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I really don't get things like Coursera et. al. Textbooks have been available for purchase far before the modern university existed, but the only thing stopping
by duaneb 14y ago
I really don't get things like Coursera et. al. Textbooks have been available for purchase far before the modern university existed, but the only thing stopping people from teaching themselves and making a career out of it is the degree. I would far prefer a site that just made certifying knowledge of a given subject easier, replacing the BA, so you can cover e.g. Multivariable Calculus over three weeks instead of three months. As it stands, these online "schools" don't offer anything that you couldn't get before, and in fact are perhaps worse because they offer the illusion of having proof of knowledge (when people would be far better served just proving that they know something outright with personal projects).
Furthermore, there are vast areas of education that require small student:teacher ratios, if only for grading papers. Peer reviews can only go so far, and they are really only good for the center two quartiles of the class: who the hell grades the top person? How does she improve? And don't even mention the performance and studio arts.
I think we (and the founders of these places) have a somewhat warped perception of how effective these courses are because our subject areas (math-heavy) are extremely easy to test and quantify progress, but the other subjects are just as critical to society's well-being.
And let's not forget the other side of school: learning work ethic, forging an identity, and how to function in society. Physical colleges are worth far more than the sum of their parts (though probably not what they are charging).
I would love to be proven wrong!
EDIT: I think we would get a much, much, much larger return on the investment by improving the quality of our community colleges, reducing the stigma of attending them & other state schools, and encouraging more people to attend vocational schools instead of a degree that won't get them a job.
- marknutter 14y ago> Physical colleges are worth far more than the sum of their parts I hear this and variants of this argument often but it always seems to be taken completely on faith.
- duaneb 14y ago> I hear this and variants of this argument often but it always seems to be taken completely on faith. Current college student; I've dropped out of college and returned. So, for me, college has been, is, and will probably continue to be the worth more than just what I am paying for (though I am probably overpaying for those parts). This certainly does not apply to everyone, but I think it does apply to many people.
- redschell 14y agoI agree with some parts of your post, such as the challenges of evaluating students in more qualitative disciplines through a virtual medium, and disagree with others, such as the notion that the college experience, if I'm reading this right, is the optimal way to forge an identity, function in society etc. etc. But I think the edit is the most important point here. I really think community colleges, vocational training, and a focus on helping young people evaluate their ambitions in life should be a goal of our society in the coming years. Too many people clog up universities studying things like business and psychology because they've been told it's "the next step." I believe most people would be happier and less indebted if they were given a cheaper, and arguably more valuable vocational education, job training, and a career, which would enable them to buy stuff, raise children, and stay out of debt, which is enough for a lot of people to be happy. Furthermore, I think this would spell the end for a lot of colleges and universities I feel serve no purpose except to employ educators and swindle students. I mean, do we really need UC Merced and Cal State Stanislaus? What do these institutions accomplish? I'm sorry if this is an offensive or glib point, I readily admit I'm a bit inebriated at the moment, but I'm just not sure why we have these "in between" schools. Are these guys better off than the people at the CCs? I just don't think so.
- duaneb 14y ago> is the optimal way to forge an identity, function in society etc. etc. Well, pretty close. I'm against saying one thing is optimal for everyone, but I think that it is better for many people than going straight into the work force. I'm 100% positive it could be replaced by something else, non-academic, but I'm not sure what it is. The person who does is probably a genius.