This Should Be The Last of It

OK, OK, I'll shut up about the end of traditional universities. After this post. I posted my views on my Facebook page recently asking for people's thoughts on the matter and this is what my friend (who has his doctorate) posted:

I remember when MIT placed their entire curriculum online for free a few years ago. I thought, how odd - they are giving away knowledge! But then I realized knowledge is not the real product of Universities. Their product is an Ivy League diploma and the network of Ivy League alumni that students (and parents) are buying into when they pay those ridiculous tuition fees year over year. Over time, if the people in positions of power/influence are from Open Source Universities - then there will be a higher value placed on these degrees and there will be a bigger incentive to go this route vs. a traditional brick and mortar route. I am pulling for the Open Source model - I believe brick and mortar Universities are some of the biggest rackets around!

Well said, my friend!

Speaking of open source universities, here's something you should check out. Well, two things actually. First if you don't know about TED, it's a conference which takes place annually that brings together brilliant thinkers in countless disciplines to share revolutionary ideas. 

So many brilliant presentations here to watch, and they're all free: 
http://www.ted.com/

I use them to inspire my design students and also to show my AVID students excellent examples of public speaking and presentation.

Which brings me back to my other thing. I had always heard about Khan Academy and had seen a few of its tutorials on the Unofficial Khan Academy channel via my Roku box (which signifies the end of cable/Fios TV, but that's for another post), but Salman Khan's presentation at TED really impressed me. It's worth checking out if you believe that the future (which is right now) of education is online/virtual:

http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html

While you're at it, use your Google or Facebook login to join Khan Academy and explore the variety of tutorials available: http://www.khanacademy.org/

Check it out and let me know what you think or if you're already using Khan Academy (especially in your teaching practice). I'd love to hear what you think of it!