This week in tech: Free knowledge, Get it while you can

I was working on my programming assignment when a red line cut across the bottom of the code  I’d written, like it would have if I misspelled word, but this line was harsher and accentuated by a small symbol shaped like a stop sign. The red line, which indicated a bug somewhere in the syntax, grew more insistent each time I tried typing a correction until my NetBeans assignment was sketched with vibrant red indicators of my errors.

It’s fair to say that I didn’t know what I was doing. So what were my options? I could go to my teacher and ask for his or her help, see a FIU tutor or I could go to the lab and ask my TA for assistance. I, like many other college students, juggle extracurricular activities, a job and numerous classes. In my case, two jobs and five accelerated courses is reason enough to not want to disrupt my schedule for fear of the domino effect. So, being aware of all my options I decided to take the most efficient route when trying to solve a problem. My most efficient way of solving a problem – I went to the Internet.

Within the first few seconds of Googling the term “Boolean expression in Java” I got over 690,000 results; my favorite, “How to Use Boolean Expressions in Java for Dummies.” Within the next hour I’d taught myself the basics of boolean expressions and two hours later I’d successfully compiled and submitted my assignment.

I’ve always known that you can learn things by Googling the correct terms. Like rudimentary mathematics you can subtract and add words to create specific results. Google is a bouncy house and I’m the curious kid, who with wide, wondering eyes, runs and dive in face first.

You can go on Youtube and practice the most common and uncommon languages from Korean to Afrikaans to Portuguese. You can “how to” just about anything.

However, most of the information you’d learn from Youtube, WordPress or Tumblr is self-created by people like me who have no accreditation at all. Yes, I may be able to learn intermediate Korean with Youtube videos alone but first hand-experience with my tutor gives me a more immersive experience.

We all know that the information the internet holds is fathomless. Do you know to what extent? There are websites that exist where universities like Princeton and Columbia offer free online courses that can rival most of the courses you have taken at FIU. Codecademy, Ocw.mit.edu, webcast.berkeley.edu, Duolingo, www.edx.org, www. futurelearn.com are just some examples.

I don’t think you heard me : These universities, the ones that thousands of people have worked diligently to get into, have offered us course, knowledge as it exists at MIT or Harvard.

Why isn’t everyone rushing to take hold of these opportunities?

Ocw.mit.edu offered by Massucchets Instiute of Technology has Computer Science courses, among others, for both undergraduate and graduate students. They offering courses like “Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics,” “Artificial Intelligence,” and “Fundamentals of Probability.”

Other websites like www.edx.org affiliated with such institutes as Harvard, UC Berkley, Boston University, Dartmouth and University of Tokyo offer free courses like, “Robot Mechanics and Control,” “Human and Nature in Chinese Thought,” “Anthrology of Current World Issues,” and “The Science of Happiness”.

All of these courses are offered by numerous professors, in different languages with pdf notes, and/or video lectures with assignments and quizzes that you must complete, some courses even provide certificates among completion. My discovery of these websites led me to asking the questions: why are we paying for education when we can have it for free?

I think knowledge can be self-taught. What do we benefit from learning ourselves versus having others teach us the material? Why do we, even in an age where technology persists over human interaction, still hold onto the idea that the “proper” way to learn is through attending university? What do you get out of attending class on campus?

As people have proved throughout history you don’t need an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree to become successful. What separates those people from any of us? Dedication? Application? Is spending thousands of dollars learning over the course of four years a better investment than spending nothing but time learning on your own?

When I look at it that way, it doesn’t even make sense. Of course, there are cases where you can’t learn online.  Medical school, science courses require tools that in many instances only a university can provide. In these examples, it is necessary that you take classes at whatever campus you belong to.

Nevertheless, if you could take a basic University Core Curriculum course like English Composition or Algebra with some of the best professors for free and then transfer that (free) credit towards your FIU UCC requirements after taking a proctored exam showing your knowledge of that information, would you?

I can only speak for myself when I say I’d rather spend zero on courses taught by a professors from some of the greatest universities in the world than pay over 600 dollars to take one three credit English class.

A friend of mine recently graduated from University of Miami with a degree in Physics. He has an extensive knowledge of physics and programming and he has a very charismatic personality. Out of all of my friends, I believe that he would have the easiest time impressing employer with the right degree and the right words.

This past weekend he went to New York City to interview for a position as a software developer. A two-part 30 minute quiz on logic and algorithms stood in the place of any human that would have been interviewing him. A four year degree in a difficult field, numerous minors and years of work experience was greeted with a computer screen.

A computer, doesn’t know about your accomplishments nor does it care, it only wants to know whether you understand the questions it is asking. We are moving into an age where people who do not attend college, with the proper knowledge, are capable of competing with people who have spent four+ years in college. This statement may apply to specific courses or majors but it applies nonetheless.

And, here we are paying money for an education that may not be relevant to our futures. Haven’t
you ever heard the phrase “Why pay for something when you can get it for free?” No one is ever going to tell you, “Don’t go to college.” I’m not even going to tell you that.

But I will tell you that as a high schooler the founder of 4chan, Christopher Poole, taught himself how to code and created one of the most well-known websites in world. Though he attended college for a short period of time he dropped out. His dropping out of university didn’t prevent him from creating another startup web-based company “Canvas” and being a guest speaker at both Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University.

There will be a point in time where an undergraduate degree will only be a piece of paper and your competition will be people who’ve never stepped foot in a university but know how to code in Java and C++ or know how to speak four languages or design a webpage.

Even if my ideal world where substituting university class credits for free courses taught by professors online couldn’t exist taking these classes should be encouraged among faculty members, administration and even fellow students because “getting an education” is why we are all here in the first place. Right? Why don’t more people know about these courses?

Check out free education websites here:

 

www.futurelearn.com

https://www.edx.org/

https://www.duolingo.com/

Ocw.mit.edu

webcast.berkeley.edu