Current Event Posting Number: 1
Topic: Education
Title of article: MIT Launches 'automated course'
Author: Sean Coughlan
Publication name: BBC News
Date of Publication: 13 Feb 2012
Length of article: ~10 paragraphs
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also known as MIT, has launched its first free online course. The course, unlike others, gives students a certificate for completing and completely resembeles actual MIT courses. This program allows students all over the world to break the barriers of higher education costs. The course takes 10 hours a week and will run until June. It is more unique than other online courses in it that it incorporates a virtual laboratory, e-textbooks, online discussions, and videos in the form of lectures. There are no requirements for students other than basic knowledge of maths and sciences. While there is nothing to check identity except an 'honor code', a mechanism will be implanted soon. The university will search for funding from philanthropists, but with a 8.5 billion dollar science endowment, it is well resourced.
This project is a great step in developing global online education. While MIT only teaches a few thousand students on campus, this project can expand that knowledge to millions of eager students all over the world that cannot afford the whopping $50,000/year most universities charge. However, this could potentially hurt universities because students will realize they could get their degrees for free from a top university. Although it might hurt the income of universities, this is a great advancement for the world as education becomes accessible which creates equal opportunity between the rich and lower classes.
I fully support this project, as an international student, most universities do not offer scholarships and ask for $50,000/year. I think many people will benefit from this, and people who want to learn, who want to invest their time to become smarter should receive this opportunity. I hope that universities will see this as competition, and start bettering their services and lowering their prices. With this project implanted, rich or poor, there is nothing stopping anyone from become who they want to be, which is essentially what this country was founded upon.
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ReplyDeleteIts great that such a prestigious school like MIT has finally stepped over the line with offering free, high quality education. I think this is an absolutely great idea and it will help students who couldn't afford classes normally to still get a degree. Although some may think so, this will not hurt other universities. It's not as though infinite number of students can take this online course, so there are still many of other students who will attend other colleges. In fact, I think it will help other universities because they should use this as role model and start to offer types of free education themselves. Although there are still many bugs to be relieved in the system, it is a great and revolutionary idea from MIT.
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ReplyDeleteMIT has recently established its first free online course. Their program is different from others, offering a virtual library, e-textbooks, online discussions, and videos of lectures. The only requirements of this course is a basic knowledge of math and science. The course is 10 hours a week, but only runs until June so students must make use of this program to the fullest. With this program, MIT is now able to expand their university to students all over the world who can't afford the regular tuition of $50,000 a year. The course is able to break the barrier between higher and lower classes, and provide students with an alternative and easily accessible form of education. However, while the system successfully offers students this education, problems may arise within the university, whether financially or competitively. Because the program is so accessible, this may take out the competitive edge of MIT university, with so many people realizing they can easily receive a degree from such a prestigious university. Overall, though, I believe the program provides a great opportunity for students all over.
ReplyDeleteMIT has, once again, established itself as a prestigious institution by rising above its competition by launching its first-ever free online course. The article states that this program can hurt the university because of student realization that a degree can be obtained for free from one of the top universities in our nation; although this scenario may hold true, spending the time to learn online (10 hours a week) can never replace hands-on learning or social skills acquired through interactions between students and professor. Furthermore, although MIT provides education accessible to the world and, thus, closing the gap between the rich with opportunities (able to pay a tuition of about $50,000/year) and the poor, the classes are online and, therefore, the poor still have to provide themselves with a working computer and internet connection, which can be more difficult financially than to just attend a community college. In addition, although this system comes with flaws (lack of identity check), MIT still has to face the challenge of whether earning a degree through its online course will sufficiently prepare the student to compete for jobs with non-online degree students and whether the degrees earned online will be seen as up to an acceptable standard.
ReplyDeleteWith the progress of technology, it is not surprising that schools like MIT are moving their courses online for everybody to learn free of charge. With universities charging an average of $50,000 a year, many students are looking for cheaper alternatives that don't sacrifice a good education. The online course is also advantageous in time and materials, demanding only 10 hours a week (good for students with part-time jobs) and provides anything from e-books to virtual laboratories to online discussions. And its obvious that the government is also very supportive of this action, as they are providing an $8.5 million endowment to MIT.
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