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effect of all this free content
effect of all this free content -- Posted by Fred Hapgood on 11-10-04 08:43
Won't all the free content out there gradually squeeze the paid distance
education sector off the stage? The free resources are just going to get
deeper and better; the tools for accessing and manipulating that content
smarter. It's going to get easier to find other students exploring the same
questions so as to form interactive study groups. Presumably there will always
be subjects that are so new that no free content exists, but sooner or later
won't the paid distance sector pretty much be forced to specialize in that
niche?
Maybe not. The above scenario holds that the relation between free and paid
online content is competitive. Another possibility is that relation might be
complementary. Perhaps over time paid distance education will morph into a
service that organizes, packages, troubleshoots, and certifies online resources
(and sets up the interactive study groups). Of course testing will have to be
done by someone too, though I don't understand how you do dependable testing
without forcing students to come to a physical location where you can watch
them.
This subject -- the effect of free online content on the paid distance education
sector -- is hard to get a handle on because no one knows how many people would
have paid for courses if they hadn't found what they were looking for online.
Still. someone must have some thoughts on the issue.
Is there another list where I should be asking this question?
http://www.pobox.com/~hapgood
Re: effect of all this free content -- Posted by Randy Harris on 11-10-04 11:30
You can dress it up all you want. Spam is spam.
Re: effect of all this free content -- Posted by Mark Henry on 11-10-04 11:52
Fred,
You could easilly ask the same question about libraries. There was a
point in history not that long ago when publisher's looked at libraries
and though that they (the library) would put them (the publisher) out of
business. I mean, why pay for a book when you can borrow it for free, right?
Free content is just that. Free. At some point an author will want/need
to be reimbursed for their efforts, or the student's efforts will need
to be accredited.
Mark Henry
Mark Henry Enterprises, Inc.
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