[catone]

It's admirable to attempt to collect free resources and organize them in a way that provides a natural progression for subject matter mastery, but essays and lectures does not a college education make. For that you need teachers and peers to discuss the information, to frame it and present it in ways necessary for different types of learners to grasp it, to evaluate your understanding, to challenge you to think about things in new ways.

For most people, just reading the information or watching lectures won't bring you to the same level of understanding (certainly there are exceptions to that rule).

Don't get me wrong, it's great to organize these resources and make them more available for people who wouldn't otherwise have access, but it bothers me to imply this is the same as a college education. Ultimately, I think that just devalues the work that teachers do.

[cj]

Then again, I'd say at least half of students in a typical college class could care less about what they're learning.

If someone has the initiative to go through videos and essays, chances are they're learning more than the bottom 50% in the equivalent college class.

I think initiatives like this could eventually offer valid alternatives to the 'college degree', but not a 'college education'. A degree is what you get from mastering an area of studying. A college education includes additional social and professional skills, which I think is what you're concerned with these initiatives not addressing.