wanted to gloat. I, of course, said “no comment” out loud. But I gloated inside.
Tornadic Teen later asked how things went with this chat and I told him all this. He though it was hilarious and he was rolling his eyes about the other’s lack of listing to me. Then I reminded him how he does the same dumb thing when he needs math help. Then he got embarrassed which was worth it all.
I do have to admit I’m kind of relieved to not be charismatic. All I’d need is for people to take some of the dumb things I say and start acting on them. Plus, I get to share my options without having to take responsibly of people blinding jumping on some bandwagon without thinking things through. But, to be honest, sometimes I have a good and wise answer to things, and I wish people would consider what I say.
https://www.coursera.org/course/ml
I can’t believe I can get such great instruction for for free. I’m going to try the methods I learned there and a new box from BackYard Brains that records EMG signals form you muscles:
https://backyardbrains.com/products/EMGSpikerShield
to identify different movements. It is a great time to be an engineer.
So, enough background. These online classes attract a huge number of students (like thousands, or tens of thousands) all over the world and are still an new phenomena. Hence, how to teach these things is still an experiment in itself. I got the the chance to participate in an online chat with other students to work together on a few quiz questions. See, I am helping to shape the future of learning.
About 7 of us are in google hangouts (two other women besides me, Yea!). We get to the first question. No one wants to talk so of course I jump in and explain what I think the answer is. No one agrees with me. Typical. Most of you may not realize this, but I can’t convince anyone of anything. You know what “they” say about a group lost in the words? How the loudest, most confident person in the group is the one with the least sense of direction? Weill, I am the quiet one (actually, I’m not that quiet now that I’m in my old age) with an unconvincing voice, who does know the way out. I couldn’t convince a mathematical genius that 1+1=2. I couldn’t convince an arctic explorer that snow is cold. I couldn’t convince an artist that a clear mid-day sky is blue. I could go on, but I really can’t convince people of things. My charisma score is 3 (or less). I doubt I am even convincing you who are reading this that that my lack of convincing people of things is a as bad as it really is (but it really is just that really bad).
Back to the online chat. One guy did, actually, change his mind when he heard my reasoning and tried to convince everyone else. No dice. So we click on to see the real answer, and guess who was right. Yep. After everyone read the explanation (which was kind of exactly what I said), the moderator asked if anyone had any comments, or wanted to gloat. I, of course, said “no comment” out loud. But I gloated inside.
Tornadic Teen later asked how things went with this chat and I told him all this. He though it was hilarious and he was rolling his eyes about the other’s lack of listing to me. Then I reminded him how he does the same dumb thing when he needs math help. Then he got embarrassed which was worth it all.
I do have to admit I’m kind of relieved to not be charismatic. All I’d need is for people to take some of the dumb things I say and start acting on them. Plus, I get to share my options without having to take responsibly of people blinding jumping on some bandwagon without thinking things through. But, to be honest, sometimes I have a good and wise answer to things, and I wish people would consider what I say.