Udemy

American Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said maybe sixty years ago about pornography, “I know it when I see it.” I’m feeling the same about AI on the Udemy Community postings. I look in just a few times a month, but it seems like I’m reading AI generated contributions a lot. Is it me or are we being subjected to typically stilted words, boring sentence construction, obvious ideas and long-winded explanations?    I’d much prefer personal sincerity and informal human generated sentences to AI. Can we stop it, should we stop it? Am I wrong? ... View more

Although I recently reduced my presence on the Udemy platform, on the occasion of receiving my first one-star review, I had to make this post. I have followed the anguished posts of other instructors after one-star reviews. First seeing mine was like looking at a pile of dog poop on the kitchen floor.   My opinion has always been that students can rate and review any way they wish, within the bounds of decorum and truth. They are not obliged to improve our teaching.   However, in this case, the student is also a Udemy instructor. I believe we instructors should be held to a higher standard. Not a mandated standard, but one of courtesy and respect.   My rater, “Mr. X” has five times the reviews and students I have, and years of experience. I would value his opinion. What did he see in “Management Skills: Problem Solving, Decision Making and More”? Did he not learn anything? It presents a unique tool I created 40 years ago and not found anywhere else. Or is it? Did I get facts wrong? Was I insulting, boring, irritating? Or was he simply jealous of my brilliant genius and suave good looks?   One of my favorite Udemy rivals is Larry Miller. Early on I noticed a few typos on his landing pages and sent him a note. If I took a course of his and noticed something bad, I’d do the same thing; write him a note, out of courtesy and respect.   The few ratings I have given so far have been at least 4.0. Any lower I don’t rate or review.   I think our standard in instructors giving ratings and reviews should be courtesy and respect—and helpful feedback. What do you think we instructors should do?   For now, I thought I’d take note of my first one-star review as something to dismiss and move on.   ... View more

I’ve written a number of books, both fiction and nonfiction. Each book had a theme, such as “children are rule followers, adults should become rule makers.” Until now, I have neglected doing that for my courses. What a mistake.   My course on teambuilding is a good example. Without a theme, my course competed against all such courses, many of which taught well-known team building models. The model I teach is not well known, so it is floundering.   I am going to give the course a theme: “Team building can be simple, easy, quick and effective.”  This tagline will differentiate my course from others. It’s the classic effort to be different and better than the competition. Creating a theme helps me find that element in my courses.   As an academic, I tend to focus on content, not the student. Creating a theme aimed at engaging potential students helps me overcome this tendency. ... View more

As a psychologist, I was taught about learning theories. One concept is the variable ratio reinforcement schedule. That is, being rewarded is uncertain, but delightful when it happens, like with slot machines in Las Vegas.   I have also been concerned by what I see as minimal transparency in many of Udemy’s processes. Most in place, I believe, so people cannot game the system. And, I have often heard that Udemy is a long-term effort.   This all came together this morning when I learned one of my courses had been chosen to be included in Udemy for Business.   I’m delighted. My faith in Udemy has been restored. I trust the system. All is well. It truly is a long-term effort for most of us. ... View more

On LinkedIn recently @LawrenceMMiller (community champion) posted on “What is Your Net-Worth?” a discussion on how success in life should be defined. I have been interested in this question for sixty years. Larry’s response was profound. I wanted to share his wisdom with the Udemy community. This is it:                              Contentment + Contribution = Net Worth   He then adds this quote:  “All people will have sooner or later to recover, for example, the capacity for contentment, the welcoming of moral discipline, and the devotion to duty that, until relatively recently, were considered essential aspects of being human.” The Prosperity of Humankind, A Statement Prepared by the Bahá’i International Community's Office of Public Information, 1995.   Half my courses address this question in various ways; with hours of lectures.   With simple elegance, Larry answered the question beautifully and accurately in four words. ... View more

Thank you for making "latest" the default for the Udemy Community. That change lowed both the time needed to explore the items and my frustration level. I sing your praises. I hope most others will agree. ... View more

RobertBrown028   xx ... View more

Continuous improvement often depends on input from those doing the work. I remarked to @Bella that in my 1.5 years on Udemy that I had not seen an idea presented to the community then referred to some committee or other within Udemy return as an action item. I'm assuming that Community ideas are referred to Udemy committees to die. I'd like to be wrong. Has anyone seen ideas presented to the Community stimulate actual change? That would be great to hear. ... View more