Ok, so the University of Phoenix has a six-billion dollar market cap. That means that somebody, somewhere is wanting products they sell. There is a market in education that views it as an legitimate expense. The only question now we have is cost and perceived value.
Instead of a four-year, pass-or-fail model for education, how about switching to a incremental model? You can have 50 levels of applied knowledge, rising all the way to PhD. People can purchase small amounts as they can afford it. Certification systems could tie into the levels. Early levels could require 2 or 3 courses in other areas. Later levels could be more narrowly targeted. A universal directory could manage it all and allow competition between providers.
As some random internet commenter, I agree with the author: this field is getting ready for major innovation. Just not quite yet.
> You can have 50 levels of applied knowledge, rising all the way to PhD
Nice idea. I think fine-grained representations of the learner's "state" will lead to interesting applications in the future.
Though there are a few things going on. Having the credits for course the Advanced Calculus course MATH314 on my transcript granted from {{U_name}} means a couple of things: (1) I passed the class, (2) I probably know all the material in the courses which are prerequisites (D.CALC, INT.CALC, MULTIVAR.CALC, LA), and (3) I am ready to take more advanced courses that require AdCalc (like say, a 3rd year Electricity & Magnetism course).
My feeling is that none of the above three aspects are worth certification. (And payment!) This level of knowledge cert. would be too granular. What we want certification for is at the end of the completed degree. ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: ENGINEER
That being said it would be cool to have University "credits" portable in between institutions without having to jump through hooks trying to get administrators to accept credits form other universities...
The University of Phoenix receives an incredible amount of taxpayer subsidies. Between budget cuts and the low-quality instruction it (and similar schools) provide, I think that's the most ripe for disruption.
Instead of a four-year, pass-or-fail model for education, how about switching to a incremental model? You can have 50 levels of applied knowledge, rising all the way to PhD. People can purchase small amounts as they can afford it. Certification systems could tie into the levels. Early levels could require 2 or 3 courses in other areas. Later levels could be more narrowly targeted. A universal directory could manage it all and allow competition between providers.
As some random internet commenter, I agree with the author: this field is getting ready for major innovation. Just not quite yet.