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8/9/2019 College Rant
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8/9/2019 College Rant
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used so improvements can be continually made by anyone.
3. In a traditional classroom, no one wants to look stupid in front of others, so few students arewilling to ask questions. Therefore, the course should also have a very long FAQ section- forwell-established material like calculus, every conceivable question has probably already beenasked. So an online tutor (a live person) would be N/A, reducing cost even further.
4. Since this method bypasses the traditional college, there must be a way of objectively testingstudents and preventing online cheating. Regular exams could be given live at local highschools, etc. The course and standard tests must be accredited so students can easily transfercredit between virtual and traditional colleges anywhere. Having a standard test would make iteasier to compare students across the country, especially for employment.
5. You really teach yourself. Some people say they need the pressure of school to study- if theyreally need to spend $40k a year in tuition to motivate themselves, then perhaps they shouldn'tbe in college. Higher education should be for people who want to learn.
6. If learning is greatly enhanced, then the current 8 semesters of college can be reduced, savingeven more money. Another fundamental question is which classes are even necessary andwhich are useless (forgotten after taking the final exam). Most professions don't require most of
the courses taught in schools! So why even take them?
Doctors and lawyers esp. have WAY too many classes, and could significantly cut their studentloans by reducing the number. Education should also be more practical- more integrated, multi-disciplinary courses instead of single-subject classes. There should be a continuous debatebetween what's needed for the workforce and to be "educated" vs. what's actually taught inschool. Picking people to be doctors or lawyers primarily on grades is flawed- biased towardsthe wrong kind of people. Personality is equally important for success. For most lawyers, I wouldsay personality is the biggest factor in their success, not their LSAT scores.
7. The biggest problem with online classes, of course, is the lack of "hands-on" training. Suchclasses could still be done in traditional schools or provided by companies.
8. Colleges do serve an important function in terms of scholarship and research. However, thecurrent college system (tantamount to an apprenticeship), esp. for graduate students is suited fortraining future professors- but that's N/A for most students who seek jobs in the real world upongraduation. Currently, universities use undergraduate tuition (which is profitable) to subsidizegraduate tuition (which is not profitable) - is that fair?
The academic world is just as competitive and status-obsessed as any athletic competition. Thedifference is that status is measured by how abstruse the subject is or at least appears to be.This explains why academic prose is pretentious gibberish where the key intent is to "impress",not to convey information. In the case of literature, academics tend to prize obscure andsymbolic works ("artistic intent") over clear writing and "mere" entertainment. Likewise, inmathematics/science, research papers are written to impress peers with their difficulty, not clarity.In this kind of climate, it's no wonder teaching is so bad. The feeling is that the truly smart
students will learn the material anyway despite the bad teaching.
College tuition is so expensive because it largely pays for the bloated overhead of theseantiquated institutions- NOT for the actual teaching and courses. So the answer isn't morestudent-aid and loans- that just allows colleges to raise tuition even more. Many middle-classparents ask how they can afford to send their kids to college- that's the wrong question. The realissue is getting a good education in a cost effective manner, not attending a "prestigious"(exorbitant) university.
Higher education is certainly important- but whoever said it can only be provided by colleges and
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universities with their antiquated teaching methods and overhead?
Final Word:
The American dream is based on higher education allowing the masses to achieve and maintainmiddle-class status. But that dream is in danger now because of outsourcing, and because ofincreased automation. Investing in tomorrows technology doesnt really help (contrary to whatpoliticians say) because tomorrows technology can just as easily be outsourced as todaystheonly real solution is to reduce the cost of doing business in the USA.
People have stuck with the traditional college/university out of sheer habit and simple snobbery-because they want bragging rights about which top school they attended. (Or because theywant to spend another 4 years drinking and partying instead of growing up and facing the realworld.)
But education is a commodity so it really doesnt matter. Let the rich snobs go to Harvard or Yaleor MIT if they so choose. The rest of us need a better way thats 10x more useful and 10xcheaper.