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MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

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Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#491

Post by Ntrails »

laputan_machine wrote: post #483
heavenlyblue wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well - you are lying since none of the university accommodation in the UK is covered by tuition fees and it’s costs are sufficiently higher than what you would pay if you didn’t live in dorms. Also I had a friend who lived in a shared bunk room in the UK.

I am not lying, but you can choose not to believe me if you want. I used to work for MMU, one of my duties was to inspect the first-year halls of residence. It felt strange, as I was younger than them at the time! UK tuition fees are increasing, agreed, but that is a separate argument. Not making an argument against better tuition either, MIT is obviously a leader in some areas. Please assume my intention is positive…

I certainly doubt you to be lying, but you are wrong afaik.

There are certainly shared rooms in a university in the UK (at least were ~10 years ago and doubt has changed). However it was a handful of students in shared halls rooms (in big old houses etc) compared to a population that must have been a few thousand. It was cheaper, and some people thought sharing a room would help make friends.

I remain dubious.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#492

Post by 909832 »

akhilcacharya wrote: post #412
marcinzm wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Top private US schools provide very good financial aid packages and are a very good choice for underprivileged students if they can get in. Schools in turn want such students for diversity and metrics.

> if they can get in. These questions are framed in the wrong way. The filter isn't cost, it's getting in, and people from middle class and poor families are at a disadvantage in terms of accomplishments.

You may be interested in Paul Tough’s “The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us”. Tough makes similar points like this throughout the book.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#493

Post by agustif »

logfromblammo wrote: post #9
why-el wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If courses being taught online is an acceptable substitute, why have caps on admission at all? Most assignments are not scored in an automated manner, and the number of staff is not unlimited.

Given the usual university budget and the going rate for overqualified, part-time, and temporary adjuncts, the staff is less limited than one might think. Remote students and remote adjuncts--what do you need administrators for? Ah, yes, to collect the tuition, attend the luncheons, and issue the credentials. It would at least put a small dent in the oversupply of Ph.D. holders in some fields.

Well if MIT/Stanford/Harvard are what they are because of the elitism of getting to study there, and the branding-power it brings to one's resume, it kinda seems obvious they will have 0 interest in have an unlimited supply of students/graduates, which surely would diminish/affect the branding power on a resume of any of those universities programs, if literally a lots of new graduates could be graduating from those schools.

Elitism works in a limited setting, probably not in an limited/open setting...

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#494

Post by magicalhippo »

rockmeamedee wrote: post #415
smallgovt wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I think it's likely going to be seen as an overreaction in hindsight by the general public (even though it may not be). If these actions are successful in curbing the virus' spread, most people won't appreciate how bad things could have really gotten.

It's a common thread in Incident Response & "Resilience Engineering" that preventative measures that reduce the blast of incidents are always blamed, especially if they work. Whatever ends up working to fix the incident, you should have done it sooner or it was too drastic a response. (No matter the fact that it _did_ fix the incident, outsiders will blame you that way). One example is the Knight Capital trading disa…

I'm reminded of year 2000. Yes complete overreaction, but I'm also certain it would not have been such a non-event if it weren't for that extreme attention it got.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#495

Post by dTal »

kart23 wrote: post #442
pfranz wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any option to install it onto a VM or a separate drive for dual boot? Windows 10 VMs are active for a few weeks (or edu discounts are often pretty steep). If it was in a VM you otherwise use you can snapshot and revert back after taking the test (I guess you could do this with a normal backup, too). That's usually my go-to for stuff like this (but for me it's often Linux/macOS).

VMs and Linux aren't allowed, and apparently the software can detect if you're using either. I'm probably gonna use my macbook for it, but I just hate willingly installing such garbage. https://www.proctoru.com/proctoru-live-resource-center

Requires Adobe Flash? What is this garbage?

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#496

Post by andrejk »

Trasmatta wrote: post #148
chrisco255 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what do we do if this virus festers for another couple of years? We can't shut down society forever.

The goal at this point should be to flatten the curve as much as possible to prevent overwhelming healthcare until a vaccine is developed and tested. Nobody thinks this is going to be a permanent measure.

A good analysis on this point from a public health perspective: https://www.flattenthecurve.com/

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#497

Post by sokoloff »

samatman wrote: post #77
JPKab wrote: post #2

One of my coworkers daughters is affected by this. The big question this begs: If there is no refund being offered for the content shifting online from in-person, why have in-person at all? Is room and board going to be refunded? If courses being taught online is an acceptable substitute, why have caps on admission at all? Edit: Understood that infinite sized classes aren't workable for human intensive grading, inter…

Most of the value of an elite education is signaling: it proves the student had what it takes both to get into MIT, and to graduate. If MIT switched to an online-only format, that would erode the value of the latter (which, remember, is social proof, not something which is notoriously rational), while open enrollment would obliterate the former. A semester of remote teaching won't damage the brand.

It’s hard to get into MIT. Once in, it’s just not that hard to graduate. It’s a grind and parts are moderately difficult, but I think the hard filter is up-front (and lossy/random). (class of 1993.)

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#498

Post by chrisseaton »

CydeWeys wrote: post #239
chrisseaton wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they university employees? And they're carrying guns?! What do you need a gun for at a university?

The same reason any other cop would need guns. Hell, we had a high profile death of an armed MIT police officer not that long ago (Boston bombings). Universities can and do face external threats, so even if the students themselves aren't packing heat (which is itself sometimes the case), there's non-student criminals who cause the same kinds of problems they would anywhere else. I remember there being lots of break-i…

> The same reason any other cop would need guns.

So, none. Regular police routinely carrying guns is crazy. Leave it to specialists. You don’t need a gun to police a place of learning.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#499

Post by laputan_machine »

Ntrails wrote: post #491
laputan_machine wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not lying, but you can choose not to believe me if you want. I used to work for MMU, one of my duties was to inspect the first-year halls of residence. It felt strange, as I was younger than them at the time! UK tuition fees are increasing, agreed, but that is a separate argument. Not making an argument against better tuition either, MIT is obviously a leader in some areas. Please assume my intention is positive…

I certainly doubt you to be lying, but you are wrong afaik. There are certainly shared rooms in a university in the UK (at least were ~10 years ago and doubt has changed). However it was a handful of students in shared halls rooms (in big old houses etc) compared to a population that must have been a few thousand. It was cheaper, and some people thought sharing a room would help make friends. I remain dubious.

Can you show me any UK university that has shared sleeping rooms? I have never heard of this. Shared living areas, i.e. sharing a house, does exist, and is what my original post said.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#500

Post by chadash »

PureParadigm wrote: post #50

I think large decisive moves like this may seem to some to be an overreaction, but it will prove to be the correct decision in hindsight (like the early travel bans). Exponential growth is real, and anything we can do to slow the rate of infection will save lives. As a current undergrad at UC Berkeley, they've moved all classes here online [1], and exams are either being postponed or converted to take-home assignment…

This might normally be true, but in this case, there will be some countries that overreact and some that don't. The ones that do will see what happened in the ones that don't and it will be harder for the former to be upset since they can observe the difference.

Israel is the best example right now. They have the strongest reaction of any country, essentially closing their borders, but their people don't seem to be outraged, at least not yet.

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