villaguy Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I studied economics at university a few years ago without showing much commitment and never completed my degree. It's something which I regret deeply, and finding well paid work seems to be quite a big challenge. Anyway these online university courses were on the news sites yesterday morning, not many courses are available at the minute and it's being run as a trial to start with. The US did this starting last year and they are continuing with it. That's all I know about the courses at the moment, has anyone looked into these and have much detailed information? I'd like to get a degree but costs are a big issue for me personally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 You should become a teacher. I hear they get lots of holidays... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 FutureLearn is the company offering the courses. I'd look at the programming one but I'm a complete Luddite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 20, 2013 Author Share Posted September 20, 2013 Thanks for the link, was about to look for it just then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 20, 2013 Author Share Posted September 20, 2013 Look like short taster courses only at the minute, a good few of them look worth doing. Hopefully next year they'll have full blown degrees where you only have to pay for the qualification if/when the course is passed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 They are gonna kill the value of a degree aren't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Its a good idea. the idea of going to a university for 3-4 years for certain subjects is probably going to be out-dated. Only the practical courses are going to need facetime. welcome to the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 20, 2013 Author Share Posted September 20, 2013 Its a good idea. the idea of going to a university for 3-4 years for certain subjects is probably going to be out-dated. Only the practical courses are going to need facetime. welcome to the future. Employers are growing more and more dissatisfied with graduates from what you read on the news, it would be far more practical for the employer and employee to mix and match modules for the specific career path or interests you have/need. This looks like the future for higher level education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM3000 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 They are gonna kill the value of a degree aren't they? Well they aren't worth much these days anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilcoYHF Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Im doing a couple of courses on edx.org. They are provided by universities like MIT, Harvard,etc and seem to be really good. They're not full degree courses tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 20, 2013 Author Share Posted September 20, 2013 Im doing a couple of courses on edx.org. They are provided by universities like MIT, Harvard,etc and seem to be really good. They're not full degree courses tho. Yeah, it's really in the experimental stage. Eventually that's the plan though I believe, I read a year or so ago that the person who freshens the higher education sector up to suit the workplace better will become minted, think it was on the Forbes site. This looks like the first stages of that plan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted September 20, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted September 20, 2013 They are gonna kill the value of a degree aren't they? Well they aren't worth much these days anyway. This is putting it mildly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 They are gonna kill the value of a degree aren't they? Well they aren't worth much these days anyway.This is putting it mildly.Candidate: "Hi I'd like to apply for the job you've got advertised.Employer: "do you have a degree?"Candidate: "No"Employer: "Sorry, you can't apply"Thats how it works at the place where I work, so from my experience they are worth having.If the market becomes flooded with 'Mickey Mouse' degree's then I guess they will have to find another way of filtering the candidates at the application stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 20, 2013 Author Share Posted September 20, 2013 They are gonna kill the value of a degree aren't they? Well they aren't worth much these days anyway. This is putting it mildly. Candidate: "Hi I'd like to apply for the job you've got advertised. Employer: "do you have a degree?" Candidate: "No" Employer: "Sorry, you can't apply" Thats how it works at the place where I work, so from my experience they are worth having. If the market becomes flooded with 'Mickey Mouse' degree's then I guess they will have to find another way of filtering the candidates at the application stage. They will eventually in the near future be built up to a degree, they will be more customisable as well as being more convenient to study. That's the whole idea of them. It's like a huge extension to the Open University with much more choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 They are gonna kill the value of a degree aren't they? Well they aren't worth much these days anyway. This is putting it mildly. Candidate: "Hi I'd like to apply for the job you've got advertised. Employer: "do you have a degree?" Candidate: "No" Employer: "Sorry, you can't apply" Thats how it works at the place where I work, so from my experience they are worth having. If the market becomes flooded with 'Mickey Mouse' degree's then I guess they will have to find another way of filtering the candidates at the application stage. govt dept.: we want to put this piece of work out to consultancy tender private practise: we'd like to bid for this govt dept.: it's strictly lowest bid wins praivate practise: we can still bid for this govt dept.: oh, as well as being proven to be the lowest price (obviously by paying your staff the minimum) you also have to prove ALL the staff working on this project in ANY capacity have a RELEVANT DEGREE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 FutureLearn is the company offering the courses. I'd look at the programming one but I'm a complete Luddite. Thank for the link, never heard of them before. Really interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 the idea of going to a university for 3-4 years for certain subjects is probably going to be out-dated. Only the practical courses are going to need facetime.If people see going to university (or higher education) simply as acquiring a degree (for the prime purpose of obtaining a job), sure.Let's hope it is viewed as much more than that for a good while yet. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 There have been online universities in the US for years, but most have the reputation for being little better than scam operations. If a agree from an established university with a good reputation can't land you a decent job, a degree from "University of Phoenix" definitely will not. That said, there are some legitimate schools that offer online courses- Harvard Extension School, Penn, and I think one of the U of California schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 22, 2013 Author Share Posted September 22, 2013 (edited) Some background behind the idea here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24152698 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-23127327 There has been the online 'Open University' in the UK for years also but this MOOCS type course is a different type, with contributions and course material from the usual established universities Edited September 22, 2013 by villaguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 They are gonna kill the value of a degree aren't they? Well they aren't worth much these days anyway. This is putting it mildly. Candidate: "Hi I'd like to apply for the job you've got advertised. Employer: "do you have a degree?" Candidate: "No" Employer: "Sorry, you can't apply" Thats how it works at the place where I work, so from my experience they are worth having. If the market becomes flooded with 'Mickey Mouse' degree's then I guess they will have to find another way of filtering the candidates at the application stage. govt dept.: we want to put this piece of work out to consultancy tender private practise: we'd like to bid for this govt dept.: it's strictly lowest bid wins praivate practise: we can still bid for this govt dept.: oh, as well as being proven to be the lowest price (obviously by paying your staff the minimum) you also have to prove ALL the staff working on this project in ANY capacity have a RELEVANT DEGREE What's wrong with that? Government has specified that it wants the cheapest 'supplier' who have the credentials to do the job well to get the contract? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts