This is a great article and it begs the question: What is Education for?
Is it just to get pure knowledge and develop strong work ethics or is it to get a strong reference on a resume?
As an employer I believe that the diploma from those top Universities is a sign that the candidate for a job is a hard working individual who can commit to deadlines and deliver strong content. To get the job this diploma is necessary but not always sufficient.
On the other hand, a third world individual sitting in a small room in Asia or in Africa can watch the lectures all day long and learn and understand what's that knowledge about, but he would then be hard pressed to capitalize on that knowledge.
I still think that it's a great initiative for those curious minds who want to get knowledge right form the source in a quite often entertaining format.
The only issue I see is a segregation of Universities into groups. For instance Universities A, B and C do their website. And Universities D, E anf F do another one and there is no cross communication between those sites.
I think the writer omitted to mention www.lecturespoint.com which is a directory of all lectures and courses available online. That's a good effort to bring all courses in one place without EGO or deans competing for online knowledge domination.
I see a large community forming in the future to discuss courses, maybe online sessions via skype where the courses can be discussed.
Free education is a reality in Europe already, University is free in France for instance, so why shouldn't it be free here in the US as well?
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Cannot be more true
Edited by siam321
Updated - 15th Aug
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If they were serious...
Posted by dmm99
20th Aug
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Cannot be more true
Posted by siam321
Updated - 15th Aug
-1
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Can not be more true ...
Your question: So why shouldn't it (education) be free here in the US as well?
Like it or not ... Agree or not ... America is a capitalist country ... We are basically all about 'money' ... Very few commodities are without monetary costs ... Most well meaning services available today expect donations, which are largely used for the needs of those that originated said orginations? If I provide you with information and show you how to use it to improve your wellbeing, why shouldn't I be monetarily compensated? ... My question would be: How can most anything in this country these days exist without cost? ...
Like it or not ... Agree or not ... America is a capitalist country ... We are basically all about 'money' ... Very few commodities are without monetary costs ... Most well meaning services available today expect donations, which are largely used for the needs of those that originated said orginations? If I provide you with information and show you how to use it to improve your wellbeing, why shouldn't I be monetarily compensated? ... My question would be: How can most anything in this country these days exist without cost? ...
Posted by tla@...
17th Aug
0
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follow up
Well it was more of a rhetorical question. YES, education can be free , but it requires a top 75% tax bracket. Not something that the US want to promote (contrary to France)
Posted by siam321
20th Aug
0
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No credits!
I've checked out these programs, but it seems that journalists absolutely never do. These classes are functionally useless. Sure, you get to learn a few things - but you OBTAIN NO CREDITS for these classes! No credits, no GPA, NOTHING. You earn nothing.
How is this any different from teaching yourself? It isn't. I don't know what they're getting out of this (tax credits or free publicity probably), but I know the student gets jack. In today's world, there is no time to be able to spend taking classes that don't get you credits, case closed.
How is this any different from teaching yourself? It isn't. I don't know what they're getting out of this (tax credits or free publicity probably), but I know the student gets jack. In today's world, there is no time to be able to spend taking classes that don't get you credits, case closed.
Posted by KojiroTakenashi
17th Aug
0
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no credit ctd..
There is a case for getting knowledge for knowledge sake...imagine you go to a job interview and you have been taught the exact same content than your other 1000 competitors, how will you stand out? I think there is a compelling case for getting and taking the time to learn from free content as part of on-going education. You will just stand out when the money time comes.
Posted by siam321
20th Aug
0
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Credit/No Credit
Unfortunately, the course credit is the handiest way of "measuring", along with GPA, academic success, and employers frequently use them as the measure of knowledge possessed by a job candidate, particularly in the absence of significant work experience.
In an interview situation it may be possible to speak to your knowledge in the absence of degrees, credits, GPA, but pre-interview screening of applications may not allow you to get to an interview. Perhaps instead of free, charge some modest fee that would result in some alternate measures that employers would value (course completion time, average score on exams, access to papers written, etc.) would provide employers with useful information. Once a number of applicants listed such on applications, it would tend to increase the acceptability.
In an interview situation it may be possible to speak to your knowledge in the absence of degrees, credits, GPA, but pre-interview screening of applications may not allow you to get to an interview. Perhaps instead of free, charge some modest fee that would result in some alternate measures that employers would value (course completion time, average score on exams, access to papers written, etc.) would provide employers with useful information. Once a number of applicants listed such on applications, it would tend to increase the acceptability.
Posted by Trilogy
20th Aug
0
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If they were serious...
...there would be some way of getting tested and obtaining credit. I'd rather see a consortium of schools agree to a series of uniform tests, along the lines of the AP exams, which would automatically confer actual credit useable toward a degree. For a start, schools could simply agree to accept AP exams for credit, without limitations. (If you don't understand my point, try to get AP exams accepted for credit once you're out of high school.)
Posted by dmm99
20th Aug