3 ms·

> 529,000 people Fair enough > How do you think a model would operate for university-level instruction that would both prepare kids for employment Not sure,

> 529,000 people Fair enough > How do you think a model would operate for university-level instruction that would both prepare kids for employment Not sure, but Uni level instruction is probably sub-optimal for a large portion of the population. You are also still tethered to the pace set by the professor/instructor. Online would allow for students to move at their own pace. > offer a competitive level of socialization I don't think there's much MORE benefit to College socialization. I think this is a normal time period in everyone's life of being free of parents and responsible for yourself that Uni's use as evidence of benefit. EDIT This time period involves socializing with new people. > collaborative problem-solving experience in multiple fields I don't think this requires physical presence. > generalized knowledge so they don't turn into pigeon-holed hyperspecialists I don't know the numbers but I'm guessing the overwhelming majority of jobs never get much outside of hyperspecialization. This is a benefit of modern economies. Specialization allows for more productivity. But like with any job, people who want to can branch out. It would be easier if you didn't have to adhere to a college schedule. > How do you expose kids to a wide-enough variety of things that they are able to discover something they truly want to do for the rest of their life? The friction and overhead in Uni's to try different things is way higher than clicking a link online. Spending the remainder of 16 weeks studying something you hate, then changing majors is infinitely more cumbersome than just bailing and learning something else. If you want to force a broad subject matter on students, well that model will die out due to inefficiencies. > How will you ensure that a university-degree doesn't remain a symbol of status? It totally will. But it will be for the rich. Everyone else doesn't need to blow $200k to do software engineering, operate a camera, make art or pursue mathematics research. Google is already working on a program that will certify job applicants sans a college education. >Basically, how do you go from University of Phoenix, to what you are describing? Not sure. Online stuff evolves unlike Uni's which have been essentially the same for the last 50 years. Go to class/lab, listen to a lecture, take a test. Prices skyrocket. Online, things get better and cheaper faster.

phobosanomaly 6y ago
Cal State sticker-price in-state tuition is only $5,700/year. California Community College tuition is only like $1,600/year. If my kid went to our local community college and then transferred to our local Cal State, that's only an average of $3,600/year for four years. Sure, there are families that can't afford that, and we have Cal Grants to help bring that cost down even further. The $200k figure is something you arrive at when you start sending your kids to schools like USC. Their tuition is $58,000/year. Assuming you could pony up $3,600/year, what would be an argument for not sending your kids to college in favor of them doing an online thing? If they can't keep up with the material, they can enroll in fewer classes. If they're bored, they can take more, or take graduate-level classes.
- primrose 6y ago
  > Cal State sticker-price in-state tuition is only $5,700/year. Online education will be cheaper. With state subsides it'll probably be free. khanacademy is already free. Check out this lecture on cellular energetics: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/cellular-energetics/enzyme-structure-and-catalysis/v/enzymes?modal=1 https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/cellular-ener... If you want to know why college will be disrupted this is the best essay ever: https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world/ https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world... It's no different than what's happening to every other industry. > If they can't keep up with the material, they can enroll in fewer classes. If they're bored, they can take more, or take graduate-level classes. It's still rigid compared to online. Still have to study things that might not be necessary for your job or you don't care about. Taking more or less classes doesn't mean at your own pace, it means a rigid schedule you can handle. What if I can complete a course in 6 weeks instead of 16? What if I only want to concentrate on one course at a time for a smaller period of time? What if I'm 9 weeks in, hate it and want to change majors? What if I want to sit at my computer instead of commuting to school or physically going to class? What if the professor talks too slow and I would rather have them go 1.5x speed because It holds my attention? What if I want to rewind them because I missed something they said? What if I can't understand the professor? That lack of physical space and material allows for greater flexibility.
  - phobosanomaly 6y ago
    "That lack of physical space." This stuck with me, I guess because it also implies a lack of social space as well. For this to work, the majority of people thinking of attending college would need to have an aversion to sharing physical space with others. Otherwise they would derive some utility from sharing physical space with others, which could then be assigned a dollar value. The dollar value is tuition. I would concede that there is a nonzero percentage of college students for whom the utility of sharing physical space with others is a net negative. I would also argue that this percentage is in the minority, and although they may not, their parents might derive positive utility from increased socialization of their child. For the vast majority, the opportunity to share physical space with others engaged in the same pursuit generates positive utility, and can therefore be assigned a dollar value. As long as there is a dollar value there, tuition will be collected. There is also the motivational aspect. Due to fundamental adaptations in human nature, external structure is often needed to motivate productivity. Although there are those who are outliers, and are truly motivated by intrinsic interests, these seem to be in the minority. Therefore, having external structure to motivate also generates positive utility and willingness to pay. You can do all of what you described in your room with a textbook and practice problems, but why doesn't anyone just do that for four years, and then go out and get a job? Sure, it happens in software, but that's unique in that in software you can literally go from NAND gates to DOOM in a sandbox-like environment, but the rest of the world doesn't have that ability to manipulate their field of study from first principles in an interactive environment.

phobosanomaly 6y ago

Cal State sticker-price in-state tuition is only $5,700/year. California Community College tuition is only like $1,600/year. If my kid went to our local community college and then transferred to our local Cal State, that's only an average of $3,600/year for four years. Sure, there are families that can't afford that, and we have Cal Grants to help bring that cost down even further. The $200k figure is something you arrive at when you start sending your kids to schools like USC. Their tuition is $58,000/year. Assuming you could pony up $3,600/year, what would be an argument for not sending your kids to college in favor of them doing an online thing? If they can't keep up with the material, they can enroll in fewer classes. If they're bored, they can take more, or take graduate-level classes.

primrose 6y ago
> Cal State sticker-price in-state tuition is only $5,700/year. Online education will be cheaper. With state subsides it'll probably be free. khanacademy is already free. Check out this lecture on cellular energetics: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/cellular-energetics/enzyme-structure-and-catalysis/v/enzymes?modal=1 https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/cellular-ener... If you want to know why college will be disrupted this is the best essay ever: https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world/ https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world... It's no different than what's happening to every other industry. > If they can't keep up with the material, they can enroll in fewer classes. If they're bored, they can take more, or take graduate-level classes. It's still rigid compared to online. Still have to study things that might not be necessary for your job or you don't care about. Taking more or less classes doesn't mean at your own pace, it means a rigid schedule you can handle. What if I can complete a course in 6 weeks instead of 16? What if I only want to concentrate on one course at a time for a smaller period of time? What if I'm 9 weeks in, hate it and want to change majors? What if I want to sit at my computer instead of commuting to school or physically going to class? What if the professor talks too slow and I would rather have them go 1.5x speed because It holds my attention? What if I want to rewind them because I missed something they said? What if I can't understand the professor? That lack of physical space and material allows for greater flexibility.
- phobosanomaly 6y ago
  "That lack of physical space." This stuck with me, I guess because it also implies a lack of social space as well. For this to work, the majority of people thinking of attending college would need to have an aversion to sharing physical space with others. Otherwise they would derive some utility from sharing physical space with others, which could then be assigned a dollar value. The dollar value is tuition. I would concede that there is a nonzero percentage of college students for whom the utility of sharing physical space with others is a net negative. I would also argue that this percentage is in the minority, and although they may not, their parents might derive positive utility from increased socialization of their child. For the vast majority, the opportunity to share physical space with others engaged in the same pursuit generates positive utility, and can therefore be assigned a dollar value. As long as there is a dollar value there, tuition will be collected. There is also the motivational aspect. Due to fundamental adaptations in human nature, external structure is often needed to motivate productivity. Although there are those who are outliers, and are truly motivated by intrinsic interests, these seem to be in the minority. Therefore, having external structure to motivate also generates positive utility and willingness to pay. You can do all of what you described in your room with a textbook and practice problems, but why doesn't anyone just do that for four years, and then go out and get a job? Sure, it happens in software, but that's unique in that in software you can literally go from NAND gates to DOOM in a sandbox-like environment, but the rest of the world doesn't have that ability to manipulate their field of study from first principles in an interactive environment.