We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
Professors at 10 more large university systems can access MOOC courses for use in their classes.
Coursera, which is one of the big providers of what are called Massive Open Online Courses, is expanding its reach.
The Wall Street Journal reports Web Courses Woo Professors.
Continue reading “Coursera makes online classes available to more colleges”
700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities
Your choice of video or audio in either iTunes or mp3 format. Tons of courses. Well, advertised at 700, but I didn’t try counting them.
Free.
If you want to learn it will cost your time.
Amazing.
The frontier is wide open in education.
One of the great things about the tech revolution is the low barrier to entry for lots of things. Used to be it would require a receptionist, stat typist, full-sized copy machine, and large bookshelf with lots of expensive books to start an accounting firm.
Now you can start a firm at a desk with equipment that fits on the desk. I know it can be done. I did it.
Same with writing, publishing, creating music, and any business that involves professional services or selling over the ‘net.
So why not pursue your dream?
Philosiblog expands that idea with If you don’t build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.
That we haven’t seen the full impact of IT is a comment I heard the first time a few years ago. That sort of made sense but didn’t really register. This blog is focused on sorting out that change. The idea that the technology revolution has barely begun finally clicked for me with a column by Matthew Yglesias – Why I’m Optimistic About Growth and Innovation.
A few industries have seen huge impact from technology. Think of book publishing, journalism, and music. Those industries have been turned upside down. I read a lot and listen to a bit of music so am quite attuned to those areas. The way everyone consumes news has been transformed. I regularly read dozens of blogs a day. They just appear on my computer screen with a mouse click or two. I’ve always been a news junkie, and my consumption has soared in the last few years.
However, as big as those industries are, they are a small part of the total economy.
Continue reading “Impact of the technology revolution has barely begun”
The frontier in higher education is wide open.
How ‘bout starting a college in your basement with $100k seed money?
That’s what Mr. Tim Cook has done with Saxifrage School. He wants to radically cut the cost of college education. His idea is to combine learning a trade or other productive skills along with traditional humanities classes that teach you to think.
Check out the status so far, according to Startup Takes Aim at Old-School Ways in the Wall Street Journal: Continue reading “Start a college in your basement”
Who Has the Right to Mine an Asteroid gives an overview of the legal issues involved in getting minerals and water from asteroids. The discussion is from Professor Glenn Reynolds, of course.
What’s the payoff?
Here’s the possible yield from mining asteroids: Continue reading “Space frontier is open – legal analysis of mining asteroids and private round-trip supply runs”
There are rapid changes in the format of delivery of education. I’ve not had anywhere near enough time to comment on them in this blog.
One area I have pondered is taking a recorded lecture and turning it into a course. A while back I finished listening to The American Civil War, by Prof. Gary Gallagher from Great Courses. Had a lot of fun listening to the CDs. Learned a lot.
I commented on this idea here.
As I finished this series, I thought again how this and similar courses would be a great way to create a college-level course. Continue reading “The frontier is open in education – recorded lectures”
One territory in the open frontier of the education world is the idea of assessing knowledge acquired instead of counting time spent in chairs.
Two articles last week point to the possibilities, both from Via Meadia:
College Too Expensive? Try the $5,000 degree – Second sentence of the post:
Continue reading “The frontier is open, education department – stuff learned vs. time spent”
The new frontiers:
New frontiers have opened up, with incredible opportunities as wide as the prairies in the northern plains states. They also have the same high price of admission as the old frontier.
In the previous post, I talked about the oil patch and publishing. Now I’ll talk about education and space exploration.
Education
The new frontiers:
The American prairies
The opportunities opened up wide as the prairies and the Dakota sky with the signing of the Homestead Act.
A man and his family, or a single woman, or a former slave, could stake out a claim, work as hard as you wanted, and with a little bit of luck and constant hard work, make a go of it. Millions of people did.
The opportunity was there for the taking.
As I mentioned before, the land was free but the admission price to play was steep.
That frontier has long been closed.
Other frontiers have opened up, with the opportunities, also as wide as the prairies. Also with the same high price of admission.
The space frontier is open.
Popular Mechanics reports in The 4 Spaceships Vying to Send Crews to the ISS just what their title says.
There are four companies developing lift capacity:
The Homestead Act, signed into law 150 years ago in May 1862, opened up the American frontier.
This was the deal: Claim 160 acres of land, farm it for five years and then the government gave you title for no charge.
Does that mean it was free land? Not a chance.
The price of admission was extremely steep.
Continue reading “Price of admission to the American frontier was steep – part 2”
The frontier is a major part of American history. It is a huge factor in our identity in the U.S.
From passing of the Homestead Act in May 1962 in the middle of the American Civil War until around the turn-of-the-century, the frontier was wide open.
What was the appeal?
New opportunities.
You could leave the crowded, rodent infested tenements of the East Coast for lands of unlimited opportunities.
Get in a covered wagon, head across the plains, stake a claim, work the land, and make as good a future for you and your family as you wanted. Farm the land for 5 years and it’s yours.
Price for admission? 
The educational frontier is wide open. Want to start your own institution of higher education? With today’s technology, some time, and a few dollars, anyone can do it.
Continue reading “Want to start your own educational institution? Go for it.”
I finished listening to two series of lectures from Great Courses. This is the first time I’ve used their material. They have great stuff.
I’ve long thought that the concept of taking their recorded, college-level lectures and adding a reading list plus a test could produce a high-quality, college-level class. I’m more convinced now than before.
The courses were presented by subject experts. Even with my above average level of knowledge on these two topics, I learned a lot and was stretched intellectually.
The courses were Continue reading “Recorded lectures are a great starting point for online education”