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I assume 1. Get educated refers to the internet and the rise of things like Khan Academy but 25% of americans don't have any internet (that includes mobile) at

I assume 1. Get educated refers to the internet and the rise of things like Khan Academy but 25% of americans don't have any internet (that includes mobile) at home. http://www.census.gov/history/pdf/2013computeruse.pdf http://www.census.gov/history/pdf/2013computeruse.pdf

WalterBright 11y ago
Besides the free online access to education, more americans have college degrees than ever before: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_... The local public library provides free internet access, lends out books for free, and sells their overstock for a buck a book. You can also get tech books from goodwill for very cheap (I've bought many that way). It really never has been easier to get educated.
- Turing_Machine 11y ago
  Sure. Free wifi is everywhere, and tablets and smartphones are dirt-cheap. Not necessarily top-of-the-line devices, but units that are perfectly adequate for viewing Khan Academy, Project Gutenberg, the scads of free online college course materials...
  - Natsu 11y ago
    Any decent library provides free internet access. When I volunteered at ours, most of the people there interested in the computers were job seekers who did not appear to have lots of money. Some of those were also in our free computer classes, some of which I taught as a volunteer.
  - watwut 11y ago
    You need to be already educated in order to take advantage of Gutenberg. Knowing which books make sense to read requires prior knowledge. Moreover, very little of what is on Guttenberg teaches actual skills you can earn money with. The most important things you learn good school gives you are a.) ability to distinguish what makes sense to learn and what is waste of time b.) ability to study alone. And judging from what college profs say, even supposedly good high school that produce college students fail to achieve b. all too often. It does not mean it is impossible for all to learn useful things alone the way you suggest, but that is requires much higher abilities then finishing normal college. Free online college course are great thing when you are already educated (e.g. like me), but: * they wont give you diploma which is what employers care about, * are much harder to finish from home when you are doing them alone, * some courses still require you to buy expensive books. After work education programs have higher failure rates then full day students - it is just harder to study after you worked 8 hours or more assuming you did not slacked. Being full time student is easier. Even paid online courses have have higher failure rates then comparable in person courses (e.g. comparable demographic), that might have to do with psychology (motivation) or simply with in-person communication between students being more effective then discussions on forums. Keeping motivation up when you are in daily contact with other students is non-issue, keeping it while alone is harder. Overcoming struggles when friends can give you advice in person is easier then doing it with forums only. Everybody in HN makes big deal about how working with smart good people is important for you cause you learn from them, well this is the same thing. Finishing coursera course from home where you can study whenever it suits you, where you can google anytime you struggle with no transport needed is easier then having to do so in library. Of course it is possible form library too, but it is harder, require more commitment and persistence.
chaostheory 11y ago
Does it matter if they don't have access at home? Do the poor no longer have access to public institutions with internet access like say libraries? When I was younger, I was homeless for a few months and that's what I relied on to stay connected. These days there are even more places like the Apple stores. Looking at the data you've cited, two years is a really long time when it comes to the evolution of technology. Now we have even more resources to stay online cheaply with extremely inexpensive smartphones (many homeless people possess them) and even cheaper computers ($35 to even as low as $10); not to mention the advent of cheap or free municipal WiFi and special Internet plan rates for low income people from all the major carriers. Consequently it's a bit strange to me that people who want Internet, don't have it. This is probably better for data. http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/smartphone-penetration-rising-in-all-age-and-income-demos-hits-75-of-us-mobile-market-51585/ http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/smartphone-penetration... Looking at the data, (correct me if I'm wrong) I feel that the people who don't have internet are both elderly and poor. If you're not elderly, you'll probably have Internet access one way or another. I'm guessing, but I feel that a large portion of the geriatric population just doesn't care about the Internet.

WalterBright 11y ago

Besides the free online access to education, more americans have college degrees than ever before: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_... The local public library provides free internet access, lends out books for free, and sells their overstock for a buck a book. You can also get tech books from goodwill for very cheap (I've bought many that way). It really never has been easier to get educated.

Turing_Machine 11y ago
Sure. Free wifi is everywhere, and tablets and smartphones are dirt-cheap. Not necessarily top-of-the-line devices, but units that are perfectly adequate for viewing Khan Academy, Project Gutenberg, the scads of free online college course materials...
- Natsu 11y ago
  Any decent library provides free internet access. When I volunteered at ours, most of the people there interested in the computers were job seekers who did not appear to have lots of money. Some of those were also in our free computer classes, some of which I taught as a volunteer.
- watwut 11y ago
  You need to be already educated in order to take advantage of Gutenberg. Knowing which books make sense to read requires prior knowledge. Moreover, very little of what is on Guttenberg teaches actual skills you can earn money with. The most important things you learn good school gives you are a.) ability to distinguish what makes sense to learn and what is waste of time b.) ability to study alone. And judging from what college profs say, even supposedly good high school that produce college students fail to achieve b. all too often. It does not mean it is impossible for all to learn useful things alone the way you suggest, but that is requires much higher abilities then finishing normal college. Free online college course are great thing when you are already educated (e.g. like me), but: * they wont give you diploma which is what employers care about, * are much harder to finish from home when you are doing them alone, * some courses still require you to buy expensive books. After work education programs have higher failure rates then full day students - it is just harder to study after you worked 8 hours or more assuming you did not slacked. Being full time student is easier. Even paid online courses have have higher failure rates then comparable in person courses (e.g. comparable demographic), that might have to do with psychology (motivation) or simply with in-person communication between students being more effective then discussions on forums. Keeping motivation up when you are in daily contact with other students is non-issue, keeping it while alone is harder. Overcoming struggles when friends can give you advice in person is easier then doing it with forums only. Everybody in HN makes big deal about how working with smart good people is important for you cause you learn from them, well this is the same thing. Finishing coursera course from home where you can study whenever it suits you, where you can google anytime you struggle with no transport needed is easier then having to do so in library. Of course it is possible form library too, but it is harder, require more commitment and persistence.

chaostheory 11y ago

Does it matter if they don't have access at home? Do the poor no longer have access to public institutions with internet access like say libraries? When I was younger, I was homeless for a few months and that's what I relied on to stay connected. These days there are even more places like the Apple stores. Looking at the data you've cited, two years is a really long time when it comes to the evolution of technology. Now we have even more resources to stay online cheaply with extremely inexpensive smartphones (many homeless people possess them) and even cheaper computers ($35 to even as low as $10); not to mention the advent of cheap or free municipal WiFi and special Internet plan rates for low income people from all the major carriers. Consequently it's a bit strange to me that people who want Internet, don't have it. This is probably better for data. http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/smartphone-penetration-rising-in-all-age-and-income-demos-hits-75-of-us-mobile-market-51585/ http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/smartphone-penetration... Looking at the data, (correct me if I'm wrong) I feel that the people who don't have internet are both elderly and poor. If you're not elderly, you'll probably have Internet access one way or another. I'm guessing, but I feel that a large portion of the geriatric population just doesn't care about the Internet.