University of the People

There was a recent TED talk about students desire to receive higher education. President Shai Reshef tells stories of a few individuals across the globe who have graduated high school, are qualified for higher education, and require higher education to move forward in society. However, there are different reasons why these students cannot pursue a higher education and the biggest reason  is due to financial issues. Many people nowadays need to be able to hold a job while going to school so they can pay for their higher education. Education has turned from a right to a privilege for the ones who are able to afford it.

The speaker, President Shai Reshef's, talks about how he has created an accredited, tuition free, non-profit, degree-granting school to provide an alternative to those who have no other. It is called University of the people. It will hopefully break the norms of other schools because they are making school affordable and open to all students who qualify. There will be a seat for everyone who would like to pursue a higher education. The University is open to anyone throughout the world. The use of the  internet to cut down the cost and be worldwide is a major advantage to this type of education. Professors volunteer their time and post their work to  help teach the courses. No textbooks are needed because the professors post the information for the  students.  Discussion boards are used for students  to interact in a classroom like setting over the internet, and since it is an online program, the class sizes are larger than a physical classroom. This opens up many different outside the box ideas and has a broader flow of knowledge through courses.

As long as students have a high school degree, an  internet connection, and decent english skills, they qualify for University of the People. The only cost to the student is  $100 per exam. This cost to the student  comes out to be around $1,000 per year, or $4,000 for 4 years degree. If the cost is still too high, many scholarships are available. The goal is to be able to educate as many students as possible.

This model of a university's goal is  to expand  across the world. The program hopes to disrupt the current higher education system in hopes that it's  more affordable type of education will be a right to all who would like to  obtain a higher education.

The Google dictionary definition is that a TED Talk is a video created from a presentation at the main TED (technology, entertainment, design) conference or such, and is normally limited to a maximum length of 18 minutes.

The link to the whole TED talk can be found here: http://uopeople.edu/

Technology in the Lab

As science and technology progress, not only is technology being used for research in the forms of computers and Ipads, but machines are being used to help perform tests in a scientific lab. Being a biology major I use a variety of fancy machines to run tests in the lab. Having the technology to run these tests help us learn processes that scientists use in the real world and understand  certain concepts.

We recently were given a mystery bacteria microbial and had to run special tests on it to determine the identity of the  bacteria microbe. We would isolate the DNA and run various gel electrophoresis tests on the DNA. Gel electrophoresis is a machine that is able to show us the bands and base pair amounts in DNA. DNA is very small and cannot be seen by the naked eye. Being able to run it down a gel and amplify the amount of DNA can teach us a lot about DNA and its makeup in humans and other organisms. After amplifying the amount of DNA we can also run it through a sequencer and figure out the genome of the DNA.  The sequencer uses markers on the DNA to figure out which nucleotides come where in the sequence of DNA. We can take the sequence and run it through an online database to see what organisms our sequence would best fit. This teaches us what organism we are dealing with and in our case, which bacterial microbe we were dealing with. 

Another lab we conducted dealt with running protein gels to identify traits that our proteins portray. In gels we use ethidium bromide which can be put into another machine that  uses UV light technology to show us different traits about our DNA and proteins.  

The use of  these machines  teaches us about the greater details of how organisms are composed. This information can be used in many different fields of study  to help learn about organisms. In our lab, we are learning the  basics of  science, but this information can be used in much more detail and to learn much more in the scientific world. Science is always growing. Special machines are used to promote learning in  the field and all the information we learn from science can be used to promote future technology and education about the world we live in.

3 GOOD REASONS FOR NOT GOING TO SCHOOL ... but learn online instead

(1)

July 26, 1764, in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, four Lenape American Indians entered the schoolhouse, shot and killed schoolmaster Enoch Brown, and killed nine children.

Yes, killings in American schools have a long history, though the reasons for the violence vary.  But as a fact of life, violence of this sort has become almost weekly by now, if not daily, occurrences throughout American schools and campuses.   This may sound harsh, but check your newspapers and you’ll find it is the truth.

With modern high tech providing the means and methods, however, school can come to the student now, wherever he/she might be, via online education.  No more exposure to violence of any form.

(2)

It seems like there are more and more politically agitating professors in our colleges, more teachers with political or societal agendas of their own, coloring the teaching material in one way or another, for whatever are their ideological opinions.  Also, in the pursuit of “political correctness,” whatever that may be at the time and place, they may change or bend learning material one way or another.  Plus there are those who, for example, introduce or remove symbols in the work environment, such as say a crucifix in a classroom.  In other words, they try to transmit other thoughts and ideas in the teaching than the subject matter which is to be covered.

Needless to say, switching to online education cuts out all these coloring agents and/or politicizers, because online it’s the student’s choice to learn uncolored or in which color he/she wants to learn.

(3)

BECAUSE online education in almost anything is available practically everywhere, there is no need to use brick-and-mortar schools with a teacher standing in front of a class at all.  As Peter Gray  (Research Professor of Psychology at Boston College) documents in “Free to Learn” (Basic Books, 2013), today’s state of transmitting education via teachers in classrooms is comparable to a prison system, while, what is needed, and proven to work far better, is that learners must be entrusted to steer their own learning and development. Drawing on evidence from anthropology, psychology, and history, Gray demonstrates that free play is the primary means by which already children learn to control their lives, solve problems, get along with peers, and become emotionally resilient.  Quote:  “Unleashing the instinct to play makes our children happier, more self-reliant, and better students for life.”

Nothing could be better for fulfilling this mode of learning than going online.  Actually Gray has an example in the book of where precisely this was done in India, without giving the learners ANY instructions whatsoever, and WOW, how they learned ...

Not to mention the cost savings!

Consult http://www.straube.org

Empowering Education

 In 2013 Kiva U was created  to help empower the educational world. On this website, you can either join or create a team that correlates with your school, university, or club. It can be used to benefit students of all ages  and educators. Once you join the team, you are able to connect with your peers and other lenders through message boards, join with other teams to receive loans, and be able to make a larger impact, as well as give you the tools to spread the word about Kiva U.

Kiva U's goal is to touch the lives of thousands through microlending. Kiva U  collaborates with Citibank to engage students and educators on financial issues. The main idea is to apply the money towards the many costs  associated with an education and help with school loans. Not only is Kiva U good for financial assistance, but through experiential learning, digital collaboration, and the power of human connections, Kiva U will provide a platform for young people to take charge and change lives through microfinance and financial inclusion.

As Kiva U grows it will make a larger impact on the educational world.

Transforming Colleges to Reduce Cost

The National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) is one of today's leaders in reducing  the cost of education. NCAT is a nonprofit organization that works with colleges to redesign course structures and learning environments in the most efficient manner. Therefore, students excel in learning while the college saves substantial amounts of money.

With programs for both 2 year and 4 year colleges, NCAT, led by Dr. Carol A. Twigg, uses its experience and information technology to create the Program in Course Design (PCD). To date, there has been 30 course redesign projects, and of these 30 programs, 25 of them have been  huge successes. Of the 30 schools that offer this program there has been some dramatic changes.

-18 schools had a significant decrease in drop-failure withdrawal rates which ranged between 10% to 20%

-Schools reduced costs between 20% to 77%

-On average, each school reduced costs by 37%

-So far, the colleges have saved approximately $3million dollars

-Overall, there has been an increase in both student and faculty satisfaction

Currently, NCAT has proved to be a leader in the fight to reduce higher education costs, without reducing the quality of education and its enjoyment among students and educators. There are workshops all across the country run by NCAT to spread their  ideas about reducing education costs.

Connecting the Dots

Many schools are interested in having technology in the classroom, but only some  have actually committed to using it. In 2012 the education director of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)  noticed that  96% of 15-year-old students in OECD countries said  they had access to a computer at home. However 72% reported that they use a desktop, laptop, or tablet  at school. Some countries even had fewer than 1 in 2 students report they had access to a computer or some sort of electronic device at school. Students who have access to computers at school  tended to have better educational outcomes than schools that did not. Many schools try not to enforce the use of  computers because it takes away from the relationships between student and teacher or student to student. Using the computers did not help the students in the subjects of math and science. Some teachers taught the students how to use the Internet in a positive way, teaching lessons on plagiarism, viruses, fraud, violation of privacy, and how much internet time in appropriate. This helped teach students a quick lesson on real life issues and not only typical school topics. Using the Internet also introduces access to the latest information. Old textbooks are becoming more and more outdated, whereas the Internet is always being updated.

The goal for many teachers is to get their students to be "smarter than a smartphone," so one would think by always using the computer this would help. This is a  true statement as technology can help assist in great teaching, but it cannot cover up poor teaching skills. Teachers need to be able to take advantage of the  full potential a computer can provide and  they must have a great understanding of how to work the computer in order to be able to guide the students through the process. Teachers should also try to get more involved in designing educational programs. This will help students with their studies because teachers know first hand what techniques may or may not be successful in education.

Connecting the dots of technology to classrooms, students to computers, and teachers to enhancing teaching techniques through computers can benefit the classroom in many positives ways. It has already started to show positive results, schools just need to start committing to technology so they can begin to see the benefits  in their students.

Udacity Courses

Online colleges are becoming more and more popular. They are popping up all the time and each school has it's own pricing. Some schools are no cost to the student, some may cost a few thousand dollars, and some may cost tens of thousands of dollars  in tuition fees to complete their education online.

Udacity is a four-year old teaching setup. After years of trial and error they feel as if they have finally worked out a way to properly train people and teach millions of people technical skills.  A specialist in artificial intelligence named Sebastian Thrun founded Udacity. Thrun once ran Google X and claims that the “nanodegree” program the firm created last year will result in much lower education costs with a wider accessibility. Early data suggests the program is efficient and results in new jobs.  Students who take classes through Udacity receive the nanodegree. This is a credential degree that Udacity worked with Google and other companies to turn into a form of workplace certification. Udacity is trying to help people gain skills in the world of technology because nowadays  technology is used in the workplace. Thrun even states that it is unrealistic to think a college degree will get you through your lifetime nowadays, since everything is becoming more and more technology based. Taking courses to receive a nanodegree is a good idea to assist in  finding a job easier.

When Udacity was first launched, it  had many students taking part in the program. However, the students became laxed  with their work and failed the courses. In 2013, Thrun changed the  program  into a more practical vocational school that offered highly structured lessons. Thrun believes that having  highly vocational lessons will help people find jobs in this technology driven economy. So far, Udacity’s new model has been much more successful. The cost per month is very low and the student can take as little or much time to complete the classes.  When the class has been completed the student receives  half of their tuition back. The company believes that an average student completes the classes for a nanodegree in about 5 months. The cost is usually around $500, for a five month period, which is very inexpensive compared to the tuition cost of a  normal university. Many students who have completed the courses and earned their nanodegree have found jobs and are making a good living.

Udacity may be an independent school, however, they have the capacity to  hire professionals who are able to be personal graders and to give feedback to those taking the classes. This service provides a view from a  real person instead of just outsourcing the services to the Internet. The instructors for the classes are real educators as well.  There is an Android course that is staffed by instructors from Google, who created the mobile operating system.

Udacity is a profit based service, but all of those profits go right back into developing new coursework for students to take. It has also raised $35 million from investors. Udacity will use this money  to develop more courses and hopefully more students will take advantage of this program.