Comments on: Higher Education – Dangerously Close to Becoming Irrelevant

By: john

john — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:28:20 +0000

I really enjoyed this article and I think this topic is not brought up enough.First of all I come from a family of educators (teachers) and school administrators. In my opinion higher education is not only obsolete and unnecessary for many people but a rip off.If college is such a preparation for life what were we doing the entire time in primary, middle,and high school? There is no equivalent to on the job training, no college can provide you with that experience, as much as people like to claim otherwise the vast majority of people attend and pay big money to colleges in hopes of being able to earn that money back with a good career and thats it. NO one would attend otherwise.What the OP was saying was that the information widely available on the internet and how easy it is to share data or experience etc with new technology, has come so far as to say a person could possibly achieve the same knowledge without attending a college in many areas of study and since a college does not give you real world experience what difference would it make? I personally think kids should have a basic knowledge of the base subjects and then at an early age say maybe high school only study a curriculum they are actually going to use someday and if not at least they will have some sort of skill , instead of forcing kids to always study material they will never use and likely forget after graduation.

By: cpascal

cpascal — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:04:37 +0000

Another reason why traditional colleges could become obsolete is the fact that so many college grads can’t find jobs, despite having gone into debt to finance their education. This will make more people think twice before starting college. Also, the social environment in the colleges is getting increasingly bad, as so many students go there to engage in rowdiness and drunkenness rather than to get an education. That also makes it worth asking whether the colleges should be getting such an enormous amount of public money when the same information is available through alternative means like online courses.

By: The 21st Century College Campus - Report Indicates Technology Integration Lagging - OpenEducation.net

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:57:33 +0000

[...] Ongoing readers of OpenEducation.net will not be surprised to learn that the new study reveals a higher education system lagging in technology [...]

By: College for Every Student - A Silly, Misguided Notion - OpenEducation.net

College for Every Student - A Silly, Misguided Notion - OpenEducation.net — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:04:17 +0000

[...] back in May for The Chronicle. But if folks thought our assessments of higher education, “Higher Education, Dangerously Close to Irrelevant,” and “Charles Murray – for Most People, College Is a Waste of Time,” were a bit [...]

By: Charles Murray – For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time - OpenEducation.net

Charles Murray – For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time - OpenEducation.net — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:01:33 +0000

[...] week we noted the thoughts of Professor David Wiley of Brigham Young who had the audacity to suggest that higher education could be on the verge of [...]

By: Paddy

Paddy — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:59:51 +0000

The author clearly does not understand the difference between education and training. The role of a University educator is to ensure that the students can ask the right questions rather than just have prepared answers.

I would also like to know how many workplaces allow Web 2.0 software (blogging etc.) to solve commercial problems. Industrial espionage is a big issue and all companies protect their IP.

That does not mean Universities do not have to change. But to blindly adopt technology will lead to failure.

By: Shawn K

Shawn K — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:14:30 +0000

I had the privilege of attending one of the best schools in ND, which is one of, if not the best state in America for education. What I found upon attending college was a curriculum geared for what I learned freshman year of High School. America’s colleges were once a great thing, but our high schools throughout America need to do a better job of prepping everyone to a high standard, so that our Universities can raise their standard, instead of catering to poorly educated students.

And while it MIGHT be helping in some places, the “No Child Left Behind” act is severely crimping states like North Dakota. The message seemingly being sent is not to teach the kids too much too early, or else we won’t be able to improve enough each year to meet the standards. Thank goodness I graduated before it went into effect.

By: Eliza

Eliza — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:46:55 +0000

While I agree with Daniel that “university” is one of the best preparations for life….how could anyone make the argument that it is is NOT supposed to be a preparation for the workforce. If it is not supposed to be a preparation for work than what is?

And secondly, as this article states….colleges must align themselves with society and society/life is becoming more technologically advanced than ever. So if certain colleges cannot keep up with the advances of this modern age…or refuse to…they will in fact become irrelevant.

By: Daniel Tenner

Daniel Tenner — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:47:43 +0000

Another article attacking university and completely missing the basic point that university is not supposed to be a preparation for the workplace (as much as employers might wish it to be), it’s a preparation for life.

If you train for a job, you’re not doing a degree, you’re doing an apprenticeship.

An MCSE is useful for a couple of years. A degree is useful for your whole life.

By: theusurper

theusurper — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:57:18 +0000

a pile of bull crap really… universities werent established for computers alone.. sure the software industry is the major hype now but hu’ll certify the physics/bio/chem/arts/psycology/masscomm/etc/etc grads? and hu’ll teach ur company founders to think? high school? bah… and if ur talking bout certifications well any dolt can get tht just mug up some nonsense and go vomit it on the exam.. before ppl start to belittle higher education, they shld look at the higher ed elsewhere.. then they shld analyze y they think thus and they’ll see tht they’r sayin it by puttin $$ above knowledge which is the main tenet of uni edu..