No more pencils, no more books...
September 8, 2012 8:24 AM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: Seems like this could go in this recent thread, yeah. -- cortex
The example with the student comparing the course software to playing a video game / Skinner box is worth mulling over. There's a difference between education and training. From history, we know that the revolution that scaled the production of objects has also given society lots of problems. And here we are, scaling the production of minds.
posted by polymodus at 8:49 AM on September 8, 2012
posted by polymodus at 8:49 AM on September 8, 2012
"Is putting a bunch of lectures and playing with circuits online really the same as a well-rounded classical education?"
Nothing described in the article is even remotely comparable to a "well-rounded classical education," or even a poorly-rounded one. It sounds like online standardized testing.
For that matter, the article doesn't even try to make the argument that this is the same as a classical education. What the article is really asking is, "Is this the sorry-assed replacement for a classical education that we now have to look forward to as The Wave Of The Future?"
Well, it's great for colleges; they can charge for a class without paying anybody to teach it. And it's great if you're a student who wants credits and isn't particular about being educated. So yeah, it probably is The Wave Of The Future.
In his Hawaii home, Ho types in an answer and within seconds a bright green check mark pops up on his screen. He got the question right. “It’s instant gratification, like playing a video game,” he says.
Anybody who plays video games knows playing against bots is easy. I look forward to having my appendix removed by somebody who learned how to do it by getting all the bright green check marks...
posted by Sing Or Swim at 8:54 AM on September 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Nothing described in the article is even remotely comparable to a "well-rounded classical education," or even a poorly-rounded one. It sounds like online standardized testing.
For that matter, the article doesn't even try to make the argument that this is the same as a classical education. What the article is really asking is, "Is this the sorry-assed replacement for a classical education that we now have to look forward to as The Wave Of The Future?"
Well, it's great for colleges; they can charge for a class without paying anybody to teach it. And it's great if you're a student who wants credits and isn't particular about being educated. So yeah, it probably is The Wave Of The Future.
In his Hawaii home, Ho types in an answer and within seconds a bright green check mark pops up on his screen. He got the question right. “It’s instant gratification, like playing a video game,” he says.
Anybody who plays video games knows playing against bots is easy. I look forward to having my appendix removed by somebody who learned how to do it by getting all the bright green check marks...
posted by Sing Or Swim at 8:54 AM on September 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
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posted by DiscourseMarker at 8:47 AM on September 8, 2012