PanWorld Internet University

[Zkribbler]

Lancer's recent posts have set me thinking on ways to break the poverty of Third World nations. One way would be to better educate their citizens. Assuming the nations can get their students through high school, how difficult would it be to create an Internet University for them to go to?

The nation(s) involved could provide the buildings and internet connection. Lecture halls could have a large screen TV. So, we have our classrooms.

There are zillions of people in First World countries who want to be and are qualified to be professors -- maybe not top-drawer professors, but adequate ones. Their lectures could be videotaped and sent over the Internet.

Text books will be a problem. Most Third-World students can't afford them.

Qualified test graders will be a problem. Hopefully, the university will be lots and lots of students, and the few professors hired won't be able to grade the tests.

A method of collection a very modest tuition will be needed (unless the university is wholly subsidized -- but if subsidized, by whom?)

A practical labs -- chemistry labs; physics labs -- will be a problem. These are expensive; they need to be overseen by qualified people.

Eechh. Can this be done??

[snoopy369]

Textbooks would be open-source PDFs, so no problem there. Grading would be mostly by computer (ie, automatic) with written exams/essays graded by TAs in the appropriate country. Labs would of course be difficult, but a lot of that could be done on the internet I suspect, with the respective countries providing what they can for a lab course (or donated).

Tuition would be minimal, as costs would be minimal The respective countries could set a minimal tuition to cover the TAs (that they are providing).

Professors would be paid for via grants, there are plenty of those for this sort of thing, and through various programs.

I don't think it would be that hard - or if it even doesn't exist in some form already. The difficulty is getting people to the college level, and getting people to *want* to get to the college level (or, to be able to remove themselves from the workforce for a period of time, either entirely or partially). That's probably a much higher hurdle... look at the resistance One Laptop Per Child met, after all.

[-Jrabbit]

This is just too good an idea for it to work.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Tuition would be minimal, as costs would be minimal The respective countries could set a minimal tuition to cover the TAs (that they are providing).

The Peace Corp could serve as another source for TAs.

..and after further thought, we don't really need buildings, lecture halls, etc. Those are just for the convenience of the old-fashioned professors, but here, they're teaching over the internet. All the student would need is a computer hooked to the internet.

I like the idea of using grants. And didn't Bill Gates just donate a b'zillion dollars to a charitable foundation? I'll bet a Bill Gates foundation would like to fund a PanWorld Internet University which uses lots of computers.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
This is just too good an idea for it to work.

Bah. They said the same thing about using cold fusion as an energy source.

[Whoha]

hey, we barely survived the coulomb catastrophe as it was.

There are too many problems with this for it to work.

[snoopy369]

ZK, you know most people in the third world don't have electricity or running water, not to mention internet connections, right

[Eli]

Knowledge is not enough, you need proof. Who would you choose to spend resources on (interview), a guy with a degree from MIT or someone with a printout of grades from some online university?

It's a great idea for helping people to learn more, much like Wikipedia, but it won't be good enough for the market.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by snoopy369
ZK, you know most people in the third world don't have electricity or running water, not to mention internet connections, right

IIRC, it was 60 Minutes that did a story on a guy who's come up with a $100 laptop. It connects to the Internet via satillite and is powered by a handcrank. We could use something like that.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Eli
Knowledge is not enough, you need proof. Who would you choose to spend resources on (interview), a guy with a degree from MIT or someone with a printout of grades from some online university?

On the other hand, how many applicant from MIT will there be in Ecuador, the Philippines, and Niger.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Zkribbler


IIRC, it was 60 Minutes that did a story on a guy who's come up with a $100 laptop. It connects to the Internet via satillite and is powered by a handcrank. We could use something like that.

Look at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XO-1

That's probably what you're talking about. It turned out to be $200, and doesn't use a satellite (though you can of course set up a connection for a classroom and 802.11g it). Still, $200 is a rather large amount of money for a third world citizen...

[Zkribbler]

That's exactly what I was remembering. Thanx, Snoop.

[Lancer]

It's a good idea Zkrib. Jobs though, that's what's needed. There's lots of college educated people here in the Philippines trying like crazy to get a job. The system that exploits them should be gotten rid of.

If you want a job overseas where the $ is you first get a college education, then you go to an agency. That agency places you in a job and then takes up to half of your small salary.

Maybe it would work better in a third world country where there aren't so many college educated people.

Too many people in this country. Invent a contraceptive that can be put in the water like floride and you've got something.

[Krill]

You couldn;t teach any of the hard sciences though; you really do need well equipped labs to do anything in chemistry, physics or biology.

[Eli]

Originally posted by Krill
You couldn;t teach any of the hard sciences though; you really do need well equipped labs to do anything in chemistry, physics or biology.

Not really. Most undergraduate studies wouldn't be hurt much by the lack of labs.