Yesterday, New York Times op-ed columnist Bill Keller discussed the trend toward online education within the world of academia and warned against its perils in an article titled “The University of Wherever.”
Keller called the proliferation of online education “an earthquake for the majority of colleges that depend on tuition income rather than big endowments and research grants” and forecasted that many institutions, at the onset of competition of this nature, could “go the way of local newspapers” in that only the most heavy-hitting professors and programs would maintain enrollment, while most others would perish in the face of a lower-cost alternative.
Many arguments have been made cautioning against online classes: impersonality, low quality and minimal input from students, to name a few. But the fact remains that in order to be successful in America, a college degree is unequivocally necessary. If low-cost alternatives to the traditional college experience are able to flourish, it will equate to a better-educated and more self-sufficient populace, which should be a welcome possibility considering the current economic climate.
This year, renowned Stanford professor Sebastian Thrun is offering his Introduction to Artificial Intelligence class online free of charge, in addition to teaching the traditional course at the university. As of one month ago, over 130,000 people were enrolled in the course. Those who opted for the online education would not receive Stanford credit but would still receive a certificate of accomplishment upon passing.
While some might call this unfair to those Stanford students who are paying upwards of $50,000 per year to take those classes, the bottom line is that courses like these mean more education for more people.
We should not expect these online courses to rival the traditional format in caliber, but when the former is not an option, the latter should be available, and we should welcome any additional opportunities for students to take advantage of online resources.
Online classes are undoubtedly a less effective way of learning, and as such could never completely replace the four-year residential system. Colleges should not view its expansion as a threat, but rather as a welcome appendage.
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The crimes Eric Schmidt involved into, including killing the innocent and threatening the victim, is fascism by nature; and such crimes would not be excused by any other reasons (e.g. for business reasons); and such crimes would not be tolerated anywhere, let alone in a civilized country as U.S. Their crimes had extended to U.S. citizen (e.g. May Zhou) and against U.S. authorities, and their crimes are surely far more than what I have described on the web, which I believe had already been well documented at judicial authorities. If their crimes could not be clarified to the public and concurred at authorities, it would be a serious offending to the dignity of the nation of the United States. These unbelievable happenings are real and so far no one could show any facts that could contradict validity of these happenings.
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Google’s Eric Schmidt along with a Stanford Computer Science professor Sebastian Thrun had involved into crimes which had endangered human lives. Schmidt and Thrun’s side had murdered Stanford student May Zhou and they had plotted a murder on me as well, during their fight with Stanford to threaten me and to terrorize Stanford people. Schmidt and Thrun had not paid for their crimes so far. But this case is regarding to people’s lives, and when it regards to people’s lives, there should not be any compromise nor any dubious or obscure points left.
more details Look-inside-dumbfounded [ http://tysurl.com/BsEnQ4 ] …and it did happen as Eric Schmidt predicted so far, that police did not find out who murdered Stanford student May Zhou [ http://www.mayzhou.com ], which is very scary … Schmidt side told me: if they can’t win the case at judicial authorities, they could take my life as easy as getting rid of a bug … it is problems in Stanford Computer Science Department with their Professor Sebastian Thrun’s case that led to May Zhou’s death … who actually setup order in Stanford Computer Science Department? … Thrun, Schmidt, Scheler, and Thrun’s bosses in Stanford Computer Science departmet are all in debt to Stanford student May Zhou’s death.
— An unheard of sandal in history of college education.
Stanford Computer Science Professor Sebastian Thrun had involved into multiple crimes in Stanford, including murder of an innocent Stanford student May Zhou (http://www.mayzhou.com) during their fight with authorities from their own school in Stanford.
Thrun’s side had tried every effort to cover up the case from the public. His bosses from Stanford Computer Science department, e.g. Professor Ed Feigenbaum [ http://tysurl.com/EsPulu ], had constantly intruded my privacy and destroied all my private relations in this world, and he had abused his power in scientific world to hype Thrun in name of Stanford Computer Sicence Department and AAAI.ORG; Thrun’s student, Mr. David Stavens [ http://tysurl.com/rsy0fO ], had lied to Stanford police on behalf of Thrun’s side trying to prevent me from filing complain at authorities against their crimes.
Sebastian Thrun had not paid for his crimes and he would have to.
before this case could be clarified, Sebastian Thrun’s name is not clear in these crimes which had cost human lives. I am waiting to see if Sebastian Thrun dare deny anything I said Look-inside [ http://tysurl.com/BsEnQ4 ]