Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
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Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#2the first nobel prize winner graduate of edX will change everything. i sometimes think, should online universities also be strictly selective?
Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#3Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#4Forbes is just outdoing themselves with the headline bait lately.
Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#5No [0]. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridges_Law_of_Headlines
Hah, was going to write the same comment ("No.")
Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#6the first nobel prize winner graduate of edX will change everything. i sometimes think, should online universities also be strictly selective?
Why? Selective education is used in order to focus limited resources on certain people. That isn't really problem online, unless you want to be an ass and restrict people's abillity to improve themselves for no reason.
That's why it's so scary for universities and elites. One of the moral validations for restricting the life chances of certain groups of people has been removed. Others will pop up I'm sure.
Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#7No [0]. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridges_Law_of_Headlines
Also, from the article:
As long as students who take edX are blocked from the branding and professional networks
that their parents pay so dearly to obtain, such top schools have nothing to fear from giving
away what the teachers are getting paid modestly to deliver.
Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#8edX does more to nudge out no-name schools than prestigious universities - and if anything will likely be a strong revenue generator for top universities going forward.
A few scenarios:
* Would you pay tuition to be taught by [well-meaning] no-name professor Dave at no-name Community U?
* Would you be willing to pay a nominal fee to receive a certificate for edX achievement?
* Would you be more willing to pay for a certificate from Harvard/MIT, or UVA?
The online education trend will act as a channel for the most prestigious schools to capitalize on their brand without diluting their stature. And we'll see them making hand-over-fist money by outcompeting community colleges and other online programs that don't have the weighty reputations.
Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#9the first nobel prize winner graduate of edX will change everything. i sometimes think, should online universities also be strictly selective?
Isn't most of the "prestige" of a nobel prize winner normally directed at the university at which they were conducting research (assuming it is an academic heavy field) at the time?
Re: Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?
#10The reason to attend MIT or Harvard (as an undergraduate) is not to take MIT or Harvard classes. It is to hang out with MIT or Harvard students, have discussions after class with MIT or Harvard undergraduates, grad students, and professors, be challenged by having those people as peers. It is to have an entire network of well connected people all over the globe in the highest reaches of every organization on Earth for free upon graduation. Lastly, (and perhaps least), it is to have a piece of paper that certifies that you are smart and work hard.
Fundamentally, the elite schools are in no danger from these online education initiatives. It is the state schools, community colleges, and for profit schools that are in danger. If a school can't figure out a value add beyond simple education (which the elite schools have had for centuries), that school is in trouble.