As an academic I feel no schadenfreude at all. I feel somewhat sad.
This model will work eventually. It's mostly a matter of how the courses are structured and taught. I don't think it'll replace traditional universities but it should challenge the price structures and general lazy-bureaucracy attitude of many of them.
If you look at programming in particular I feel very good about all these online courses. It's easier than ever to teach yourself programming which is a net+ for society. I don't understand how more accessible education for everyone is ever a bad thing.
I don't think it's just education that's broken though. HR is also broken because they mostly look for the signature on the dotted line (oh look someone else has done the vetting for us) and tend to value certification over actual skill. Long term, I hope it'll be enough to list coursera etc. courses, books you read and a github link on your resume. IT should strive to be a leader in this shift because it's generally an industry where self-learners can do extremly well and have traditionally shown it's possible.
Long term, I hope it'll be enough to list coursera etc. courses, books you read and a github link on your resume.
It sounds nice but problem with this is that you get so many people who join courses just to show off certificates and end up learning almost nothing. If you include books too, there will be popular posts like "books you should read and have on your CV!". This totally spoils the idea of reading and learning for its own sake which is what education should be all about.
Comments
As an academic I feel no schadenfreude at all. I feel somewhat sad.
This model will work eventually. It's mostly a matter of how the courses are structured and taught. I don't think it'll replace traditional universities but it should challenge the price structures and general lazy-bureaucracy attitude of many of them.
If you look at programming in particular I feel very good about all these online courses. It's easier than ever to teach yourself programming which is a net+ for society. I don't understand how more accessible education for everyone is ever a bad thing.
I don't think it's just education that's broken though. HR is also broken because they mostly look for the signature on the dotted line (oh look someone else has done the vetting for us) and tend to value certification over actual skill. Long term, I hope it'll be enough to list coursera etc. courses, books you read and a github link on your resume. IT should strive to be a leader in this shift because it's generally an industry where self-learners can do extremly well and have traditionally shown it's possible.
It sounds nice but problem with this is that you get so many people who join courses just to show off certificates and end up learning almost nothing. If you include books too, there will be popular posts like "books you should read and have on your CV!". This totally spoils the idea of reading and learning for its own sake which is what education should be all about.