DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education - Softcover

Kamenetz, Anya

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1603582347 ISBN 13: 9781603582346

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010

Synopsis

The price of college tuition has increased more than any other major good or service for the last twenty years. Nine out of ten American high school seniors aspire to go to college, yet the United States has fallen from world leader to only the tenth most educated nation. Almost half of college students don't graduate; those who do have unprecedented levels of federal and private student loan debt, which constitutes a credit bubble similar to the mortgage crisis.

The system particularly fails the first-generation, the low-income, and students of color who predominate in coming generations. What we need to know is changing more quickly than ever, and a rising tide of information threatens to swamp knowledge and wisdom. America cannot regain its economic and cultural leadership with an increasingly ignorant population. Our choice is clear: Radically change the way higher education is delivered, or resign ourselves to never having enough of it.

The roots of the words "university" and "college" both mean community. In the age of constant connectedness and social media, it's time for the monolithic, millennium-old, ivy-covered walls to undergo a phase change into something much lighter, more permeable, and fluid.

The future lies in personal learning networks and paths, learning that blends experiential and digital approaches, and free and open-source educational models. Increasingly, you will decide what, when, where, and with whom you want to learn, and you will learn by doing. The university is the cathedral of modernity and rationality, and with our whole civilization in crisis, we are poised on the brink of Reformation.

About this title

About the Author

Anya Kamenetz is a staff writer for Fast Company magazine. The Village Voice nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize for contributions to the feature series Generation Debt, which became a book in 2006. She has written for the New York Times, appeared on CNN and National Public Radio, and been featured as a "Yahoo Finance Expert." A frequent speaker nationwide, Kamenetz blogs at Fastcompany.com, The Huffington Post, and anyakamenetz.blogspot.com. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Reviews

Starred Review. Kamenetz, author of the alarming personal finance expose Generation Debt, drops another bombshell on the emerging cohort of young Americans, this time regarding higher education. While she mounts a standard (though illuminating) attack on spiraling tuition and the bottomless pit of student loans, Kamenetz also questions the fundamental assumptions of modern American education culture: the twin, contradictory ideas that college must be universally accessible, and that the smallest accepted denomination of educational currency is a bachelor's degree from a four-year, liberal arts institution. Kamenetz explores those ideas' fallacies as they play out daily in American classrooms, as well as students' myriad alternatives, from community colleges to online learning collectives. In great detail, Kamenetz explains the flawed economic models that underpin higher education, the faulty premises they maintain and the government's failures to address them. Kamenetz's approach is methodical and balanced, showcasing extensive research and thoughtfulness, while acknowledging one of the chief problems with reform: no one wants to experiment on their own child. This volume merits consideration from high school students and their parents, as well as educators preparing a generation for uncertain job prospects, an information economy still in its infancy, and the steady erosion of geographical barriers.

Kamenetz (Generation Debt, 2006) tackles the U.S. higher education system. Starting with a history of college development, she delves into how poverty, race, and class converge in the halls of higher learning. She then asserts that everything about how we live and what we hope for is tied into the collegiate dream of success, which has been persistently sold to the American middle class. But why hasn’t this promise been fulfilled for so many? Kamenetz pinpoints political reasons, and makes the case that serious changes must be made pertaining to how colleges serve their students and make their money to prevent a decrease in the value of college degrees and a widening gap between social classes. Kamenetz offers many statistics and studies to back up her statements, yet she moves so quickly from one to the next, and this is such a short book for such a weighty topic, it ends up being a useful introductory summary rather than a source of in-depth conclusions. --Colleen Mondor

Edition details

• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1603582347
• ISBN 13: 9781603582346
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 196