I agreeto Idea Free Internet Based Education for All US Citizens
Voting is Disabled

13 votes

Rank1783

Idea#2527

This idea is active.
Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

Free Internet Based Education for All US Citizens

I agree to have my idea, not my name or information, posted online.:
Yes

Create an accredited K through Doctorate internet University of the United States of America, on which all citizens can learn and recieve credit for testing on any subject they like, at any time, for free. Over the next few years, offer traditional classroom teachers a bonus for recording all lecture material and posting it to this website until every subject has 1000's of hours of detailed video, created by accredited professors, with students ranking the best content. Credit gained through passing online tests at this University should be accepted as equivalent, to any other university, but will continue to have a large social stigma for generations, as people will still favor more "prestigious" or "traditional" degrees. It should cost two to three times as much to build as a traditional university, but handle a virtually infinite number of students, lowering the total cost of education substantially, while providing much more flexibillity, and up to date (patched) information for students. If we can't compete in the international marketplace with a tool like this... We don't deserve to compete.

Tags:

Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

Vote Activity Show

Similar Ideas Show

Comments (3)

  1. Community Member

    Great idea.

    It would take an incredible amount of work to pull this off successfully, though. I went to a public university, and I took an online course one summer for the credit. Relative to real classes, the online course was a complete joke. If enough professors contributed to this system and got behind it, it could definitely work. Good luck, though, finding professors who make $400 on each textbook they sell who are willing to publish the same text online for free. There is also a limit to what you can learn on your own. So I don't agree "credit gained through passing online tests should be accepted as equivalent" as credit earned at another university. I think if the online education system built itself up in presigiousness, then maybe. But if you take an above average 8th grader, they would be able to pass most (if not all) of courses currently offered online (listed as university-level courses).

    Basically, I really like the idea - I just think it would be borderline impossible to pull off unless it had a whole lot of funding...

    2 years ago
    0
  2. Community Member

    I understand your basic reservations, but online classes are already "technically" the equivalent of university classes. Lots of people highly paid in the government got their degree from the University of Phoenix. I agree that, for the most part, online classes are a joke, but so is getting a C in a "real" university. Knowing 70% of a certain subject is in no way proficiency. Most of your skills come from experience on the job anyway, you learn by doing (that's why firing people, and merit based pay are so important... but don't tell the government that). If Phoenix can profit insanely off of these online classes, and our government is going to continue to call them "accredited", I think it's time to compete with them. We have bigger investment capital than they do, we should be a force to be reckoned with. Of course, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong.

    2 years ago
    0
  3. Community Member

    Very good point.

    Although if the courses were offered for free, we wouldn't really be competing. If the service was of a similar quality, we'd just be taking business away from them.

    By putting together a really solid, free online university, I think we could and would be raising the bar.

    2 years ago
    0