[inovica]

I fully agree and something that I have been internally debating for around a year now. My son will (potentially) be going to University in two years, but I have heard, from friends, that the amount of contact hours is dramatically reducing. One friend has a son on a 'foundation' course and he has 4 hours of teaching a week. Another, doing a full-time business degree has 9 hours. My own opinion is that with the advances in technology, the old educational system is outmoded; that of learning from a person at the front and then regurgitating what they have told you in order to prove you know it. That, coupled with nearly 50% of school leavers going to university now in the UK, makes me feel that the quality is being eroded.

Unfortunately, my concern is that if my son doesn't follow the status quo then that will leave him at a disadvantage in the job market. As an employer myself though, I interview a huge number of people who have degrees and who aren't really that capable, so it is very difficult to determine quality.

[christudor]

"The old educational system is outmoded; that of learning from a person at the front and then regurgitating what they have told you in order to prove you know it."

I think most university tutors would find this an insulting caricature of what they and their students do. Is this what you actually think happens at university?

[randcraw]

I've attended seven colleges/universities over 40 years, big and small, public and private, in-person and online.

In all in-person large schools, lecture to passive students runs 90% of classes. The essential problem is, any class with more than about 30 students is too big to enable interaction from students. That means only maybe 10% of senior / grad classes even might break the mold of "shut up and sit there while I talk".

In-person small colleges have it better. Few courses there exceed 50 students. But more and more courses there are taught by journeyman profs, which causes instructional quality to vary from year to year.

However MOOCs aren't necessarily any better. Due to their remote delivery and being recorded, all human contact is lost aside from a few text messages to TAs (if you pay). In many, even grading is often automated.

In short, I agree with the sentiment that post-secondary education MUST change. But as they stand now, MOOCs are not the answer. (Other than significantly reducing tuition, which is no small achievement of course.)

[jimhefferon]

Yes, I teach at a small Liberal Arts school in the US and this is not a correct characterization of what happens here, either. (On the other hand, I went to a state university and there is some truth to it in that context, modified of course by the fact that individual instructors may take a different approach.)

[qmmmur]

I personally would love to do away with information based lectures and teach only tutorials in small low ratio settings. Online lecturing let's me do that and saves money (according to admin) and students are happier for it because they do the drier stuff at their own pace and have lots of quality one on one interactions.

[rakkhi]

Yes I agree the signaling mechanism of a standard uni degree. At least in IT I see this changing where employers, I have worked at at least, value experience and a portfolio of work more than a uni degree. Also as so many people have uni degrees the value is diminished compared to 50 years ago. What if you just learnt the skills you needed in say 1 year at 20% of the cost online instead and still had a “degree”?

[barry-cotter]

If you’re an employer yourself why not just give him a job if he wants it? If he’s 16 now he could have five years work experience by the time his classmates graduate college. Alternatively skip sixth form college and just go straight to university. He can enroll with the Open University tomorrow, be done in three years and have his Bachelor’s by the time he’s 19.

[Gene_Parmesan]

People often frown upon hiring managers at their company who hire their own children.

[barry-cotter]

Indeed but if one owns one’s own business one is probably not planning on being an employee again any time soon.