Education vs. Degree [2015/7/16]

The post from Mises Institute makes excellent points about how student loans work as

subsidies that create useless degrees, creating lot of waste. People often confound

between education and a degree. An education is when you learn something and a

degree is when you fulfill certain requirements and get an acknowledgement/ certification

for the  completion of the requirements.

Thus, a degree does not necessarily lead to more education.

In fact, I have seen more useless degrees that rob people's money and

opportunity. People do not often realize that the cost of a degree is not only the tuition

but all the other cool things you could have done if you did not go to school. In addition,

people magically think that degrees will open doors and boost one's income. This is not

really the case. Many degrees are not really worth the money. Forbes just ran a quick

video showing the best and worst master degrees. Of course, one cannot value the

worth of a degree just by income but your degree is just a hobby or intellectual curiosity

when you cannot really afford it then you should think twice.

People need to wake up and realize that degrees are not the answer. The answer is

knowledge and wisdom. The good thing is that you don't have to spend a fortune to

gain knowledge and wisdom. We have the internet! It is filled with information

(just google, wikipedia, youtube) and it is cheap. Plus, now we have the great MOOCs

(Coursera, edX, Udacity). There is a plethora of good information on the web. You can

even ask questions on Quora if you have questions. You can also get tutoring service

from many online tutoring websites. The point is that you don't have to have to get a

degree to gain knowledge and wisdom and have a more fulfilling life.

At this point, someone always asks but I need to signal my abilities and the best way to

do it is to get a degree. Well, in some cases yes, but in this digital age, you

can show your skills online. You can create blog showing your artwork, data analysis

skills, whatever you are good at. If you are a good cook, you can upload your cooking

videos. You can also participate in competitions such as Kaggle and show your quant

skills. Of course, shining in the internet is like trying to stand out in Noah's flood but

it is possible and has been done by many. You just have learn every day and work hard.

So before you decide to go get a degree, see what can you learn and do without going

to school. You will realize a lot!




From Snapshot Serengeti

Reforming education by supporting online courses

There is a battle between hedge fund managers and teacher unions about reforming education through charter schools.

It is sad that teacher unions are battling education reform...but we all know that teachers have other incentives besides giving good education.

However, there is a great hope. Already there are many online high quality education including KhanAcademy.org, Coursera.org, edX.org, and Udacity.com. This websites provide great education that I felt demanding a refund to all my schools. Thus, we should further support this online courses in three ways.

First, increase your human capital. Take the courses and become more capable, this will allow to earn more money, contribute more to society and people will naturally know how you learned great stuff from KhanAcademy, Coursera...

Second, raise awareness. Become an evangelist and recommend to others. Use facebook, twitter, any SNS to spread the word. This will increase the adoption of this online courses.

Third, donate! This online courses are not quite profitable for good reasons but they need money to operate. So please donate for a better world.

Eventually, the online courses will become very good and reliable (Coursera already verifies student by picture and typing), which will not only provide great education for everyone but further oust the bad teachers, as a result, increasing education quality and lowering cost :D

So please join me to support the online courses for a better education ^^

 


*From Penguin Watch

Dean of Happinesss

Wharton has a dean of happiness, who ensures that the students are happy. Hmmmm...It is definitely

good customer service but is it necessary? Does it raise the productivity of the students? I am not

sure. Someone should really do an in-depth study about the effect of administrators who look after

the welfare of the students. My first question is whether they can have some influence or positive

effect. What can they do? Do student's homework? I guess hosting events would be

helpful...but...well. I guess counseling would be helpful. I am just a bit confused. Is it like a butler or

concierge? Ugh, probably not. I am not sure but it is an interesting position. Also, I do agree that we

should listen to students more and cater them up to some extent but let us not forget that schools are

places to learn not exactly to be always happy.


*The Milky Way Project

Helping the trapped workforce

There is a serious problem where people are just trapped....
 
This documentary shows a young man and a older man who live in internet cafes because they are poor, do not have good skills or are hard to employ.
 
They work in temporary jobs that super unstable and are depressed. As time passes, both their mental and physical health are going to deteriorate and their skills will become even more obsolete...And a vicious downward spiral is set....
 
The problem is that there are millions of people like this in Japan, Korea, and China....Entire generations are being trashed and wasted....
 
So what can be done? Well, this is hard issue because mainly these temporary workers do not really have the skills that firms desire.
 
One solution would be for the government to train these temporary workers but unfortunately government programs are not quite effective (You can to to econtalk.org to learn more about failed policies or just read the news).
 
A better solution would be for us to help these trapped workers. There are many free online resources to increase your skills including Coursera, edX, Udacity, khanacademy, Wikipedia,  Duolingo, and other learning platforms. Individuals can help the trapped workers amass new skills by encouraging them to new skills and help them if they get stuck.
 
I know it is a very difficult process because I have tried to motivate those who were trapped. Many lack the patience, are frustrated, and tend to be challenged by learning. But you must be patient and loving.
 
A friend argued that it was a waste of time to teach this trapped people. But I disagree. Loving a neighbor is the best thing you can do and it is what Jesus has told us to do.
 
 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another (John 13:34)

Furthermore, you learn a lot when you help and teach others. You understand the material better and you become a better communicator and teacher. Plus, what is the other alternative? Do you want people to get so desperate that they start engaging in illegal and destructive activities?

I am confident that helping will bear not only be profitable but also help a soul, which Jesus and all the heaven rejoices :D



 
 
 
 
 

Unionization of Adjunct Professors

According to the WSJ, U.S. universities have relied on relatively cheap adjunct professors for cost control (just profit maximization). However, adjunct professors have started unionizing, demanding better compensation and benefits.

Well, here are my predictions.

1. Universities will try to kick out adjunct professors before they unionize. Universities are smart and unions are not really good for management....

2. Online courses will takeover. Universities will increasingly use Coursera, edX, and other online education. This is actually good for the universities as a whole since courses taught at Coursera and edX are really high quality and cost less then maintaining a professor.

3. PhD students will be teaching more! Tata! no surprise here. If the adjunct professors become too expensive then they will have PhDs teach more. This already happens in lot of state schools. We will see an increase in other schools as well. Unfortunately, PhDs are less likely to unionize because they need to graduate and are usually quite busy with their research....

So what happens to the excess supply of adjunct professors? Well, here are some options.

1. They can go teach in community colleges and other technical institutes with a cut in pay but they will raise the education quality there.

2. If they are adventurous, they can go teach abroad since the faculty quality is not so high compared to the U.S. The pay will be probably lower but the cost of living will be lower as well.
3. They can go teach at prestigious high schools and raise the education quality there.

4. If they are very good then they can start their blog, youtube channel, and twitter, and start a new teaching career online, earnings advertising revenues.