Is a college degree really about knowledge, skills, and information anymore, or just about paying for a credential?
With the ongoing expansion of open source materials on the world-wide web, including MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) often hosted by the top educational institutions in the world and created by some of the top professors, it seems that a person might be able to acquire almost any skills and/or knowledge they desire. Of course there are some obvious limitations (I wouldn't want a surgeon who had not been trained in an actual medical program to operate on me!) but there is so much learning that can be done over Web 2.0 platforms.
Just yesterday, a friend told me about an online service called VIPKid where qualified instructors teach English to children in China using video conferencing. Here's the link to their Facebook page: VIPKID. She suggested that this might be a good option for part-time, flexible employment. And why not? Who wouldn't want to work from the comfort of their own home and set their own schedule?
I know that personally, I love my online classes. And it's not just the being able to work from home part. I enjoy the on-going interaction with my fellow students and my instructor that an online class affords. In a well-designed online educational environment, the learning can be rich indeed.
With more and more American college students being buried in student load debt, and with companies becoming less concerned with degrees and more concerned with skills, I wonder how long the credential of a college degree will hold much weight. I've even heard talk of the fact that the level of degree that one holds doesn't mean what it used to. (Aka, "A doctorate is the new master's, and a master's is the new bachelor's.") I wonder too, if more people will turn to self-education of marketable skills and away from the mountainous debt and hoop jumping that so often comes with those letters behind the name.
What do you think?
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Hi Cathryn,
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking a lot about this after reading the Caswell article. It seems like open educational resources are the movement of the future, but I personally feel like it is an extremely slow moving movement. It is absolutely amazing to see what MIT has done with open course ware and I actually took an Introduction to Programming course with Edx. I have to say that it felt somewhat strange receiving a certificate with no accreditation or official credit attached to it. I also had a bit of an issue with motivation – since I could move at my own pace and there were no deadlines - I found myself constantly putting work off and not taking it very seriously. No harm, no foul right? Maybe I am conditioned, but in the end, it felt like a lot of work for nothing.
Caswell mentions that funding is a major issue and I can absolutely understand this. How are we supposed to pay people to share their expertise, design and develop courses, manage the technologies, and maintain the courses? It is neat that some states like Utah are providing public funding for open courseware, but I do not personally see a lot of other states jumping on board at this time. Grants and private funding are great options, but I feel like this money is extremely limited. I think that the UK may be on to something by using the free ‘Moodle’ LMS. I also think that many MOOCS can actually use their student body to maintain and update online courses sort of like a Wiki, but there are a lot of risks involved with this. It seems like we need more volunteers and more grass root efforts, but I do not personally imagine this taking off at a rapid speed. I recently heard that Coursera no longer gives a free statement of accomplishment and they make you pay for the certificate if you want it. Maybe that will be the new way to fund this revolution in learning?
Universal access to a free education would be an amazing thing, but I sort of have the feeling that this is going stagnant. I imagine that there are many special interest groups, politicians, and University officials that are actively attempting to slow down the progress in this area. What do you think?
I recently read an article about cheating in MOOCS and how easy it has become. Users are working in teams to create multiple accounts. Many of the accounts are used to harvest assessment answers and then one account is used to quickly gain the certificate. They are calling them CAMEO users (Copying Answers Using Multiple Existences Online). I think that these users may be taking the credibility away from these certifications. What do you think?
BTW, thank you for sharing the link to VIPKID! This is very cool!
Northcutt, C. G., Ho, A. D., & Chuang, I. L. (2016). Detecting and preventing “multiple-account” cheating in massive open online courses. Computers & Education, 100, 71-80.
What a great comment! I agree with you that this is an extremely complex issue: credibility, motivation, etc., etc. I do think that we are conditioned to be extrinsically motivated when it comes to education. Almost no such thing as learning for the joy and excitement of learning any more. I've never taken a MOOC or the like before, but it seems strange to me that they would even offer a certificate or certification with it. Again, offering some kind of extrinsic reward, all be it a flimsy one, for engaging in learning. It's really sad to me that cheating your way into getting a piece of paper is more important to some people than actual learning. Yikes. What does this say about our culture?!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the issue of making sure educators are still getting paid somehow as education becomes more free and open is definitely important.
I could totally see some individuals and groups wanting to slow down progress with open access to education and knowledge. Holding information is a main way that people stay in power.