No, it isn't sensible at all.
This is an attempt by an entrenched interest to stave off and destroy innovation for their own benefit. The more teachers that work, the more dues they collect. They couldn't care less about the quality of the education rendered.
Imagine a kid from a poor neighborhood sitting in on a lecture from a top tier university. That's what we're talking about. That kind of educational opportunity. And the unions are trying to destroy that.
It's heartbreaking.
No, that's what you're imagining we're talking about.
No, it's a way by an entrenched interest to cut funding for teaching. They couldn't care less about the quality of the ecucation rendered.
Yes, I'm talking about the UC.
What this is proposing is that you turn up at UC, pay your $50K tuition, are given a list of youtube URLs to the MIT lectures and collect your diploma.
Have you ever sat in a lecture with a couple hundred other students? It's not like the teaching is the least bit personal, so what does the medium matter at that point?
If as we all suspect, the whole dept is reduced to an admin person to collect the names and fees and a sys-admin to install the multiple choice problem set software - then that's less good !
Whats the point of paying to go to UC when you can learn the same stuff at home? And then the UC diploma becomes worthless because everyone knows you just watched the same stuff as the guy at home.
The only diplomas worth having will be those that still have real lecturers - like MIT and Stanford!
A similar thing happened in the UK 10years ago. All the equivalents of community colleges were renamed universities. This was supported by all the UK's IVY league schools! The problem is that somebody going for a job with a degree from a mid-ranking uni is faced with an employer who isn't sure whether that is a 'real' university or a former college. So to 'play it safe' they only look for IVY league degrees. By pretending to support wider access to education - the top 5 places destroyed neatly all the competition!