The online education movement continues to make strides — earlier this week it was electronic textbooks, today the Times announces that M.I.T. is expanding its online education program:
While students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pay thousands of dollars for courses, the university will announce a new program on Monday allowing anyone anywhere to take M.I.T. courses online free of charge — and for the first time earn official certificates for demonstrating mastery of the subjects taught.
“There are many people who would love to augment their education by having access to M.I.T. content, people who are very capable to earn a certificate from M.I.T.,” said L. Rafael Reif, the provost, in a conference call with reporters Friday.
While access to the software will be free, there will most likely be an “affordable” charge, not yet determined, for a credential.
“I think for someone to feel they’re earning something, they ought to pay something, but the point is to make it extremely affordable,” Mr. Reif said. “The most important thing is that it’ll be a certificate that will clearly state that a body sanctioned by M.I.T. says you have gained mastery.”
Courses like this are becoming more common, and this is a very good thing — online courses are often cheaper, more convenient and easier to schedule into a busy life than their counterparts in classrooms and lecture halls. M.I.T. has long been at the forefront of this movement, and this latest development doesn’t disappoint. The credential in particular is a strong selling point, addressing the common criticism that online programs don’t provide students with a “real” degree. With prestigious institutions like M.I.T. embracing online education, these programs are moving out of the periphery and into the mainstream.
An important next step: a body of employers should develop a set of policies for assessing and using online credentials in lieu of traditional degrees. How much mastery should a student demonstrate across how many (and which) subjects before employers will accept certificates as equivalent to BA or other degrees? State governments might want to get involved; ultimately this approach will allow more citizens of a state to acquire useful knowledge and become more employable at a lower cost than the current setup. It is in the interest of a state’s economic development to support the creation of alternative educational approach.
To other universities we offer the Biblical advice: Go thou and do likewise. A new educational system is being born; get with the program or end up as road kill.
“There are many people who would love to augment their education by having access to M.I.T. content….” Distance Learning provided by what content to whom for what certification are essential components to embed as we endeavor to use online credentials in lieu of traditional degrees. And “while access to the software will be free, there will most likely be an affordable charge….” – capitalism and its irrepressible dynamic (as well as branding) appear to be moving the periphery.
This is what I read in the FAQ’s on the MIT website:
“MIT will share the expected positive net income with faculty members who develop courses for the platform. Net income from the initiative after revenue sharing will benefit MIT and its mission.”
This program will make revenues from research seem like chump change and reward people who can create effective courses. This is how higher ed gets back to an emphasis on teaching.
“State governments might want to get involved….” Please, please, please don’t ruin it by letting any level of government get involved. MIT etc. can set up a donor network to pay credential fees for the needy.
And may I suggest that at the outset we first establish a United States Department of On-line Education to better facilitate this growing phenomenon?
Just look at the great advances in education the country has made since the creation of the Department of Education under the Carter administration. Can we not do the same here?
I ask you, can we not?
As a holy man once said, “You better start swimmin’ / Or you’ll sink like a stone.”
Hubbub, heh.
At home in South Carolina, you must have a four year degree and pass the CPA exam to be licensed. Why not just pass the exam? Likewise, to be a Dental Hygienist (clean teeth) a two year degree is required; and just to show that the buss is traveling backwards in South Carolina, we had an enlightened program that allowed two year licensed engineering technical graduates to design simple engineering projects; they closed that opportunity last year in favor of the four year licensed professional. So to answer BillH’s concerns, governments need to move to clean the slate of what is essentially restraint-of-trade legislation.
This is capitalism destroying jobs, and mostly government jobs.
K-22 education is massive jobs program, and if you follow this trend to it’s logical conclusion, the number of public and academic sector jobs is going to be decimated.
This is a good thing, as America has wasted trillions in subsidizing make-work jobs in education. Just know that the people with their fangs on the taxpayer’s necks will not go quietly.
If we want this to happen, we will have to defeat them politically.
MJB- I’ll go along with government getting itself out of the way. But please, no more help.