Trying hard to find something in Obama's plan that isn't going to lead to the total destruction of the university sytem

[Eugene Eichelberger]

How is this not going to eradicate everything good about universities? http://mitopencourseware.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/the-presidents-plan-to-make-college-more-affordable/

[Fanning CJ]

Hi All

This is a subject close to my heart too.

The industry trend is to pay for the accreditation not the content, increasingly users expect  content  to be provided for free, and this trend doesn't look like slowing down any time soon. 

It is also handy for many universities because they record lectures once and that's that, the star performers - well known 'celebrity'  lecturers - can then cover a much wider audience, that is customers. Any MOOC will trump any number of lecture halls. Tutoring is done one-to-one by less or differently qualified support staff , in any time zone from any location, and provided by anyone - not just the MOOC producing universities themselves. That is if you are lucky and its not just an automated system.

The value to the universities is in charging for accreditation, the ones with the highest reputations will charge most for their degrees. So, anyone can learn the information, but only those who can pay for the accreditation will come out with, for example,  an Ivy League qualification.

At third level a passive learning approach is fairly common - sitting in lecture halls for a few hours  - and MOOCs fit in to this model.

Where it gets really worrying is where this approach starts to make its way into primary and second level, it's one thing for a learner to be plugged into a computer for drilling exercises, but personally I would be concerned if this took over from manipulating materials and active researching, never mind creativity.  I would prefer at these levels to see ICT used as a resource with teacher facilitation for active learning and engagement.  

I for one am watching the progress of this approach very closely.   

Ciao

Camilla 

@eu4schools

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From: Eugene Eichelberger <gei...@gmail.com>
To: cesi...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2013 3:44 PM
Subject: [CESI List] Trying hard to find something in Obama's plan that isn't going to lead to the total destruction of the university sytem

How is this not going to eradicate everything good about universities? http://mitopencourseware.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/the-presidents-plan-to-make-college-more-affordable/

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[Bije Barrett]

Research is all very well but does the time constraints of a time table, the syllabus requirement that needs to be covered and the duration of the time given to complete, allow for such class based facilitated research learning.

I think well designed learning resources (for the student not the teacher) that match the syllabus requirements, created by second and first level teachers, using good interactive software, delivering knowledge to student with constant feedback, is nothing to be frightened of.

When these presentations use every possible mode of delivering knowledge to a student that enables them to engage and learn. (Like those used to deliver knowledge in MOOC’s)

I would not classify it as being plugged into a computer for drilling exercises.

I would call it intelligent planning for a teacher to use their time and talents more effectively to personalise the learning experience to the needs of the individual learner.

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Best Regards,

Bije Barrett