Monday, May 03, 2004
Facilitating Open Learning: Part 1
TrendFunction: Outsourcing + Open Source + Reeducation
If you haven’t checked out MIT’s OpenCourseWare yet, you should. MIT, one of the leading institutions of higher learning in the world, has published the details of over 700 courses. For the self-starting person there is the opportunity to give yourself an virtual ivy league education in everything from Anthropology to Artificial Intelligence. What an incredible opportunity! In an environment where more and more jobs are going overseas there is a huge need for people to re-educate themselves and expand their horizons. MIT’s OpenCourseWare is a great resource for this. There are a few obstacles that would-be-ivy-leaguers need to overcome before setting out on their personal renaissance.
1. Most people aren’t self starters.
2. One of the biggest parts of education is interacting with other people and sharing ideas.
3. Another part of education is the accountability that a professor provides.(i.e. grades)
4. MIT publishes the list of materials used, but rarely are ALL the materials needed available for free. Many resources are copyrighted works available only through educational libraries.
5. What would you do if someone told you that they gave themselves an ivy league education? I’d chuckle at lease a little bit.
I’m sure there are a number of other obstacles, but I’d like to discuss solutions to these 5 specifically. Solving these five could put us well on the way to a more affordable higher education. I have some ideas that I think would help, and I’ll post them tomorrow. In the mean time, give your ideas in the comments.
If you haven’t checked out MIT’s OpenCourseWare yet, you should. MIT, one of the leading institutions of higher learning in the world, has published the details of over 700 courses. For the self-starting person there is the opportunity to give yourself an virtual ivy league education in everything from Anthropology to Artificial Intelligence. What an incredible opportunity! In an environment where more and more jobs are going overseas there is a huge need for people to re-educate themselves and expand their horizons. MIT’s OpenCourseWare is a great resource for this. There are a few obstacles that would-be-ivy-leaguers need to overcome before setting out on their personal renaissance.
1. Most people aren’t self starters.
2. One of the biggest parts of education is interacting with other people and sharing ideas.
3. Another part of education is the accountability that a professor provides.(i.e. grades)
4. MIT publishes the list of materials used, but rarely are ALL the materials needed available for free. Many resources are copyrighted works available only through educational libraries.
5. What would you do if someone told you that they gave themselves an ivy league education? I’d chuckle at lease a little bit.
I’m sure there are a number of other obstacles, but I’d like to discuss solutions to these 5 specifically. Solving these five could put us well on the way to a more affordable higher education. I have some ideas that I think would help, and I’ll post them tomorrow. In the mean time, give your ideas in the comments.
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