My review of DIY U

DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education by Anya Kamenetz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I think this book is an excellent example of the great divide between generations. Now, much larger than a gap, this "new" divide is between those who are still pursuing education/information/reason, and those who are clinging to it with the last breath in their ancient body.



It is a wonder that already intelligent, free-thinking individuals find themselves caught holding a very empty bag. Well, actually, that bag is not quite so empty as it is filled with the surmounting debt required for this "education".



Bottom-line, those same students have the power of language and a love of knowledge and want more control over the process of attaining more and pursuing their highest self. This was once the purpose of a higher education. Unfortunately, the purpose of higher education now is to line the pockets of higher-up administrators, politicians, and lobbyists. Often villainized, tenured professors only see a fraction of that payout.





It comes nowhere near the grubby little hands of undergrad students, destitute grad students, and hopeful yet slighted non-tenure track profs and adjunct faculty. In this economy one can't afford to go into the red for the job they will never find with the help of their college or university. This book encourages the self-reliant, like a dissatisfied customer, to take their business elsewhere.



This book continues to fight that good fight against that sad, pathetic problem in higher education, festering and growing by the day.

And to that I say: "God Bless, America!"



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AS SEEN ON THE CONSUMERIST

Being "Educated" Doesn't Mean You're Exempt From Being Polite

By MB Quirk on June 20, 2011 2:30 PM 0 views

The best way to deal with being told to quiet down and watch your language on the phone while riding the rails is probably not to n pull out the "I'm educated so I'm not doing anything wrong" card and continue to yell and disrupt the rides of others. One woman did just that last week on a Metro North train out of New York City.

In a video posted by another rider last week (which has since been taken down from YouTube but is still viewable on Gawker), a train employee is berated by the passenger, who, according to the uploader, had been swearing loudly on her phone and disturbing other passengers.

It's especially fun as the woman seems to have adopted some sort of "I'm very posh" accent, as she yells things like, "Do you know what schools I've been to? How well-educated I am?" and "I'm sorry do you think I'm a little hoodlum?"

She also asks for her money back repeatedly, before the employees walk away from her. The person who uploaded the video adds that the train conductor then chimes in on the loudspeaker, reminding passengers to keep it down, "especially those people who went to Harvard or Yale or are from Westport."

It is a little known fact that if you went to college, you are allowed to be rude to anyone you want to, even if you're at fault. Oh wait, that's not true at all.

Woman says she's too 'educated' to be kicked off New York train [Yahoo News]

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(many dealing with the topic of major and education)

xkcd.com

toothpaste for dinner

Dr. Seuss was a Dr? to What Degree?

Dr, Dr, Gimme the Seuss...


Are degrees useless? Do degrees have more use when they are compounded one upon another? Can you get one degree without the other? What qualifies a scholar?

What makes a "doctor"? All questions to consider, in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.

"Dr. Seuss" (pronounced Soice) a man whose title he awarded himself, most likely had more intelligence, and creativity than most of his academic peers. But he was never awarded the piece of paper that designated him as such, at least while he was living.

"His first work signed as "Dr. Seuss" appeared after he graduated, six months into his work for humor magazine The Judge where his weekly feature Birdsies and Beasties appeared. Geisel was encouraged in his writing by professor of rhetoric W. Benfield Pressey, whom he described as his "big inspiration for writing" at Dartmouth.After Dartmouth, he entered Lincoln College, Oxford, intending to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in English literature. At Oxford, he met his future wife, Helen Palmer; he married her in 1927, and returned to the United States without earning a degree" cit.

Interesting, even the notable "Dr." Soice, went around publishing books with a phony title. Is that the answer, lying? Is that how one actually establishes literary notoriety? From my perspective, I think Seuss's life is an excellent example of how creativity, intelligence, and life experience are so much more valuable than a degree. In today's academia, it is believed that one could not achieve a degree without these attributes. Further, one should do everything in their power to attempt one if they do meet the "criteria". But what of those who do not? Clearly one can attain success, even publish a book without letters behind their name, as was discussed in a previous post.

On this March 2, 2011, his 107th birthday, schools are dedicating an entire week to literacy, based solely on his pioneering efforts. I'm sure you'll find very few "leaders" in American academia questioning Seuss's legitimacy. No, not today. A man who began his career writing for a subversive college humor rag, under a different name, previously branded an alcoholic delinquent. A man who would go on to mock the very town he lived in within the pages of his "children's" books.

He did successfully graduate with an undergraduate degree. But how many of us can go around calling ourselves "Dr." without that costly PhD? I know, what many writers "secretly" know, that great writing has little to do with academic stature. A great writer needs only the patience and diligence to submit their works to publications until they are finally recognized. Even with his Dr. designation, he would be rejected 75 times, before his first publication.

Let us also not forget that despite not receiving a post-graduate degree, he did most of the work. He gained most if not all there is to gain, he just didn't "finish". There is so much more emphasis placed on the idea of finishing now in academia, than what we are gaining from doing so much time. But "they" make it so "difficult" to finish, don't "they"?! Most understand it isn't the workload that is too much to bear, and even the most intelligent and worldly among us struggle to complete a degree. To most, academia is just simply a maze of uncertainty and cow-towing to authority, before we achieve that authority for ourselves. Therein lies the paradox. That is when most of us never get that far, when most of us have to "give-up", when most of us just simply move on to something better. Something more practical, like the rest of our lives.

Going back to this idea of lying to get respect; This blog is and has always been about integrity. It's been about calling out those who have very little of it, but still claim to have cornered the market. My readers, and I, and now you hopefully, smell the pile and just want to do something about it. I think it is an admirable thing for a person to achieve exactly what they set out to do in life, simply playing by the rules. If it works out for them, that is the ideal. That is the dream, ladies and sirs. My readers and I, however, know the reality. We have to be a little more creative, even if just for the sake of jumping over the pile we are asked to walk through.

That being said, my next blog will NOT be a complete lie, but will be a completely fabricated mock-resume of my skills. One I would never give to employers. It will be what my resume would look like if any, and all of my knowledge, creativity, intelligence, and skills were valid. It will be a list of everything I learned in Kindergarten, and since, including all the knowledge I gained while in college. It will also include a list of knowledge, creativity, intelligence, and skills that employers are actually looking for. It will make me look like the ideal employee for today's economy. I will remind my readers of the {Ctrl+C/P} functions.

Simple as this.

The Major and Minor Problem.

Hi there, and welcome back. This blog is going to address the issue of colleges getting in the way of it's students' success. That's quite a mouthful, but let's begin. First I want to discuss what I prefer to call:


The Major Problem.

If you are unaware, this is a play on words, really. The most pressing problem I see in academia is the distinction of Major. First of all, so many majors are seemingly distinct by name, but really have you taking many of the same courses in the first two years. At the blissful first hours of orientation, as far as the student is aware, they are a Literature major and in fact in a separate faction of learning than their friend the Dance Major. They would do well however, to get to know each other. Maybe even room together. They will be seeing a lot of each other in the next two years. The school most likely views the Literature and Dance major as cut from the same cloth. Students both pursuing liberal arts degrees, they are viewed as similarly ineffectual, but fiscally necessary. Schools attempt to be somewhat transparent about this. They will tell you that your particular department is either in the "Arts" or "Sciences" and you will receive a degree based on that distinction. What they do not tell you is, that because you chose a "creative" mode in life, you will be forced to be savvy and creatively teach yourself. I'll get to that in a bit.

Before I do, I need to concentrate on one particular part of this problem. Whether you attend University, Community College or a Private Institution, you have to know going in, that your first two years are completely useless. That is not to say that you will gain nothing in those first two years, on the contrary. But the classes you choose to take have no impact on your eventual ambitions whatsoever. In fact, I suggest not making any decisions about the classes you take in the first two years. Have your advisor print up your itinerary of required classes, hand it to you, and create your life around them. If you have done everything "correctly" up until this point you will only be 17 or 18 years old, so you can be flexible. On this itinerary, there will be roughly 60 credits worth of GENERAL EDUCATION. These classes, about 20 or so, can be split into 5 classes per semester, 2 semesters in a year. There you have it. So simple. If you take all of these classes, and of course when you should, you will have learned enough highly useful information to qualify you to enter into studying your major! If you do it that way you will be done your first two years... in two years. Bravo!

What?

It's not that simple, you say?
Well how can that be? You are told the classes you need to take, which are the same, whether you major in Psychology or Basket-weaving...what's the problem?

Oh look! more “Major” Problem(s)...


What schools are offering vs. what they require, is one of the major problems in academia.Imagine this scenario. You are a 19 year old college Sophomore. You have taken 57 of your required General Education credits. You do fairly well for a Dance major forced to take Advanced Biology and Trigonometry. You look at your itinerary that your wonderfully helpful advisor has given you and see that you have checked off all the required classes, all but one. English 102. English 102, is a course required for you to complete your degree. You are anxious to start taking your first Dance Choreography workshop, so you go to your advisor. He/she agrees that you MUST take this class next semester, and would be foolish to put it off. He/she has a plethora of information about how you can get around the class, but is either fiscally or morally obligated to keep quiet. He/she looks at her computer screen for what is available next semester. English 102 is not on the list. How can this be? Isn't English 102 required of all of it's students? It's an imperative course, in which a student learns how to properly indent and use commas! How can you even be a successful dancer without this information?! Biting your lip and praying for a solution you ask your advisor what can be done. Play-acting bewildered they say:

We're clean out of English 102's, might you try Native American History?

There are so many things wrong with that scenario, I do not know where to begin. Well, I guess I do. First of all, remember how I mentioned that your advisor knew ways for you to get around taking the class, but for some reason, didn't say anything. Yeah, I have a big problem with that. I am still in the process of figuring out why this is, beyond the most obvious and glaring reason, to get more money out of you, which is a recurring theme here. So you take Native American History (good for you). You fill the hole in your schedule with a "useless" class, not one with useless information per se, but one that does not give you the required credits to check off. You leave Native American History with a renewed understanding of injustice, still three credits shy of being a Junior. Ah, the irony. Yes, you wasted your time, Yes, you wasted your money, but you know what you have now, my friend? Something that isn't measured in credit hours: Life Experience! Yes, life experience doesn't get you a degree, but it will get you further in life than a degree would in some cases. So what did you learn from that experience?

Wut tey learn-ned mee in skool

Yes, of course life for this would-be Junior, and Dance major isn't all bad. She has her friend the Literature Major, who she spends a great deal of time with. They both sat in much of the same classes, taking Adv. Bio and Trig, one that the Literature major almost failed. But the Literature Major is highly upset when she finds out about the English 102 class from her friend. Not only is it a GEN ED REQUIREMENT FOR EVERYONE, but it is affiliated with her major and is all the more required for her to take. Luckily, the Literature major is friends with one the professors of English in her department. She confides in her professor friend who tells her that she will talk to the prof who usually teaches English 102. She is on sabbatical this semester, but she is more than likely to come to campus and give such a promising lit major a test-out session for English 102.

:D !!!!

What's a test-out session?

:/ Oh.

Well, it's...

Hey wait you don't know about it? Well you're going to have to find out for yourself, because, evidently, it's a huge secret in academic circles!

>:P

Just kidding.

the first amendment gives me the right to tell you, so I will.
A test-out session is when brown-nosers, I mean, students who are friendly with faculty, take a written test made up by the professor who teaches the class that is unavailable. Sometimes it's even for classes that may be at an inconvenient time or in some cases, too expensive for the student. All the student has to do is somehow prove to at least one professor that he or she is brainy enough to "not need to take the class". Then the professor, who has a pre-made test all ready for such an occasion, will administer it in a hush hush top-secret after class "in my office" session. If the student passes (hallelujah!) they just squeaked around taking an expensive English course and spared about 6 months of their life. Get the picture? This is just what the Literature major did. Wouldn't you do it? The only problem is, the Literature major is in a moral dilemma. She cannot tell the Dance major who could benefit from taking the test. Why not? Well, it would only cause confusion, and problems between her and her favorite professor. Because the Dance major is well a dance major, she cannot get permission no matter what she does. In fact even if she asks the very same professor about the very same test, she will be give the stock response "You're not an English major, so I don't think you could pass it." Translation: "You're SOL, baby"Thus driving a wedge between the Literature major and Dance major,who got an A in Trig but is too dumb to test out of ENG 102. That's OK, that just gives her more time to go to the Y and take a dance class, since she still hasn't taken one at her school!!!!!

I like you, you hate me, that's what college is for me.

So, I mentioned earlier about being savvy, and learning to creatively teach yourself. Well, it's situations like the previous one and many others in which you will find yourself having to do so. Hopefully you will have people close to you, who will help you out. For God's sake, listen to these people, especially if they are giving you advice on how to find scholarship money, or just make your time easier or more enjoyable. You will find, however, that some people are very
competitive, or arrogant and will withhold information that could be very helpful. Something that I have noticed that most colleges encourage. Every woahman for her/himself!


Let's bust a re-cap

So what have we learned so far about a successful collegiate experience:

1. The first two years are highly unnecessary to your major and what you want to get out of your college experience, so get them over with as soon as possible. In fact try your hardest to just take all of the classes required of you with 100's and 200's in them NOW. You'll thank me later.

2. If you did your first two years right, you know just as much as everyone else who did them. Now the next two years are about being put into a caste system of how much ass you kissed. Enjoy!

3. Kiss a lot of ass. Kiss as much ass as possible, especially ass you don't know very well. The more ass you kiss, the more favors you will get from people. It's unbelieveable. You can try asking questions, pestering, and being annoying, but then people will just ignore you.

4. Don't take any classes that make you a more intelligent, more well-rounded human being. They aren't required of you and you're just wasting your money.

5. Make friends with cool people, or don't. They're just getting in between you and the asskissing anyway.

6. Spend a few hours in the library reading up on your major. Or take classes outside of school on the subject of interest.You won't get any of this information for two whole years remember? And you'll be ahead of the game once you do.

On Wednesday I will be discussing ....The Minor Problem as it has to do with interest vs. necessity as well as what I like to call "the major segregation".