The unbundling of Harvard has begun
socialstudies.substack.com
The unbundling of Harvard has begun
1–10 of 93 posts
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#2I couldn't finish reading this. While interesting, I sense a lot of hype, and deliberate bending of meaning (e.g. federal government less strict about requiring college degree -> all companies less strict)
Traditional college is not just about information scarcity either. People also go to bond, network, participate in extracurricular groups, party, etc.
Traditional college isnt going to go anywhere.
Also, it's depressing to think of society sitting behind a screen all day. I think most people feel the same way. We need to stop using technology to tear apart the social fabric of society.
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#3I celebrate efforts to educate and credential students that don't put them into a lifetime of debt. But, a few points of order/grains of salt:
Even though going to college means you may take out more debt that you can pay off in any reasonable amount of time, bailing on college to classes from social media entrepreneurs or to start a company backed by Peter Thiel is a risk-heavy strategy that will not pay off for most. Yes, autodidacts with a safe family situation will likely do well.
But what about students from poor backgrounds, students without stable family life, or just students who don't fall into the upper echelons of industriousness? How many of these students are thriving right now in a world of Zoom classes? Talking with friends who are teachers, many students are just skipping their classes altogether. Why would we expect them to do well in this new online world?
College, although way too expensive, works decently well for many of these students. I don't think online influencer courses will substitute.
Yes, unbundle Harvard. But the harder and more impactful piece is providing quality education to those who aren't in the tails of the distribution.
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#4Is this just a big organic advertising operation? Or is this shallow, "buzzfeed-top list" style writing really something that can be called Reporting?
I guess it's only appropriate that someone that wrote their thesis on the telephone game/chinese wispers ends up making a newsletter summarising twitter rumours.
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#5"I'm Brett... and Twitter power user"
I can't believe a grown adult considers this some sort of qualification.
As for "education-based communities on the backs of (social) media empires"... what a horrible thought. Imagine getting your education from a Twitterati or Fox News-backed organisation.
"Psychology is the most underrated major in tech."
Maybe for someone with a psychology degree who's looking for a "Silicon Valley" job. I don't think I'd see psychology majors clamouring to get through the doors of IBM or Capita.
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#6This type of analysis is built on the assumption that the main function of education is student transformation. I think ranking is implicit in the existing system and online education platforms ignore the ranking aspects.
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#7I'm looking forward to a time when you can simply pass a highly creditable exam without having to attend class. This will probably require the reputation of an existing high-rep university, but once it's happenend, things are going to be very different.
Imagine if you could be anywhere in the world but claim to have passed the math course of some famous university. I think that would change a lot of things about how we view education and qualification.
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#8[deleted]
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#9Is this just a big organic advertising operation? Or is this shallow, "buzzfeed-top list" style writing really something that can be called Reporting? I guess it's only appropriate that someone that wrote their thesis on the telephone game/chinese wispers ends up making a newsletter summarising twitter rumours.
A personal newsletter/blog is not reporting and I don't think the intention is to pretend it's reporting.
Re: The unbundling of Harvard has begun
#10I'm not sure if this gentleman has a thesis but Harvard online education is worth not much. The whole value proposition of Harvard is that you socialise and bond with the sort of people who get in to Harvard. You probably have the phone number of whoever runs Goldman Sachs [0] and you know the President of Whereveristan's daughter because she was in your class. The little things in life.
It is possible but unlikely that Harvard has Secret Math and Unknown Physics that their undergrads are exposed to, but their literary and philosophical studies are going to have access to the same books as everyone else. Online-only Harvard has as much value as any top-10% university on the globe. There is absolutely no shortage of incredibly clever people who are willing to explain things to a student. I think we had an article the other week pointing out that hiring a private tutor is a better option if what matters is the quality of education.
[0] Although I see the new CEO doesn't come from Harvard. Last bloke did though.