The good people at cultofmac.com offered a startling idea a few months back–rather than spending money to go to college, just get your education from Apple. They contend that the power of “iTunes U” offers better quality, better diversity, easy flexibility and lifestyle tolerance. And, perhaps best of all, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper.
As a college professor, I obviously read this with interest. A few of my peers and I have been avidly debating and talking a lot about technology and what to do with it. If you’ve read me at all, you know that I have growing concerns about where the lust for technology is taking us as a society. I don’t dislike technology in principle, but I dislike what I see technology doing, or allowing, or seducing us to give up, in terms connected to our historical journey as people seeking more control over our rights.
This idea from the CoM people is not theirs alone, but it raises some interesting issues. What is education? Perhaps more importantly, what is the point of education? Can you get what you need simply through the computer? Where is the value of interchange between teacher and student? Does this help or hinder the idea that students have become less and less prepared? Does this help or hinder the idea that professors have become less and less competent?
I know this much—if “open source” education finally does take off, there won’t be much anyone can do about it. And maybe they shouldn’t—maybe we should embrace it. I just had better be prepared for finding other work. We’ve only had universities for about 800 years. Nothing last forever, I suppose, though I can always hope to have the same chance as other educators—finding individuals who wish to be mentored so that they can become among the learned.