University of the People
= The UoPeople is a free or nearly free university
URL = http://www.uopeople.org/
Description
1.
From the IHT:
"An Israeli entrepreneur with decades of experience in international education plans to start the first global, tuition-free Internet university, a nonprofit venture he has named the University of the People.
"The idea is to take social networking and apply it to academia," said Shai Reshef, an entrepreneur and founder of several previous Internet-based educational businesses. "The open source courseware is there, from universities that have put their courses online, available to the public, free. We know that online peer-to-peer teaching works. Putting it all together, we can make a free university for students all over the world, anyone who speaks English and has an Internet connection."
The University of the People, like other Internet-based universities, would have online study communities, weekly discussion topics, homework assignments and exams. But in lieu of tuition, students would pay only nominal fees for enrollment ($15 to $50) and for exams ($10 to $100), with students from poorer countries paying the lower fees.
Reshef said his new university would use active and retired professors - some paid, some volunteers - along with librarians, master-level students and other professionals to develop and evaluate curriculum, and oversee assessments."
He plans to start small, capping enrollment at 300 students when the university begins in the autumn, and at first offering only bachelor's degrees in business administration and computer science. Reshef said the university would apply for accreditation as soon as possible.
Reshef said he hoped to build enrollment to 10,000 over five years, the level at which he said the enterprise should be self-sustaining. Start-up costs would be about $5 million, Reshef said, of which he planned to provide $1 million. He said he was currently trying to raise the other $4 million." (http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/25/technology/university.4-415520.php)
2. Update
"The UoPeople is a free or nearly free university (there are some minor assessment costs per course depending on the country you are in that range from $10-$100. There is also a university entry fee of $15 to $50, again depending on the country you are located in). Shai noted that the UoPeople is intended for the millions (or billions)of people around the globe who do not have access to traditional higher education. Like Lucifer Chu who used his own money to create OOPS which is translating MIT content to traditional and simplified Chinese, Shai is contributing his own money to get this innovative university started (a cool $1 million of his own money). Of course, like the Wikimedia Foundation, his university also takes donations. He noted that the business plan indicates that they will break even when they get to 15,000 students. This might not be too far off into the future.
When I asked about current enrollments, he said that they have 180 students this fall. He also noted that people are signing up from nearly 50 countries already--for example, Jordan, Saudi, Brazil, Vietman, China, USA, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria, Columbia, Nigeria, Germany, UK, Israel, etc. The initial two courses are orientation ones in computer science and English which students must pass in order to continue their studies. At this point, they are not inventing any courses or technology. They are using free content found online and the Moodle course management system. There is no video content found in the UoPeople courses at this point; it is all text. Shai told me that the university is about access first and low cost. They do not want to deter people who are interested in learning. Hence, no video content for now as many would not be able to access them.
For the 180 students, there are more than 800 professors volunteering to teach. This is not your Aunt Betsy type of PTA volunteers. These professors come with master's or doctoral degrees. Simple math indicates that this is more than 4 professors for each student. That is certainly the best instructor-student ratio I have ever heard of. What's more, it is an indication of the many people who want to teach college level courses or expand beyond their current offerings. But these "professors" are not directly instructing students. Instead, they are available for students when and where needed. I think that is the model of 21st century teaching and learning. When a learning need arises, a teacher should appear. And those teachers can come from any setting or location on the planet.
When I asked him about similar ventures, Shai noted that they are different from Peer 2 Peer University, in that P2PU does not offer programs and degrees. Instead P2PU just provides guides people through free online content. How do these compare? Perhaps think of it this way...perhaps OpenCourseWare and Open Educational Resources are Level 1 or Phase 1 of the Open Education movement--free stuff which you can explore online. P2PU is a transitionary phase but let's call it Phase 2--free stuff you can explore online with help from mentors, tutors, coaches, and facilitators. The University of the People is then Phase 3--free courses and degrees using free and open content. What is Phase or Level 4 or 5? Where is this headed?
Shai also surprised me by saying that they hope to be accredited at some point. He did not mention how or by what agency. For now, the University of the People is located in Pasedena, California." (http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2009/11/talking-with-worlds-youngest-teacher.html)