Via Swans on Tea: Academic Earth: a collection of top lectures on a variety of academic topics. Nothing on quantum computing yet :)
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Chairs : The Quantum Pontiff
"Michael Green is the new Lucasian chair of Mathematics replacing the esteemed Stephen Hawking. Green helped sparked the great optimism in string theory by discovering with John Schwarz the Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation mechanism.
Elsewhere, the Perimeter…
On the heels of this post, I was informed of another Web2.0 site for scientists that just launched - SciTalks collects talks and lectures by scientists on a variety of topics. There are already many clips available on the site, which you can rate, or add some from your own collection. You can…
Oh man sometimes even I, a staunch Caltech grad, wish I could be at MIT. The MIT QIP seminar this next Monday looks...intriguing (Monday 10/26 at 4:00 in 36-428 silly MITers and their numbered buildings, so cold.):
David Kaiser (MIT)
How the Hippies Saved Physics
Abstract:
In recent years, the…
It's midnight! So, the submission form is now closed.
Over the past year we have collected hundreds of excellent entries for the anthology - thanks to all who made the submissions.
Jennifer Rohn has lined up some star people to judge all the entries, and in the end, we'll have the best 50 (…
I see no reason why we shouldn't celebrate this. especially for introductory classes, and even more especially for stuff that should be learned in high school. It brings a 'learn at your own pace' sensibility and personal accountability to education. Graduate students can easily fill in the role of TA as they do now - personalizing instruction.
Professors will always be necessary to present advanced topics and cutting edge type research, framed in a contemporary context. For in depth tutorials and experiential learning (labs, projects, etc) there will still be a need for coursemasters and professors, but if I have to review the quadratic formula in a college chemistry class I will literally go out of my head.
In some ways doesn't this get back to the medieval university. Professors rarely spending time educating the masses, but instead pursuing their own idiosyncratic ideas and bringing along a few dedicated students.
The Global Recession is forcing universities to re-think how they monetize their services. I've been saying for a decade that it's inevitable that Microsoft or Google or someone will run on-line campuses of prestige universities. They'll offer extra pay to professors, charge higher tuition than f2f students do, kick back a lot of that to the university, give actual diplomas, and pocket the profit. This combines the success of Distance Learning with combinations of Brand Name providers. Whoever owns the Intellectual Property, it's a defensible business plan with a first mover advantage and economy of scale.
"Where'd you go to school?"
"Caltech."
"Me too. But I don't remember you."
"That's because I was at the FaceBook campus."
Sure. But your scheme will erode the university's prestige which depends in part on the exclusivity of their student admissions.
Seems to me that the money goes to whoever hands out the degrees. So you set up a "school" that does nothing but
1) point students to online lectures,
2) test the students,
3) hand out degrees for statistory test performance,
4) charge for these services whatever the market will bear.
The reason that such a scheme has yet to be implemented is that current accreditation bodies would refuse to accredit it.
Accreditation bodies can be bribed. Oh, I mean, properly compensated in win-win negotiations that benefit stakeholders.