"StraighterLine is the brainchild of a man named Burck Smith, an Internet entrepreneur bent on altering the DNA of higher education as we have known it for the better part of 500 years. Rather than students being tethered to ivy-covered quads or an anonymous commuter campus, Smith envisions a world where they can seamlessly assemble credits and degrees from multiple online providers, each specializing in certain subjects and--most importantly--fiercely competing on price. Smith himself may be the person who revolutionizes the university, or he may not be. But someone with the means and vision to fundamentally reorder the way students experience and pay for higher education is bound to emerge."
This is the opportunity for Web-based services hackers in this industry. There are huge amounts of spending devoted to "education" (currently defined mostly as school attendance), and anything that can make that massive spending more efficient has got to be good for society, and good for the early promoters of the new efficiencies.
Especially anything that reduces the expense of higher education should be appealing as student debt continues to pile up.
StraighterLine sounds as close as you can get to David Gelernter's "Tracks and Clusters" concept within the framework of traditional courses and credits. See Gelernter at:
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"StraighterLine is the brainchild of a man named Burck Smith, an Internet entrepreneur bent on altering the DNA of higher education as we have known it for the better part of 500 years. Rather than students being tethered to ivy-covered quads or an anonymous commuter campus, Smith envisions a world where they can seamlessly assemble credits and degrees from multiple online providers, each specializing in certain subjects and--most importantly--fiercely competing on price. Smith himself may be the person who revolutionizes the university, or he may not be. But someone with the means and vision to fundamentally reorder the way students experience and pay for higher education is bound to emerge."
This is the opportunity for Web-based services hackers in this industry. There are huge amounts of spending devoted to "education" (currently defined mostly as school attendance), and anything that can make that massive spending more efficient has got to be good for society, and good for the early promoters of the new efficiencies.
Especially anything that reduces the expense of higher education should be appealing as student debt continues to pile up.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB1000142405297020473180...
StraighterLine sounds as close as you can get to David Gelernter's "Tracks and Clusters" concept within the framework of traditional courses and credits. See Gelernter at:
http://edge.org/q2009/q09_9.html#gelernter