Monday, January 28, 2013

Getting all jiggy with college

When I ran an employment mission at my church, we told young people they would have seven careers, not just seven jobs, in a lifetime.

We got this from the government. Yes, ours.

Over the decades, I have seen higher education change--it may not even be needed for the jobs being offered to the new middle class, or what's left of it.

I see people getting a job, being trained or certificated, doing the job, moving to another at some point, training, etc.

Another creative innovation has been MOOC's--Massive Open Online Courses.

You can "go" to Harvard free in the privacy of your home. How about "Introduction to Computer Science?" Harvard, Duke, Stanford, AZ State, University of Virginia, Univ of Edinburgh, Wesleyan Univ, Columbia, and the Univ of Illinois are just a few of the universities offering online courses free. Some educators say this may be a game changer as college gets more expensive.

Also--the University of Wisconsin is now going to allow people to take a battery of tests on their knowledge--without taking courses. This could lead to a BA.

Things are morphing! Stand back! Change can splatter.