You Can't Always Get What You Want

Is the global education economy really such a good idea? Isn't our wired culture forgoing some of the basic tenents of democracy when education becomes increasingly market driven? These are important questions with probable answers on both sides. Those who would agree see the present climate and have to wonder, while others prefer to take a long view, seeing a future of corporate sponsored, equal access. My own thoughts are that the future is not yet determined, in fact, it's still in our hands.

As "the market," it is our perceptions of accessibility, quality and value that will determine the success or failure of individual institutions. In the short time I've been writing on distance education for Suite101, the two questions I've heard most often are, "What's good?" and "What's free?" The first is a little hard to answer, not only because of the volume of programs available, but also because what works for some does not always work for others. Even so, it's important to encourage dialogue between learners. Just as in the offline world, word of mouth is the greatest praise and the strongest condemnation of online offerings. If you've had an experience with distance education, good or bad, tell somebody, tell me. Use the "start a discussion" function at the end of this article and start talking. At least let me know somebody's reading this.

As to the question, "What's free?", the answer is, not much more than in the rest of life. Maybe that's not entirely fair; there are resources out there. The question is just how good are they? Since you're reading this, I'm assuming you're interested in learning. So, here is your first assignment. I've done a search and come up with five resources offering free instruction. All you have to do is give us your informed opinion on one of them.

http://monster.instructionset.com 500 FREE technical and desktop training courses to choose from, focusing on career advancement.

http://www.knowledgehound.com Webmistress, Heidi Allen e-mailed me to let me know about the web's biggest directory of FREE online how-tos, ranging from learning to speak Chinese to programming java-script.

http://www.free-ed.net Free-ed.net claims to be a "utopian dream of FREE academic, career, and vocational education for all people everywhere."

http://www.vu.org Virtual University spans the universe, from Internet classes to Mind, Body and Soul - all FREE.

http://www.hadley-school.org The Hadley School for the Blind offers over 90 FREE courses to eligible students, with materials and a toll-free number to reach instructors.

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