As universities integrate and accept various technologies as tools to educate students, many barriers to education that existed before are vanishing. Barriers such as having to be in one location at a specific time to hear lectures given by professors have been eliminated with prerecorded lectures. The need to meet in person with a group to study or work on a project has also been eliminated with the recent permeation of videoconferencing. The need to publish textbooks and distribute them was eliminated long ago with the arrival of word processors and the internet. These technologies aren’t new, but they are getting better — and more, importantly people are becoming fluent in using them.
So, the next question should be asked: Why can’t we use these advancements to make college education more affordable, or even in some cases free? Why couldn’t governments and other organizations invest in making credible online classes, then publishing them for an affordable price or even free in some instances? I’m sure federal and state governments could set aside a budget to create and publish online courses. There are some organizations that are already doing this, such as Khan Academy, but making an accredited organization that offered online courses and degrees would level the playing field for all.
There are political leaders who are calling for free education, and a lot of people support this idea; however, it is not feasible or affordable if we go about it thinking we must give people a free college experience. We don’t need to make the college experience free. We don’t need to pay for someone to attend a university. But we can make pre-recorded lectures and make learning materials free and available for all. We have the technology, time and ability to make it work. Why not do it?
Miles Nielsen
Kansas City, Missouri
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