UN announces launch of world’s first tuition-free, online university | Hacker News Reader

UN announces launch of world’s first tuition-free, online university

un.org

122 pointsdsil41 comments

Try as I might, I cannot find any information on what the Computer Science program (+) actually contains. Are hundreds of students actually signing up and paying without having a clue what they're getting into, or am I just unable to navigate the site properly?

(+) http://www.uopeople.org/ACADEMICS/Programs/ComputerSciencePr...

" Learn commercially valuable skills"

I'm betting Java, but it could be C#.

Wow, if this is successful, it could be huge, particularly in combination with the various free/cheap laptop programs. I really hope this plays out well.

This kind of thing gets me excited. Ideas spinning. All that.

What my mind keeps hovering around is a core that others can build around. Small or large groups, online or offline taking these courses together. Co-ops where later years tutor earlier years in exchange for the tutoring they themselves received. Lowered barriers for creating a 'college,' where courses, accreditation, lectures etc. handled by this & only peripheral services provided by the institution.

If it's good, there are all sorts of possibilities.

you're right, this could become revolutionary - KUDOS to all visionaries who worked for this univ. - i always dreamt of an educational institution that doesn't charge money - also i liked the admission requirements (NO SAT, GRE, GMAT, TOEFL etc.), this means if you think you can do it then go ahead and learn and pass the test ... the only thing that i'm wondering is how online exams/test will take place without any cheating done by the students???!!!

anyway this is a fantastic news for the whole humanity - this can change the directions of the world economy because if education cost is zero (or minimum) then the output cost of services will also be minimum - one of the main reason why GOOD lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, architects etc. are expensive is because they paid a huge amount on their education, but if the input cost (education cost) is low then it will also reflect in the services provided by the professionals. Not only that, the major debt of an individual in developed countries is because of their educational loans, so this will also change now and will bring new dimension to socio-economic conditions of the poor and middle-class (the biggest consumers of the world).

BRAVO, this is revolutionary!!!

http://www.uopeople.org/

Disappointingly little information on the site.

I can see that there are two programs: CS & BusAdm. Are these made up of courses? Which ones? 3 yr full time? 4?

Current TV featured an alternative and accredited model at Berea College:

"At Berea, which was founded in 1855 as the first integrated college in the South, all 1,530 students work at least 10 hours a week in a campus or service job, earning $3.80 an hour and four years of free tuition. Eighty percent of the school's operating costs are funded by its endowment and the rest comes from donations."

In order to be accepted, you must demonstrate financial need.

I think this seems to be aimed more at countries where the resources for higher learning are absent apart from the very rich.

In those cases accreditation wouldn't be very important because the main focus would be on developing skills and the qualifications gained would speak for themselves.

Although I think if it is being aimed at the very disadvantaged the fees still seem like they would hold people back.

I think Wikipedia is a good starting point for education if we have will and wisdom to pursue further.

It is, but some things need teachers, or at least slides and tutorials, instead of encyclopedia articles. If I had to learn linear algebra from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_algebra, I wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as I did with Math 54 in college.

Slides? Seriously?

Wikipedia can only help if you know what you want to study and know how to move around finding information. For a lot of people in the third world this is not the case. They need mentors and guidance more than the material and information.

Yes, and to add the things a university is supposed to have, they've started Wikiversity: http://en.wikiversity.org

Sure, using and creating/improving open teaching material (wiki{pedia/versity}...)should be one major disrupting point in such a university.

But even online you can't neglet two kinds of human interactions: with teachers (much greater level in a field, can play as role models, etc...) and with students. I'm pretty sure they are important while learning! Like irc/online communities, it can be less intense if you don't end up meeting, but i think it's an integral part of learning.

Wikipedia in an encyclopedia, not a tutorial. Its articles are long and well written, but neither complete nor geared towards teaching. Myself, no matter what subject I always go first to wikipedia, but if I want to actually learn something I always google it afterwards.

Why do they need an application fee to process a simple registration form? Are we supposed to believe that they'll actually deny admissions to anyone?

And $6 million? Sure sounds like everything could be automated to require zero human input. And its not like they need a ton of resources, if their target is 15K students, that whole site could be run on a single server

How do things get automated? Spontaneously?

If evolution can do it, so can an online university.

Somehow I don't think this course has a few billion years to get it right.

I guess you're right. Everything would just become automated if only given enough time.

Exactly how much do you think it costs to create a lesson plan or pay a teacher? Not to mention that virtually all US universities (even online ones) charge fees on top of tuition.

This is a university with professors and TAs and set coursework and graded assignments, not just a bunch of documents and automated quizzes. Wikipedia may be closer to what you want, if that's what you're looking for.

It'd be more useful if/when it is accredited, but if the coursework is even halfway decent, it's a bargain.

More about how it works here: http://www.uopeople.org/THEMETHOD/tabid/209/Default.aspx

Also, consider the beginning and end of semeter/quarters where people register/report/check on their classes/grades. Then it can go all wrong under the load.

Is this University Accredited? Cause then I would take two majors symotanelously.

Not accredited.

http://www.uopeople.org/ACADEMICS/Accreditation/tabid/200/De...

At least in the USA, a university cannot become accredited until it graduates a class.

Same in Canada.

Is the accreditation for the first class retroactive then?

Yes

I think that the University of Phoenix should get appreciation for fighting and gaining valuable ground for non-traditional universities becoming accredited (in the late 70s)

"The battle for accreditation was a battle for survival." -John Sperling, Founder, University of Phoenix

"Institutional theory argues that legitimacy, rather than efficiency or efficacy, best safeguards an organization’s survival (e.g., Powell and DiMaggio 1991)."

Research paper on University of Phoenix's 1976-78 accreditation:

http://www.allacademic.com/one/www/www/index.php?cmd=Downloa...

Bad link. I'm posting the fixed link below because there are so many good quotes about legitimacy and education sprinkled throughout.

"Organizational legitimacy is perhaps nowhere more essential than in the field of higher education, because in several ways what higher education itself produces is legitimacy. Higher education certifies individuals as legitimate employees by awarding them degrees"

Click under "View Document as HTML"

http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/...

Be careful, if you don't turn in your homework, they might send you an angry letter warning you that you'll be getting another angry letter for not turning in your homework.

Wow, what a great piece of progress. Just like MIT's opencourseware I think that this is a great step forwards. We should use the internet much more to facilitate the best teachers reaching the most students. I can see a day in the future when the lecturing part of a course could be delivered by a leading academic and the student's tutorials and practicals could be given and marked more locally.

I hope this doesn't end up like Western Governor's University. Early on it was hard up for attracting students. I think it was (or is) an idea before it's early time but now will fit in.

http://www.wgu.edu/

Anyways, here's hoping.

Have you looked at WGU's curriculum? It's all learning how to use specific Microsoft and other products. Very little of the fundamental topics is actually taught. Most disappointing.

I'll admit, I have not looked in many years. It hasn't gotten much better.

I meant more along the lines of on-line delivery.

How can the profit structure allow this to exist?

I would think the right people would already be dead.

The university staff are all donating their time.

That I understand. But usually when a huge business (oil/pharma) is threatened with a cheaper alternative, (batteries/generics) people die in car accidents and the alternative quietly goes away. I guess it's not at the point of threatening to steal much business at this point.

Oh the old times, I remember taking a couple of courses at the ZDU University.

Unfortunately, nothing good could be with their CS because of 'default.aspx'.

OSS in such kind of projects is so natural choice, leave alone wasted money for their MS licences.

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