By Peter Galuszka
Far too often on this blog, a new program or an event gets taken far beyond its intrinsic value. One obvious example is a new program offered by Harvard and MIT for online classes.
The program is being touted by the right-wing crowd as the next wheel or airplane or laptop computer. It is being cited as a reason why University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan was abruptly ousted from her job.
But what is the Harvard-MIT program? It is called edX and details can be found here. Among them:
- The two prominent, private schools will offer course content to anyone who is online and pays a small fee.
- There will be interactive components including chat rooms that differ from the usual distance courses that merely download a lecture video.
- If you take the course and satisfy MIT and Harvard educators you get a certificate that you completed the course, but get NO right to use the course under the names of MIT or Harvard.
- The courses do NOT entitle one to school credits from Harvard or MIT.
- Students at MIT or Harvard may not get credit for the edX courses.
- More schools are expected to participate
GOOZEVIEW’s BOTTOM LINE: Interesting idea but not exactly the “revolution” in college education that some would have you believe. Students may gain from such courses, but they get no school credits from them that apply to a degree, especially NOT from Harvard or MIT.
