By Chris Reed

Will 2013 be the year that unionized faculty members at UC, CSU and the state’s community colleges finally figure out the threat that online education poses to their futures? If it is not this year, it is coming sometime soon. The same dynamics that have killed Borders, Tower Records and travel agencies, made newspapers far less lucrative and shaken up dozens of industries — easy, free/cheap online access to content and information — threaten bricks-and-mortar higher education.

“Look at the music industry. It’s been completely overturned by the Internet. My vision of the world is that everywhere will be like the music industry, but we’ve only seen it in a few places so far. Journalism is in the midst of the battle. And higher education is probably next,” is how George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen, an online education visionary, puts it.

Yes, K-12 is likely to live on in its present form because of the role schools play in the socialization process. Yes, Ivy League universities will continue to serve in their role as de facto gatekeepers for entry into Wall Street and high finance. But in Silicon Valley, the value that is placed on traditional credentials in most of the U.S. isn’t nearly as consistently strong. It is understood that learning can happen lots of ways, and hardly just in a formal classroom. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg? All college dropouts. This is not lost on the rest of California’s elites.

Jerry Brown on the bandwagon

Now more and more online education is free, and the power of education apps on iPads and other devices is becoming more obvious, and people have realized how much great educational content there is on YouTube. At the very least, we seem sure to move toward a model in which online learning is a big part of traditional education because of its efficiency and low cost.

And guess who agrees this is a great idea?

“Quoting poet Robert Frost on the benefits of innovative thinking, Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday that three unusual math classes offered this spring at San Jose State University hold out hope for resolving one of California’s most troublesome problems: overcrowded classes.

“‘Online is part of the solution,’ Brown told a roomful of educators at San Jose State before quoting from a 1939 essay in which Frost said, ‘Originality and initiative are what I ask for my country.’

“Although online courses have been part of college curricula for years, the three new ones – at $150 each — suggest a new and possibly cheaper direction for students, California State University and Silicon Valley.”

But when will unions figure out that convenient and inexpensive inevitably eventually means fewer well-paying jobs? When will unions figure out that the U.S. student-loan debacle also feeds the crisis atmosphere around the old bricks-and-mortar norm?

For reasons I can’t comprehend, none of this has sunk in. The UC faculty associations, the CSU faculty union and the California Community Colleges faculty union don’t seem to grasp that if good and improving higher education is free or dirt-cheap online, if a conventional degree loses its gatekeeper status in many jobs, and if huge student loan defaults keep making headlines, the status quo could wither quickly.

Cowen and many other educators, economists, philanthropists and futurists have been writing about online education for years, especially its disruptive possibilities. By contrast, read the coverage of Jerry Brown’s push to have San Jose State and Udacity team up in offering online courses on the CSU faculty union website. It suggests that this could somehow be a good thing for faculty:

“CFA President Lil Taiz agrees on the importance of asking questions about student success:

“She said, ‘It’s good the CSU is actually testing out these methods and starting on a small scale. We must find out which online tools work well (or not), for what kinds of students, and for what kinds of subject matter. There is a lot to unpack in the pedagogy.’

“CFA and CSU managers have met on how the terms of work in the first semester of the pilot accord with the faculty contract.

“’You can’t have quality learning conditions for students—online or in a classroom—without professional working conditions for the faculty. Our contract is an important piece of making sure we have fairness, equity, and quality in all aspects of CSU teaching.’”

Clueless and oblivious in the faculty lounge

Wow. The lessons of recent history don’t appear to have sunk in at all with UC, CSU and CCC faculty if profs think online education’s arrival and increasing acceptance bodes well for them.

When Jerry Brown talks about the need for UC, CSU and CCC to be more efficient, he may not be talking only about pushing students to graduate in as little time as possible and not dawdle on campus. He may actually want them to become more efficient in the way other information businesses have become efficient — by taking full advantage of technology.

When will we see this trigger the modern equivalent of a Luddite reaction?

Soon, I suspect. When the liberal governor of California’s enthusiasm for online learning sinks in, the Lil Taizes of the Golden State will have no choice but to think about its long-term implications.

Katy Grimes reported here at CalWatchDog.com on the protests against cuts in aid to college students. That means higher tuition — “fees” — to attend state colleges and universities.

Here’s an idea for how kids can cut the costs of going to college: Don’t go.

It’s a myth that going to college always leads to higher pay. Sometimes it does. If you want to be a doctor or lawyer, there’s no choice but to go to school for the better part of a decade.

But a degree in sociology or psychology or English is almost worthless. You end up with debt totaling maybe $50,000 and have wasted four years taking pointless classes between smoking reefers when you could have spent those precious years starting a career or a business — or getting married and having kids. And let’s face it, after Social Security and Medicare go broke, the only retirement security most people will have in 20 years or so will be their kids.

Do college people generally make more money? Yes, but that’s because they’re smarter in general. And smart people, in general, make more money. If the smart kids had skipped college, they’d still be smart at whatever else they did.

Look at Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs. They dropped out to start computer companies now worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Would they have done better if they had gotten degrees in postmodern poststructuralism posteverything studies?

The Altucher Plan

One of my favorite bloggers is James Altucher. He’s written a couple of times against college. He has a new blog up about it, “Did Obama Really Say He Wants Everyone to Go to College?” He writes:

“There’s a weird debate happening out there. Apparently Rick Santorum “accused” Obama of insisting that every child go to college. Other websites have said that Obama has never said this but instead has encouraged every kid to seek a higher education. I don’t care about Obama or Santorum. I don’t care about politics at all. But it’s interesting to me how this issue has again sparked a debate.

“Expect lots of lies and cutting and stabbing for the next few months until the election. Santorum clearly lied. Obama lies. Everyone will lie about everyone else. Which is why I hate politics, why I think Congress should be abolished, and why I think Nobody should be voted in as President.”

You can see why I like this guy.

“And now suddenly, and sadly, ‘to go or not to go’ to college has become a political issue. Yet another pressure trying to ruin the lives of our children.

“Then a friend of mine, Kathryn Schulz, the author of the book ‘Being Wrong’ suggested that I am the ONLY person who thinks kids should not go to college. This is clearly not true: Peter Thiel and Seth Godin being some examples and there are many examples of successful people in the arts and business who did not go to college.”

Put me on the list.

Six Reasons

Altucher lists six more reasons not to go to college. A couple of them:

“over the past 40 years, college tuitions have gone up 10 times faster than inflation and three times faster than healthcare costs. Healthcare costs is an ongoing national debate. Why aren’t tuitions? Why should we force our 18 year olds now to take on so much debt. Its three times as high now as when I graduated college and I graduated with about $70k in debt that I had to pay back….

“Many will say it’s about learning. However, the tools for learning are so much more advanced now (because of the Internet) that there are cheaper, more effective solutions for education than ever before. And yet, more than ever, kids feel coerced into going to college.”

Right. The Internet provides all you need to learn something. For example, the Khan Academy provides, free, the best math course going, as well as numerous other free courses. He has more than 3,000 videos up — with thousands more to come.

“Does anyone learn anything in college? Let me ask you a couple of quick questions. At some point you came across these facts in either college or high school. See if you can answer quickly and correctly without looking it up. They are very simple: When was Charlemagne born? Name the different types of clouds? Who was William Mckinley’s Vice-President?”

OK. How’d you do, without looking anything up? My answers: I remember Charlemagne died in 814, but can’t remember the date of his birth. My guess: 750. Turns out it’s around 742. I think I learned that in high school. Clouds: I remember cumulous, but forget the rest. I learned that in 8th Grade Earth Sciences with Mr. Smith. That was in 1968 back before Earth Sciences became politically correct Global Warming Humans Are Evil Sciences. Here’s a list of clouds.

McKinley’s VP: Teddy Roosevelt. I probably read that on my own when I was maybe 10.

See? College is worthless.

“a college education will fill your memory. Teach you a lot of facts. Maybe teach you basic analysis that conforms with your teacher’s opinions. But will NOT teach you how to really think. Will not teach you how to come up with ideas. How to sell ideas. How to be creative. How to navigate through interesting experiences so you won’t get hurt.

“Let’s not forget that high school and below are primarily advanced babysitting services. So what makes college different? You’re still with the same demographic of people. You still have homework and tests and memorization of facts. The only difference is now you (most likely) live on your own. Is college the safest environment to do that? Is that the wisest use of the highest tuition costs ever? I doubt it.

“Learn how to learn. Then go wherever in the world you want to go. Because the world will be yours then.”

I like how Altucher always ends his blogs with zingers.

Bull Sessions

One more thing. What about one of the best things about college, bull sessions with your buddies? Here’s how to take care of that. Get together at somebody’s house with some of your smartest friends. Get some Jack Daniels and some cigars (or Virginia Slims if you’re women). I won’t encourage you do do doobies, but some of you might do that anyway.

Sit around and smoke, drink and talk about philosophy, history, English, movies, books, the Internet … whatever.

Total cost: $50. Cost of college: $200,000. Your savings: $199,950.

— March 6, 2012

Bill Gates, the mega-billionaire anti-populationist, also is dumping money into the anti-Prop. 23 campaign, as I’m reminded by David Kramer of the great LewRockwell.com. Gates, who’s worth around $54 billion, donated $700,000 to the anti-Prop. 23 campaign.

What’s this carpetbagger coming down from Washington to destroy our jobs? Here’s a picture of his mansion up in Washington, which has one of the biggest “carbon footprints” in the world.

Oh, wait. I get it. He destroys California. Californians move up to Washington and increase home values, including that for his mansion.

By the way, his mansion is ugly. Billionaires used to have better taste.

Oct. 23, 2010

James Cameron is another filthy-rich elitist — like Der Arnold, Bill Gates and Meg Whitman — who loves dissing California, Californians, and California jobs — and therefore is opposing Prop. 23, which would suspend AB 32. They want to keep imposing AB 32, which would destroy our jobs, leaving California depopulated, becoming a nature preserve for them to frolic in.

Cameron is one of the most wasteful and hypocritical of the “conservationists,” as the following YouTube shows. I’ll never watch one of his crummy movies again.

Oct. 22, 2010