Wow. Technology doesn’t like me at all tonight. The video response I’ve made still isn’t uploaded, and I just spent the last 10 minutes figuring out why the 2nd blog I did tonight was randomly preventing me from making paragraph breaks when I wanted to. Thankfully, I could get into the code and do one of these puppies <p>. Hopefully I’ll be able to do this blog without technology screwing with me.
The third blog I read was another by Richardson entitled “The Distributed University.” It was pretty good, but it more importantly helped me find my other two blogs for the evening. This blog had a lot to do with the other blogs; it kept the tone of atypical ways of becoming educated. Richardson is basically blogging about another blog a guy named Jeff Jarvis wrote about how higher education “should be done.” (I find it funny that I’m blogging about a blog that was about a blog.) So Jarvis basically says that in a Distributed University, students would coordinate with teachers and other students to learn what they want, where they want. This would promote lifelong learning. Sounds good, right?
Yeah, except for one big problem: You don’t get a diploma! Jarvis says that this is why nothing like a distributed university ever happens. It also never happens because institutions would fall apart; they wouldn’t be getting all the money they get by monopolizing the higher education industry.
I personally like the idea, and so does Richardson. He sees that it is becoming a reality. I guess I’m either blind or don’t have that faith that Richardson has because I don’t see it. There will always be propaganda from colleges saying that you need that bachelors to get anywhere in life. At least until they start saying you need your masters, that is.
Unless all the stats people throw out about the advantages to going to college, employers won’t take a High School diploma and a large repertoire of work that Richardson talks about in his “Don’t go to college blog.”
Distributive University…great idea, not happening anytime soon.
Peace,
Jeron
P.S. The video blog isn’t up yet, I wonder how long I’ll be awake tonight trying to fix that…
