Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Why do Colleges Build Dormitories? And Teach Half-time?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
Philip Greenspun asks this reasonable question and notes, "A university will spend hundreds of $millions on dormitories, i.e., places for students to drink beer and sleep together. Why is there is no budget for cubicle farms where students in the same major could do their homework together?" His answer, likely to raise ire for its honesty, is that the elite schools are less interested in pedagogy - "If Biff doesn't learn calculus his daddy can still buy him a seat in Congress" - and more interested in making sure rich kids can go to Europe in the summer and to make sure that members of the "ruling class" can get to meet each other.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 7:47 p.m.

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