The Future of Education

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." -Buddhist proverb

Let’s face it, the cost of a university/college education is always going up. It doesn’t make sense to start off any career (assuming you can find work in your field after you graduate) with a debt so big that it can take up to 15 years to pay it off.

The future of education is online. Why pay thousands when you can get the same education for free or at a fraction of the price? Sites like Udacity , Udemy , among others, all offer University quality courses in the comfort of your home.

For those of you who doesn’t know, I have a computer science degree that I took in college a few years back and I’ve been working in the IT field for the past 10+ years. I recently completed lesson 1 of “Introduction to computer science” from Udacity (course here)and, while i cannot speak of the other subjects available, the quality has been on par with with the courses I took in College.

Studying online, however, isn’t “in” or “cool” yet. Society as a whole seems to be reluctant at the idea of taking a online course. When I suggested this to my peers, the first thing they told me was “Online courses are great but you don’t get a certificate from it [and therefore is useless for interviews or jobs]”.

As I’ve said before, society’s definition of education is wrong. To resume the words of Harold H. Titus and Marilyn S. Smith, taken from page 220-222 of their “Living Issues In Philosophy” book, education means:

“Mere possession of a diploma - or any other symbol for that matter - is no proof of education.

1. To be educated means to know at least one field with some thoroughness…
2. To be educated means to be able to communicate with others…
3. To be educated means to be able to live in a changing word and to entertain new ideas…
4. To be educated means to be able to get along with others…
5. To be well-educated means to be able to entertain oneself, to develop a rich inner life and a wide range of appreciations and inner controls…
6. To be educated is to be sensitive to the larger spiritual order of which man is part…"

The other big issues most people have is with self-discipline or the perceived lack of support one would get from taking an online course because there are no teachers to interact with. First, I would encourage you to work on your self-discipline as it is a skill that will benefit you in your career/life just as much as throughout your online course.
As far as support goes, keep in mind that there are thousands that took the course before you. Each courses gives you access to a forum with answers to many questions. Most of which, in my specific case, have been answered by the teacher himself. Using Google doesn’t hurt either...

Whether you take the direction of a University certificate or an online course, the important thing is to stand out and that can be achieved with or without a diploma. Robby Leonardi , for example, created a very creative resume to show off his skills (note that he didn’t even mention degrees).

Take the time to visit the online Universities you’ve seen here, learn a new skill in the process, and make it work for your next career move.

The So Called "Experts"

"Many people welcome authority because they have little confidence in themselves or are intellectually lazy: to accept the word of someone else is to take the easy way of gaining comfort and assurance. [...] Such conformist tendencies modern high-pressure advertising and propaganda." - From “Living Issues in Philosophy – Sixth Edition” book by Harold Titus / Marilyn Smith

We don’t need to be an expert at something to share an opinion on it. If it is said with enough confidence, it can be perceived as truth from the uneducated ear. It frustrates me that there are so many so called “experts” who purposely misinform listeners to benefit their own agenda.

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” - Abraham Lincoln

There can be no long term viability for business that initially used deceit in order to make a sale. Once the deceit is found, the business can no longer prosper and it can also lead to legal trouble.

If you are the author of such deceit, I would encourage you to reconsider your business plan. I would also encourage the consumer to not make an emotional purchase and to do their research before making any kind of purchase.

What Does “Being Educated” Mean?

The best definition I found on “Being Educated” was from the “Living Issues In Philosophy” book by Harold H. Titus and Marilyn S. Smith. The below is a resume of what can be found on page 220-222.

“Mere possession of a diploma - or any other symbol for that matter - is no proof of education.

1. To be educated means to know at least one field with some thoroughness…
2. To be educated means to be able to communicate with others…
3. To be educated means to be able to live in a changing word and to entertain new ideas…
4. To be educated means to be able to get along with others…
5. To be well-educated means to be able to entertain oneself, to develop a rich inner life and a wide range of appreciations and inner controls…
6. To be educated is to be sensitive to the larger spiritual order of which man is part…”

Do you agree with the above description? For a more detailed description, be sure to be up the book.

Knowledge is Power - Or is It?

“Knowledge is Power.” -Francis Bacon

Knowledge by itself means nothing if you don’t do anything with it. If you know how to cure cancer but don't do anything with that information - what good is it to you or the world?

“In all this it is key to understand that to be a leader, you have to do more than sit in a corner knowing what’s right but never expressing that knowledge or using it to fix wrongs in meaningful ways, by actually doing something about it.
And you should follow the same pattern when you’ve been wrong - be wrong in the right ways: be wrong because you were boldly standing for what you believed in, and rush in with boldness to make things right again when you realize you are in error.”
-Page 77 of “ Revolutionary Leadership” by LIFE Leadership

It Pays To Plan Ahead

Whenever you’re in a situation where you desperately want something to occur, you’re setting yourself up to be taken advantage of.

“People who plan ahead will never be at the mercy of those who don’t.”
-Claude Hamilton

How many times have you sold an item for far less than you originally intended just because you needed the sale?
On the flip-side of things, you will always get the best deals out of people who desperately want to sell you something.

While we can’t plan the unexpected, there are many things that we have control over. The better prepared we are, the less likely we’ll be on the losing side of a given situation.