Thursday, September 12, 2013

Daphne Koller Responds to Stanley Fish: A Defense of the Internet Community - DAPHNE KOLLER, NY Times

Finally, while we may all agree that online interaction doesn’t provide exactly the same experience as a physical interaction in a four-year college, that is not always the relevant question. There are many students who have little chance of obtaining a degree from a quality university (or, in the developing world, from any university) because of physical location, health reasons or financial means. For those students, a rigorous online course that allows engagement with other students around the world is a huge improvement over the current opportunities open to them. This free and open access to education is a moral imperative, and one that should not get lost in the discussion regarding how this transformation may affect the on-campus education of those students fortunate enough to have the opportunities that most people in the world would never otherwise have. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/digital-natives-a-defense-of-the-internet-community/