Create an eLearning system where ANYONE can learn the way they want to learn. For example, if I am comfortable learning with the help of a person, I click on a subject and poof! appears a window with a live person web-camming with you. It is an interactive session on-demand, when you need it, in the language of your choice.
Or, imagine that I am reading a book and need some clarification on a concept. I go to the website and either chat or have an audio or video call with the person who can help. I will be able to search for the availability of such a person on the site. When I search, I can specify the topic, language etc. so that the search will throw up the available persons. I could even look for people who have read the book or professors and teachers who teach using that book.
I can of course learn about these topics on the self learning module and at any time of the learning ask a live person for clarifications, as if I am one-on-one with a private tutor who is available 24×7.
While reading an article on the system, I might get tired and just want to hear the rest of the stuff. Can I do it? Yes of course. I just click the point till which I have read and an audio starts from that point.
The system is a also a wiki; so whenever people learn about new concepts in their own way, they can add to the learning system. So, you have a wiki-banking, wiki-maths, wiki-physics and so on. Naturally, I believe in the goodness of people and that they will not post useless or malicious content. In case they do, then there will be bots who will identify the garbage and throw it out.
I can also broadcast my query to all the members of the learning system and people would respond at their convenience. I would then find the best answer and add to the wiki so that others can benefit. People could also respond by posting audio/videos.
Is this idea possible to execute or just too impractical? Is there a real need for such a system? How can we create a huge community of subject matter experts on just about any subject from nuclear engineering to philosophy. It will obviously require a lot of storage and capability to deliver large amount of data in an efficient manner.
Any thoughts….?
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Hi Shashank,
Have mailed you my contact details on your hotmail accnt. Please do feel free to call up anytime – would love to discuss this further.
Best,
Manish
Sounds so much similar to how Vannevar Bush described Memex way back in 1945, which in today’s world is Hypertext!
Manish,
Can you give me your contact details or write at sm-biz@hotmail.com
Thx,
S
Hi
Interesting post, this is exactly what we are trying to achieve at Wiz-IQ (www.wiziq.com). Will appreciate your feedback, you can contact me at harbir at authorgen dot com
Harbir
Hi Shashank,
This is an intersting idea, and most certainly doable. All the tools required for such a system are already there – open source and otherwise. What one needs for such a system would be virtual class room (for live interaction with a tutor, or a group of people), a learning content management system to manage all the content, and wiki – put all of them together and you have your system ready. Infrastructure can be scaled up as user base grows – so that again won’t be a show stopper.
The actual problem is elsewhere – its in content. You would need tons of content for different domains, which would require bankfull of money. The only way I think its doable is that the site gets popular through viral marketing (put some content to get people in), and then let it develop as a self-sustaining eco-system.
Now – how do you make money out of such a site, which is By the People, For the People? I think the answer would be through Advertisements, and by selling premium content, and webinars.
In short – very doable, there is nothing out there like this (to the best of my knowledge), but would need good investment to take this idea off the ground.
Best,
Manish