Thanks for the link to the articles. The first one posed some classic dilemmas. Anyone who produces pictures would naturally want to protect their rights to reproducing the pictures. However as an educator, user rights can get in the way of education. For the example stated in the article, the goal was not to sell the pictures one by one and instead the payment came from the school for the instructor’s time. But that is almost an aside for the broader goal of the article.
The popularity of the classes is very impressive. Having taken photography classes for a lot of years I found that instruction and feedback were vital parts of the learning processes. In the case described, it becomes more a role of education by loose association. With up to 35,000 students there is no real chance of ever getting of 1:1 instruction or feedback. Certainty the instructor will never get to know more than a few very aggressive students. Due to this I have to question the utility of this kind of course as a real college educational tool. It amounts to little more and potentially a lot less than the kind of education that takes place on any web forum.
But, at the same time, it certainly looks like a good idea because of the vast number of people who sign up. It’s ironic: If you are looking for an opportunity to learn it is not the best way, but if you are looking for success as a teacher it shows high marks due to the number who participate. If schools get funding based on student enrollment it’s a winner. However if success is measured by the results the majority of students achieve………………