Higher Edu Ch ch ch changes - Anya Kamenetz

"There are people out there who are extremely talented and valuable, who don't have the resources to succeed in the current system. In a crass sense, they are undervalued talent. They're non-credentialed talent. Is there a way for them to prove their talent in order to succeed? ...  they're going to get hired by forward-looking companies who are going to underpay them because they don't have a credential, and then those companies are going to succeed wildly. So that's the opportunity that the Silicon Valley group sees. And I think that's going to be a growing opportunity until it evens out. "

The foundation of the value of higher education is institutional trust -- The institution prints paper we call "degrees." Just as paper money is backed by "the full faith and trust of the US government," degrees are backed by the full faith and trust of the institution.  A degree costs more than a piece of paper because of the public trust of the institution - its reputation. We trust that the institution has made sure that  students know enough before they graduate so that they won't go out and be an embarrassment to the institution -- Accrediting bodies police schools as well.  The system is necessary cause a lone individual has no way to show the world what they know or  have done. Oh, wait - what about the internet? What about blogs, videos, websites, etc...?

This is what I was talking about. A school certifies two things:

1.  What knowledge, skills, abilities and accomplishments are "good" - i.e. important, useful, relevant, necessary
1. In a particular field
2. In general
2. Who knows that stuff - or is smart/dedicated enough to learn that stuff.

Higher Ed is pretty close to losing its monopoly on 2) - I am not sure about 1).   

Article about Anya Kamenetz here.
Read a chapter of her book here http://diyubook.com/read-the-book/

I will gladly play you Tuesday

For a Hamburger today.


I wish I had known about Kahn Academy when I was taking Financial Accounting and learning about Present Value and Net Present Value.



The disruptive effects of the internet on Higher Ed have barely been felt yet.

The main disruption of the internet is: Information.  The cost of  publishing and the cost of finding have both dropped dramatically. (Think e-journals vs browsing stacks. - Google vs card catalogs.)

Higher Ed has held a virtual monopoly on the certification of quality knowledge. The institution's value lies in its ability to deem "What knowledge is good, real, useful and new" and "Who knows that stuff." That is why people pay so much for a MBA or PHD.

This knowledge is still mostly handed down in personal interaction, classes, and to grad students (apprenticeships). But Universities will have to compete for students, and be forced to become more efficient as internet-based education continues to get better,cheaper, faster, stronger.