Bringing Convenience and Open Source Methods To Higher Education

Business Week has a piece discussing the effects internet-based technology and open sharing are having on the standards of higher education. The author says every product's success or failure depends on its fidelity — the overall quality of experience — and convenience. Since the internet has made the sharing of even expert-level knowledge convenient, he wonders how long it will be until some school or company raises the fidelity enough to have their degrees accepted alongside those of professional-grade colleges. Quoting: "Once in a while, a market gets completely out of balance. Forces conspire to prevent either a high-fidelity or high-convenience player from emerging. All the offerings crowd around one end or the other. Eventually, someone nails a disruptive approach. Customers and competitors rush in and the marketplace wonders why that great idea didn't come sooner. The higher education market is a lot like that. For centuries the university model dominated because nothing else worked. No technology existed that might deliver an interactive, engaging educational experience without gathering students and teachers in the same physical space. ... These days broadband Internet, video games, social networks, and other developments could combine to create an online, inexpensive, super-convenient model for higher education. You wouldn't get the sights and sounds of a campus, personal contact with professors, or beer-soaked frat parties, but you'd end up with the knowledge you need and the degree to prove it."

Comments

Re:Erm.... Labs?

[RicktheBrick]

I am a graduate of a university. I went to the university in the years 1967 to 1971. I paid for it by saving around $2,000 before I started and by having a part time job during the school year and a full time job in the summer. Today there is no way that would come even close to paying for an education even if one were to get today's minimum wages. I worked for $1.35 an hour at the time. Sometimes I would get $2.00 an hour. With all the advancements of technology since than we still seem to have the need to charge in proportion several times what I paid. The state of Michigan is still complaining about the cost it contributes to higher education. If we do not get the cost down than we might as well close them all down because they will be far beyond the ability of most of us to pay for anyway.