On 10/12/10 1:16 PM, Ian Woollard wrote: > On 12/10/2010, David Gerard<[email protected]> wrote: >> His agenda is to cut his wages bill. (Vice-chancellors are not picked >> for their fluffy goodwill to all humanity.) But this is the guy who >> runs the business saying "holy crap we're fucked." > The thing is that free sources of information have been available for > practically forever; they're called 'libraries'. These are not universally available or accessible. Rural areas and third world countries have virtually no access. Maintaining a comprehensive collection is frightfully expensive both in terms of acquisition and storage. Funding libraries is not always seen as a government priority. Many libraries need to divest themselves of much older material just to make space.
> They didn't replace the need for people known as > teachers/lecturers/tutors either, nor the need for examinations to > prove that people could actually do stuff, both of which are functions > provided by universities. Lecturers in particular keep alive the bankrupt notion that you can teach people by talking at them. One of the principles of education is that learning requires the active participation of the learner. The process of examination is a secondary one, and universities would be well served if they could find a way to get rid of it. The master who work with the students soon know which "actually do stuff." > So I suspect, at the moment, that he's being pessimistic. > > Still, in theory, a really good automated educational computer based > learning system could change all that I suppose, but I've never heard > of one that good. > I suppose that "automated educational computer based learning system" form a major part of Geeks' unrealistic dreams. It's unfortunate that universities have been overrun by the rampant philistinism of those who see them solely as an avenue toward a better job. That would make them no better than glorified trade schools with a pompous name. The crucial role of the university is the expansion and preservation of knowledge. This is not just the passing on of knowledge; it is the provision of a forum for the evaluation and criticism of that knowledge. To an extent that can be done among peers in the absence of a recognized master. Masters are still valuable, but not pontificators. Universities need to redefine themselves in response to the threat posed on them by the internet, and that requires a serious review of their economics. Ec _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
