{"223631":{"#nid":"223631","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Mick Jagger of MOOCs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEd. note: This story appears in the first issue of Georgia Tech Engineers, the new magazine from the College of Engineering. To request a copy, please \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:editor@coe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eemail the editor\u003C\/a\u003E at editor@coe.gatech.edu\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStory by \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lyndsey.lewis@coe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ELyndsey Lewis\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPhotos by Zach Porter\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere is a problem with the robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/users.ece.gatech.edu\/%7Emagnus\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMagnus Egerstedt\u003C\/a\u003E eyes them with dismay. His robots, rotund little things that wouldn\u2019t look out of place in a Roomba ad, are misbehaving. They\u2019re crawling toward two silver cases in the middle of the floor, but just before reaching them, they\u2019re supposed to sense the obstacles and skitter away.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe demonstration is the highlight of Egerstedt\u2019s lecture; it is the center ring of this particular circus. A professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E (ECE), Egerstedt is teaching a class on robot control, and the point of the course tends to be lost if the robots in question are going rogue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToward the cases they go, but wait! They\u2019re sliding this way and that way. They come to halting stops or turn dizzily, and some of them don\u2019t recognize the cases at all and slam into their shiny edges. HAL 9000 these robots are not, but their predicament is looking dire.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s as if they\u2019re drunk \u2014 and in a way, they are. The robots, all Khepera IIIs, have infra-red sensors that are sensitive to light, and they\u2019re suffering beneath the harsh glare of studio lamps. This isn\u2019t a typical classroom lecture \u2014 these robots are starring in a massive open online course, or MOOC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEgerstedt is teaching in a familiar way, but the setting is different. There are no students present, and instead of a classroom or lecture hall, the lesson is being given in a studio with a jungle of lamps overhead. Every move Egerstedt makes is recorded for online broadcast, and his robots are not taking kindly to the extra light. Frustrated, Egerstedt calls out to Brian Wilson, the instructional media producer who is filming the lesson.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBrian, can we do it again?\u201d he asks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m just going to keep rolling,\u201d Wilson replies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYeah,\u201d Egerstedt says. \u201cTill it works.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd it does work eventually, and when it does, the effect is sublime. Egerstedt turns triumphantly to his student assistant, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/jpdelacroix.com\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJean-Pierre de la Croix\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYeah!\u201d he exclaims. \u201cRobotics is so easy, man.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA MOOC is a special type of online class. Available to anyone with an Internet connection, most MOOCs offer college-level material via pre-taped lectures, and course enrollments can swell to tens of thousands of students. The premise is simple: Bring higher education to the masses by cutting through academia\u2019s red tape and, most tantalizingly, offering many courses (including Egerstedt\u2019s) at the low, low cost of free.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca title=\u0022Read the full article.\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/www.coe.gatech.edu\/content\/inside-magnus-egerstedts-mooc\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERead the full article.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"With a new type of engineering class, ECE Professor Magnus Egerstedt has a chance to educate thousands. Can he pull it off?"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith a new type of engineering class, ECE Professor Magnus Egerstedt has a chance to educate thousands. Can he pull it off?\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"With a new type of engineering class, ECE Professor Magnus Egerstedt has a chance to educate thousands. Can he pull it off?"}],"uid":"27842","created_gmt":"2013-07-19 10:11:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:34","author":"Ashlee Gardner","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"223611":{"id":"223611","type":"image","title":"Magnus Egerstedt","body":null,"created":"1449243535","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:38:55","changed":"1475894894","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:14","alt":"Magnus Egerstedt","file":{"fid":"197362","name":"magnuse_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/magnuse_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/magnuse_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":80041,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/magnuse_2_0.jpg?itok=4D2dGmy8"}},"223621":{"id":"223621","type":"image","title":"Magnus Egerstedt Filming","body":null,"created":"1449243535","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:38:55","changed":"1475894894","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:14","alt":"Magnus Egerstedt Filming","file":{"fid":"197363","name":"magus_mooc.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/magus_mooc_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/magus_mooc_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":126956,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/magus_mooc_0.jpg?itok=Y0KYDLrm"}}},"media_ids":["223611","223621"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/home","title":"Georgia Tech College of Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"38281","name":"Coursera"},{"id":"66891","name":"Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"11528","name":"Magnus Egerstedt"},{"id":"43811","name":"MOOCs"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELyndsey Lewis\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWriter\/Editor, College of Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-0181\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lyndsey.lewis@coe.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}