Education

Tuesday, November 27, 2007
I subscribe to MIT's newsletters and one of them reported on some software they are developing that converts a spoken lecture into text that can be searched. This is great news for the student who needs to study his/her notes. But what I liked most was a mention of the university's Opencourseware initiative where anyone can obtain course materials/lectures. The university is quick to say that you can't obtain a degree by taking these "courses" and you do not have access to the professors but, hey, it's free and everyone should be taking advantage of it because it's the future of education.

I commend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for leading the way in this endeavor. Their initiative will go down in history as the first great leveler of wealth and opportunity. May the Good Lord bless them and bring shame on the others (Harvard, Yale) who only think of their coffers.

Labels: free education., harvard, higher education, MIT, Yale

# posted by callejero : 3:04 PM
Monday, September 10, 2007
I've written about how our elementary and secondary schools are messed up but the sad truth is that, in a way, Colleges and Universities are also in need of serious revamping. Not because of the quality although some colleges have serious shortcomings; but because of the inordinate expense.

Did you know that in most European countries the cost of higher education is provided for everyone through interest-free loans? Did you know that the cost of a 4 year degree is no where near as high as it is in the U.S.? Why is this? The U.S. and European countries are all democracies; all capitalist states; all Christian/Caucasian majorities. But they subsidize the education of their citizens while the U.S. puts our citizens into debt.

The reason is that U.S. higher education is either private and we all know that private means "only afforded by the rich," or they are public but full of wasteful spending.

Please see my blog on http://newdirections4obama.blogspot.com for the solution to this dilemma. Our top universities have a stranglehold on our higher education which we must eliminate. The only reason for the stranglehold is that the rich do not want low-income people rising to their ranks for this would dilute their wealth. They must keep Yale and Harvard all to themselves; the big politicians must come from the same club; the best doctors (those you can't afford) must come from the same club; etc., etc. etc.

If the Ivy-league colleges do produce the best people, why not spread the good around? No one needs to physically be in the classroom with the Harvard professor. I would be content to have a video camera listening in on the lecture. Why don't you make your courses available on-line Harvard? Eh, Mr. outspoken University President, what say you? How about keeping the cost affordable for what does Harvard and the others want with their untold wealth? What social ills have they mended to date? I know you for what you are and through the Internet, hopefully, one day, all my fellow citizens will see the light.

Labels: harvard, higher education, rich, wealthy

# posted by callejero : 7:44 AM
Saturday, May 22, 2004
My wife took an on-line course at the University of Phoenix On-line. She had to come up with "Professional Development Credits" because of Teacher certification requirements. Although the "classroom" is not as jazzy as it could have been and it could have improved the User Interface, they did manage to rig together a course using off-the-shelf software (Outlook Express). The professor would post a lecture on a private newsgroup and the students would respond on the same. This personal interaction and readily available links to resources made the experience worth the slight drawback of a poorly constructed UI but one which I am sure is forthcoming. The cost per credit, I thought, could have been less expensive but I think they'll lower their prices once they overcome the initial overhead and streamline the delivery and other efficiency improvements.
# posted by callejero : 4:08 PM
Saturday, September 06, 2003
!The Virtual Classroom.
Online learning hits high schools and in a big way; close to 300,000 students will take online classes this year. Even teachers love it. One reason is that even shy kids contribute.

This article tells me that there is no stopping the virtual classroom--now, if I can only get backward North Bergen, New Jersey to see the light
# posted by callejero : 9:15 AM
Friday, August 08, 2003
Another big Player, Capella University, enters the arena. This one with technology, psychology, business, human services, and a school of education.

Now, if someone could come out with an online High School, I would be delighted. I think it's just around the corner.
# posted by callejero : 5:52 AM
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Med school available online - The Washington Times: United Press International

That's right online, no traditional classes; rather, an embrace of the available technology to improve education. By the way, if we doubled the number of doctors, the cost will go down because it will be a buyer's market!

First there was the University of Phoenix; now this; soon, our entire educational system will move online. What's to stop us? What's that you say? You don't want the kids home alone? Who says they have to be home. They can continue to go to an adult supervised building that is just not populated by highly paid individuals who are too burnt out to do our children any good.

Wait and see, a new education is coming.
# posted by callejero : 5:53 PM
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
My solution is simple. Via attrition (this so present teachers don't threaten to close down the government), via attrition I propose that we eliminate all but the best teachers. This will do away with 95% of the teachers now siphoning our hard-earned money.

But how do we educate our children? Well, it's easy, we set up a big screen TV in every classroom and we give them a nice set of earphones. The video will instruct them in thousands of subjects and, here's the best part, the teaching will have been created by the best educational minds in the world. That's right, Tommy will be taught Physics by a Harvard professor. If that professor has no charisma, then the subject matter is delivered by almost anyone whom the student may like: a rap star, a famous author, a fictitious idealized teacher, anyone capable of keeping their attention.

Once they view the video, they are tested by computer and given a choice of repeating the video or going for one-on-one instruction with a professional tutor (either real or computerized).

I think this is a win-win situation for everyone but the teacher's union. God, they sure showed us how valiant the early unions were (remember Compers?). Most of us have relatives that will sing the praises of their union benefits and gleefully pay their union dues. But unions, in my estimation, are a nefarious bunch. I'm waiting for a book on this but I'll bet you it will not get published because of the unions involved in publishing.

I propose that all non-union people get together and form the non-union-people union. oxymoronic, yes but you'll like it nonetheless. For minimal dues, this union will fight the inordinate and oppressive power of the other unions.

I should add that manufacturing unions are subject to market forces so they are in effect self-policing. I'm talking about the parasites on society that have a stranglehold on us and don't even allow an occasional breath of fresh air--the teacher's union comes to mind.
# posted by callejero : 9:49 AM