[Redrum]

Great movie comedy :  The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.

http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/...173639.php

One person.  Epic fail.

[Redrum]

Great movie comedy :  The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.

http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/...173639.php

One person.  Epic fail.

[jayasena]

$2100 for an online course titled "Beauty & Joy of Computing"? And the government is investigating the University of Phoenix??

To be honest, I'm not sure where the online courses trend is headed and what benefits it provides for students or the universities. Several Stanford professors I've talked about this with think it's contradictory to what university education is supposed to be about (these were mostly research-oriented engineering professors -- maybe their view isn't universal). I guess we'll see where things settle over the next few years.

[jayasena]

$2100 for an online course titled "Beauty & Joy of Computing"? And the government is investigating the University of Phoenix??

To be honest, I'm not sure where the online courses trend is headed and what benefits it provides for students or the universities. Several Stanford professors I've talked about this with think it's contradictory to what university education is supposed to be about (these were mostly research-oriented engineering professors -- maybe their view isn't universal). I guess we'll see where things settle over the next few years.

[FarmBoy]

Everything I've read/heard points to Stanford embracing online education and is looking to be a big player in it. Hasn't the CS department made every course available for free on line? ANd now they're offering some sort of a certificate if you can show your competence in a given discipline. THe first time they offered some popular course (it was AI, iirc) they had hundreds of thousands of people participate and several thousand  see it all they way through to the exam. I think there was an anecdote that when they compared the test scores of the full time Stanford student vs. the online participants, the top Stanford student ended up being ~500th in the final test grade.

The real question is how to participate in the online (a) profitably and (b) without offending your most important clientele--the tuition paying students.

[FarmBoy]

Everything I've read/heard points to Stanford embracing online education and is looking to be a big player in it. Hasn't the CS department made every course available for free on line? ANd now they're offering some sort of a certificate if you can show your competence in a given discipline. THe first time they offered some popular course (it was AI, iirc) they had hundreds of thousands of people participate and several thousand  see it all they way through to the exam. I think there was an anecdote that when they compared the test scores of the full time Stanford student vs. the online participants, the top Stanford student ended up being ~500th in the final test grade.

The real question is how to participate in the online (a) profitably and (b) without offending your most important clientele--the tuition paying students.

[washingtonismoney]

The real question is how to participate in the online (a) profitably and (b) without offending your most important clientele--the tuition paying students.

Tuition-paying students are in no way Stanford's most important clientele, as the decision to significantly expand financial aid shows. Stanford, like most elite American universities, is a hedge fund with a university attached.

[washingtonismoney]

The real question is how to participate in the online (a) profitably and (b) without offending your most important clientele--the tuition paying students.

Tuition-paying students are in no way Stanford's most important clientele, as the decision to significantly expand financial aid shows. Stanford, like most elite American universities, is a hedge fund with a university attached.

[FarmBoy]

I would still argue the tuition paying students, both undergrad and grad, are the most important clients, perhaps on par with the professors and researchers. To be clear, I don't think tuition-paying students are important to Stanford because of the money they make the university.  Stanford's reputation and influence, in the long run, relies on successful acquiring and retaining the best of the best of those two groups. Those students graduate and carry their degrees into law, business, public service, sports, etc and end up truly deciding the value of the Stanford identity. And if Stanford alienates those students by giving out back-door degrees to anyone with a computer and internet access without have to gain admission or pay any kind of tuition, then top students will go elsewhere. Sure, the Stanford endowment will carry on, even if the classrooms are empty, but Stanford's role as an instution of influence will be diminished, except in it's influence over the markets.

[FarmBoy]

I would still argue the tuition paying students, both undergrad and grad, are the most important clients, perhaps on par with the professors and researchers. To be clear, I don't think tuition-paying students are important to Stanford because of the money they make the university.  Stanford's reputation and influence, in the long run, relies on successful acquiring and retaining the best of the best of those two groups. Those students graduate and carry their degrees into law, business, public service, sports, etc and end up truly deciding the value of the Stanford identity. And if Stanford alienates those students by giving out back-door degrees to anyone with a computer and internet access without have to gain admission or pay any kind of tuition, then top students will go elsewhere. Sure, the Stanford endowment will carry on, even if the classrooms are empty, but Stanford's role as an instution of influence will be diminished, except in it's influence over the markets.

[Farm93]

Most universities have understood this future was coming.  It is just so economically inefficient to teach 20 students at a time with a researcher that could command thousands of dollars a day.  Spread that educator costs across hundreds or millions and all of the sudden the cost per student for the educator's time becomes trivial. 

However, the alienation thing should be a real concern.  Some online student is highly unlikely to gift a university millions of dollars even if they ultimately become a billionaire.  However some portion of on-campus students would be expected to donate millions, should they stay loyal and happy throughout their lives.  So flirting with the online crowd risks the probability of future large donations from the undergrad and grad students.

Still, the game is to educate and if the best brands can ultimately get $10 per online student I suspect that will be a very favorable business model and one that is consistent with the idea of bring knowledge to more people.  blah, blah, blah.

[Farm93]

Most universities have understood this future was coming.  It is just so economically inefficient to teach 20 students at a time with a researcher that could command thousands of dollars a day.  Spread that educator costs across hundreds or millions and all of the sudden the cost per student for the educator's time becomes trivial. 

However, the alienation thing should be a real concern.  Some online student is highly unlikely to gift a university millions of dollars even if they ultimately become a billionaire.  However some portion of on-campus students would be expected to donate millions, should they stay loyal and happy throughout their lives.  So flirting with the online crowd risks the probability of future large donations from the undergrad and grad students.

Still, the game is to educate and if the best brands can ultimately get $10 per online student I suspect that will be a very favorable business model and one that is consistent with the idea of bring knowledge to more people.  blah, blah, blah.

[estephan500]

There is that famous Emerson quote about education: "I pay the schoolmaster, but it is the school boys who educate my son."

Anyone's analysis as to a battle between traditional university education and forays into online education has to take into account that the most important part of university education is the recipe of peers, social chemistry, ritual, bonding, ideas, conversation, advice, tradition, passion, social groups, physical environment... And carrying forward those peers through your life as friends and colleagues.

We are simply talking about two separate products here. To even call one of them the "Lite" version of the other would be a great exaggeration. I don't think that there will be erosion of the "real" university experience by the giving away of a small sliver of it.

[estephan500]

There is that famous Emerson quote about education: "I pay the schoolmaster, but it is the school boys who educate my son."

Anyone's analysis as to a battle between traditional university education and forays into online education has to take into account that the most important part of university education is the recipe of peers, social chemistry, ritual, bonding, ideas, conversation, advice, tradition, passion, social groups, physical environment... And carrying forward those peers through your life as friends and colleagues.

We are simply talking about two separate products here. To even call one of them the "Lite" version of the other would be a great exaggeration. I don't think that there will be erosion of the "real" university experience by the giving away of a small sliver of it.

[Oasis]

Online courses are highly successful when considered as a form of entertainment.  I listened to a Yale series on the Civil War (David Blight) and am enjoying a Yale video series on Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner.  They were/are great fun to listen to or watch, even if Professor Blight worships John Brown and thinks the Union won at Chickamauga. 

[Oasis]

Online courses are highly successful when considered as a form of entertainment.  I listened to a Yale series on the Civil War (David Blight) and am enjoying a Yale video series on Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner.  They were/are great fun to listen to or watch, even if Professor Blight worships John Brown and thinks the Union won at Chickamauga. 

[Leftcoast]

You might want to check out ITunes U to see how different universities are cautiously feeling out the online world.

ITunes U allows all universities to easily offer ITunes downloads BUT the downloads are free/no cost.  So, you can download a 28 audio lecture series from Stanford's Pulitzer Prize winning Jack Rackove covering America's Colonial and Revolutionary period and listen to it for free.  No credit, No degree program but some great info.  Some schools have embraced this wholeheartedly while others are moving very, very cautiously.  Stanford's in the middle - lots of CS content but they are much slower at releasing other core course material while they are much freer with non course content coming from seminars and alumni events.

Many of Berkeley's offerings are put up the day after the lecture allowing students to easily catch up on missed classes - or shift them to their daily workout.  Some professors have remarked that they feel pressured to make the classes more theatrical to keep attendance high!

Like Oasis, I'd highly suggest the Itunes series on the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era from Yale's David Blight.  Great series that really helps you understand the war and the motivations and actions of the major participants.  His great Southern accent coupled with his conversational approach to lecturing make this very listenable and an incredible value.  (And yes, I found his passion for John Brown extremely uncontagious.)

Other Itunes Lecture series I've enjoyed (I'm a history buff who previously had a long commute): 

Jack Rackove from Stanford on the Colonial and Revolutionary War Era
Daniel Sargent from Berkeley onThe United States and International Order  (Cold War Diplomacy)

I also enjoyed listening to Isabel Pafford (UCB) on Roman Republic and Donald Kagan (Yale) on Ancient Greek History.

[Leftcoast]

You might want to check out ITunes U to see how different universities are cautiously feeling out the online world.

ITunes U allows all universities to easily offer ITunes downloads BUT the downloads are free/no cost.  So, you can download a 28 audio lecture series from Stanford's Pulitzer Prize winning Jack Rackove covering America's Colonial and Revolutionary period and listen to it for free.  No credit, No degree program but some great info.  Some schools have embraced this wholeheartedly while others are moving very, very cautiously.  Stanford's in the middle - lots of CS content but they are much slower at releasing other core course material while they are much freer with non course content coming from seminars and alumni events.

Many of Berkeley's offerings are put up the day after the lecture allowing students to easily catch up on missed classes - or shift them to their daily workout.  Some professors have remarked that they feel pressured to make the classes more theatrical to keep attendance high!

Like Oasis, I'd highly suggest the Itunes series on the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era from Yale's David Blight.  Great series that really helps you understand the war and the motivations and actions of the major participants.  His great Southern accent coupled with his conversational approach to lecturing make this very listenable and an incredible value.  (And yes, I found his passion for John Brown extremely uncontagious.)

Other Itunes Lecture series I've enjoyed (I'm a history buff who previously had a long commute): 

Jack Rackove from Stanford on the Colonial and Revolutionary War Era
Daniel Sargent from Berkeley onThe United States and International Order  (Cold War Diplomacy)

I also enjoyed listening to Isabel Pafford (UCB) on Roman Republic and Donald Kagan (Yale) on Ancient Greek History.

[yvonne]

I like Coursera, and online venture that offers free courses from professors at top universities. It's got an interesting assignment grading model. Students evaluate five other students unidentified papers. It scales such that thousands of students can take the same course. The gamification course was better than paid online courses I've taken through independent schools.

[yvonne]

I like Coursera, and online venture that offers free courses from professors at top universities. It's got an interesting assignment grading model. Students evaluate five other students unidentified papers. It scales such that thousands of students can take the same course. The gamification course was better than paid online courses I've taken through independent schools.