Comments on: For-Profits and Open Education Make Uneasy Bedfellows in Barcelona http://diyubook.com/2010/11/for-profits-and-open-education-make-uneasy-bedfellows-in-barcelona/ Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the coming transformation of higher education Thu, 18 Jul 2013 18:44:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: luis http://diyubook.com/2010/11/for-profits-and-open-education-make-uneasy-bedfellows-in-barcelona/comment-page-1/#comment-2612 luis Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:24:12 +0000 http://diyubook.com/?p=338#comment-2612 The utubersidad ( http://utubersidad.com ) project is an open source initiative with the purpose of granting easy access to the huge amount of educational videos uploaded at Youtube.com. The thousands of available videos in our website, from Astronomy to Zoology are free to view, organized by subject and reviewed before being included. The site is currently in beta testing so we can asses its usability. Your opinion is of great value to us and we invite you to visit our site and make comments and suggestions about its usefulness as a didactic support resource. The quantity and quality of videos will grow thanks to your recommendations benefiting all the Spanish speaking educational community. The utubersidad ( http://utubersidad.com ) project is an open source initiative with the purpose of granting easy access to the huge amount of educational videos uploaded at Youtube.com.

The thousands of available videos in our website, from Astronomy to Zoology are free to view, organized by subject and reviewed before being included.

The site is currently in beta testing so we can asses its usability. Your opinion is of great value to us and we invite you to visit our site and make comments and suggestions about its usefulness as a didactic support resource. The quantity and quality of videos will grow thanks to your recommendations benefiting all the Spanish speaking educational community.

]]> By: Dan Vidakovich http://diyubook.com/2010/11/for-profits-and-open-education-make-uneasy-bedfellows-in-barcelona/comment-page-1/#comment-2601 Dan Vidakovich Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:19:32 +0000 http://diyubook.com/?p=338#comment-2601 Great post and thanks for sharing. I'm concerned about this degree race we seem to be in and it appears it might be a race to the bottom. A Univ of Phoenix degree isn't worth that much and I would assume the Kaplan one wouldn't be either (although they will convince you with commercials, recruiter pressure, etc while your resume goes to the bottom of the pile). I think it's smart to teach people to be leaders and problem solvers. I also think there must be a more affordable way to get people to start doing/making. Great post and thanks for sharing. I’m concerned about this degree race we seem to be in and it appears it might be a race to the bottom. A Univ of Phoenix degree isn’t worth that much and I would assume the Kaplan one wouldn’t be either (although they will convince you with commercials, recruiter pressure, etc while your resume goes to the bottom of the pile).
I think it’s smart to teach people to be leaders and problem solvers. I also think there must be a more affordable way to get people to start doing/making.

]]> By: Josh Baron http://diyubook.com/2010/11/for-profits-and-open-education-make-uneasy-bedfellows-in-barcelona/comment-page-1/#comment-2596 Josh Baron Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:27:53 +0000 http://diyubook.com/?p=338#comment-2596 This is tremendously interesting/exciting/scary news! I completely agree with you that a model for assessing and credentialing self-directed learning experiences, such as those facilitated through OER, is the Holly Grail and possibly the disruptive force that could send higher education the way of Tower Records (ala the impact of iTunes on the music industry). I'm generally very supportive of the work of for-profits in the higher education space and see them as having brought many innovations to this sector. This said, I wonder how they will balance their primary objective, a profit, with the need to create a very rigorous assessment process in which some students will not succeed (and thus maybe not pay...or pay as much). Without question though, if this becomes a reality it will racket up the pressure on traditional higher education to change and innovate which, in my opinion, is a good thing. Josh This is tremendously interesting/exciting/scary news! I completely agree with you that a model for assessing and credentialing self-directed learning experiences, such as those facilitated through OER, is the Holly Grail and possibly the disruptive force that could send higher education the way of Tower Records (ala the impact of iTunes on the music industry). I’m generally very supportive of the work of for-profits in the higher education space and see them as having brought many innovations to this sector. This said, I wonder how they will balance their primary objective, a profit, with the need to create a very rigorous assessment process in which some students will not succeed (and thus maybe not pay…or pay as much).

Without question though, if this becomes a reality it will racket up the pressure on traditional higher education to change and innovate which, in my opinion, is a good thing.

Josh

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