Jailbreak for higher education

The traditional system of higher education is hopelessly behind the times, according to the creators of the startup Degreed. The cost of education grows three times faster than inflation, the debts on educational loans are overwhelming, and the model of lifelong learning in the university that had been formed in the Middle Ages for several years did not at all correspond to modern requirements. Now they are increasingly talking about “lifelong education”, that a diploma or a degree received many years ago is weakly connected with real knowledge and qualifications.

At the same time, a completely new ecosystem of obtaining and, very importantly, confirming and certifying knowledge and skills began to emerge outside of universities. Profile on LinkedIn, repositories on GitHub, certificates from serious corporations like Cisco or Microsoft, the results of authoritative online tests today can often replace a formal education certificate.
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Degreed is committed to an ambitious goal - to create a single lifelong digital diploma, constantly updated and flexible, which will reflect real knowledge no matter from what source they come from. You can take several courses in one university, several more - in another, or even on a site like Coursera or Khan Academy - points in your “diploma” will increase depending on the credibility of the course and your personal achievements.

Credit rating calculation systems work in a similar way - it does not matter at which bank you took out a loan, it only matters how often you took out loans and how conscientiously you paid interest. Degreed founder David Blake calls this education model a “jailbreak” for a diploma. A digital diploma will give more accurate and up-to-date information about a person’s real knowledge than a paper one. Blake believes that such a system will serve as an excellent complement to the traditional forms of proof of knowledge, and in the future, it may receive recognition and authority in academic circles, making education much more accessible.

Does this mean a threat to traditional universities? And yes and no, Blake thinks. Just as when online music stores appeared, sales of albums fell, but sales of individual songs increased, the spread of systems like Degreed can lead to a drop in demand for traditional diplomas, for which you have to listen to really necessary and high-quality courses. everything that is included in the standard package of a particular university, but the best courses will be sold much more, and the quality of education in general will only grow.

Degreed received a grant of $ 100,000 from MacArthur and Bill and Melinda Gates charitable foundations. Now Degreed is conducting a crowdfunding campaign to collect another 100,000 needed to compile a single catalog of courses, diplomas and educational institutions and launch the site.



Source: TechCrunch .