Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a bachelors, a masters and a year of law school. My view is that formal education is there to benefit the schools and teachers, not the students. Probably less than 10% of all I learned and was tested on was of any value or use in my lifetime. 90% was just drivel that passed into the ether, never to be thought of again. So what is the value of an education? First, the ability to stick with it no matter how absurd it seems. This skill is especially valuable in the world of work where much of what happens defies logic and common sense. Second, the diploma is a passport to applying for and being considered for jobs. Without it, you may never get the chance to get a good paying job and live a fairly satisfactory life.
Some people speak of learning as if it is a value on its own. But it's really not any more valuable than watching a movie or reading a novel if there is no actual use for it. Yes I learned many subjects like calculus and cost accounting and chemistry and never used them or thought of them again. But on Youtube I learned how to unblock a frozen shower drain. I also learned how to remount a deflated tire on my riding mower. And how to fix a patio umbrella with a broken cord. That was true learning with a purpose and a reward.
That applies to all people...including you and me.
But what I'm talking about is a teacher/professor having an overview of a content area that an independent learner can't get from an internet source.
But frankly, the way you expressed yourself above...that's just an anti-education, anti-educator rant.
That's your opinion. I'm not anti-education or anti-educator at all, regardless of your assumptions. And keep being frank; it's nice to be frank. Being frank is better than being not frank. Were you not being frank prior to using the word frankly?
But what I'm talking about is a teacher/professor having an overview of a content area that an independent learner can't get from an internet source.
50% of all professors are below average! My son took a college statistics class and the professor totally sucked.
However my son found a stats class on youtube with excellent explanations. He got A's on every exam while the rest of the class was struggling.
Almost anything in the undergrad curriculum can be learned independently online much better than taking an in person class. If one thinks they can't learn much better online it just means they do not know how to search the internet for in-depth knowledge.
50% of all professors are below average! My son took a college statistics class and the professor totally sucked.
However my son found a stats class on youtube with excellent explanations. He got A's on every exam while the rest of the class was struggling.
Almost anything in the undergrad curriculum can be learned independently online much better than taking an in person class. If one thinks they can't learn much better online it just means they do not know how to search the internet for in-depth knowledge.
1. Duh. That is a meaningless statistic, and I would you would know that. Did you learn that online?
2. Yes, we've all had lousy professors. And great professors. And that's part of learning, too. The problem is that the quality of a professor is not necessarily gauged accurately by a student who doesn't even know what he doesn't know.
3. There's some great online stuff. But I wouldn't you because you learned stuff online.
50% of all professors are below average! My son took a college statistics class and the professor totally sucked.
However my son found a stats class on youtube with excellent explanations. He got A's on every exam while the rest of the class was struggling.
Almost anything in the undergrad curriculum can be learned independently online much better than taking an in person class. If one thinks they can't learn much better online it just means they do not know how to search the internet for in-depth knowledge.
Are they? How do you know? Is the set of professors a Gaussian distribution?
I learned more about history, politics, sociology/psychology, and tech from just exploring on my own then I ever did in any formal class. Why? Because I was motivated to learn more on my own and challenge myself. My brain also makes connections more naturally when learning about these topics, so acquiring the knowledge is quicker and more enjoyable.
When it comes to things like math or many sciences, I need the force of having to show up to an actual class to stay motivated to learn the material.
You need more than books to be truly educated. You also need discussion, debate, experience and to be forced out of your comfort zone. Books represent only one form of learning and not necessarily the best. You need discussion groups to go with those books and practice. Sometimes you need to be forced to study things you would not have chosen to study on your own. Kind of like they do in college. Can you imagine letting someone operate on you who was self educated by only reading books? Would the fact he/she read the recommended books be of any comfort to you?
There is not much to debate about whether or not an electronic circuit or a computer program works or not. Yes there will be variations in subjects like medicine. But debating about literature and comparing Romeo and Juliet to West Side Story, that I had to do in high school is a bunch of crap.
The Humanities people seem to overrate their area immensely. And it isn't difficult anyway.
And now we live in a world where lots of people don't comprehend global warming.
The funny thing is that the time you would have to spend to find out it is a crappy course must be worth more than that sale price.
BUT!
I am about 30% into the Python course and 10% into the Web Development course. The Web course has 40 hours of video. Both courses seem pretty good. Have to finish to see if they would be worth $200 but I have no complaints at $10. The time is a bigger deal than the money.
[2166]
Last edited by psikeyhackr; 01-24-2019 at 07:44 PM..
The universities are there when you take a class, you're under pressure to do assignments, take exams, to do well enough to pass the course and on top of that you're paying for it (usually) and that in theory should motivate you to study harder and learn the material.
The term Liberal Arts dates back to Roman Times when only free (liber) men had the time or money to study literature, art, rhetoric and such. Cicero famously wrote a treatise on the value of the liberal arts education. Summary: you study LAs to make yourself a better, more well rounded human being. If you want to learn so you can make more money, become an apprentice.
Keep in mind that until Gutenberg, there were essentially no books for students to read, so they couldn't educate themselves. Only rare manuscripts existed. The term Lecturer means Reader. We haven't moved away from that paradigm even after a half millennium, but it's passe'. It's easy to educate yourself, if you're bright & motivated.
OTOH- the STEM material is basically glorified trade school.
Someone above mentioned medical education: good point. Surgery is a manual skill and only learned efficiently in an apprenticeship situation. The rest of medical learning is ALL self education. The number of "clinical pearls" dropped by the profs during seven yrs of training can be collected and kept in a small change purse.
The word "educate" comes from Latin educere - to lead out. Cf- Socratic Method of asking leading questions to get the student to think deeply. If you're a mule, you need someone to guide you. If you're lead-dog material, you don't.
Do you need Einstein to teach you your multiplication tables? The teachers don't make any difference until you get into your PhD program, where it means everything.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
