"Jonathan Chait writes in New York magazine that President Obama is taking the risk of alienating his fervent supporters in higher education by his advocacy of online learning to cut costs.
The traditional Democratic response to expanding access to higher education is to increase tuition subsidies for needy students.
The President came out against that idea, and said that costs must be contained by shortening the time needed to get a degree and by using online learning.
The great virtue of online learning (MOOCs, or massive online open courses) is that it cuts costs by reducing the need for labor (i.e., professors).
In a MOOC, one person can tape lectures that will be viewed by 10,000 students at a time, or 100,000 or 150,000.
Chait says this is sure to make professors angry, because their jobs are threatened.
He suggests that the professors are just looking out for their own self-interest.
He did not mention that 70% of faculty in higher education today are “contingent faculty,” meaning adjuncts with no tenure or prospect of tenure.
What is the difference, he asks, between sitting in a large lecture hall for 500 students or watching a professor lecture on a computer?
Is skepticism about MOOCs really just about protecting the jobs and pension of professors?
Or is there something about face-to-face interactions with living persons–both faculty and other students– that is valuable?"
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário