The Open Architecture Degree

See [[User:Roadrunner]] on wikiversity for more details on this idea.

Also http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/School:Physics/Bachelor_of_Science

The concept of the open architecture degree is that instead of getting having one institution responsible for all of the services associated with an academic credentals, that there be an [[academic ecosystem]] in which many different institutions would be responsible for each part of the degree. The advantage of this idea is that the student can pick the best parts from different sources to create a degree which is relevant to their needs. The other purpose of an open architecture degree is to allow the large number of people with Ph.D.’s offer their services on the internet and create courses which can be incorporated into a degree program. Rather than be required to be part of a university to teach a course, a person with expertise can simply post a page on wikiversity offering their services as a tutor.

The parts of the open architecture degree would be

• Thomas Edison State College, Charter Oak, and Excelsior University would be responsible for verifying credentials and assemblying the degree.
• MIT Open Courseware and similar programs would provide the courseware
• Wikiversity and wikipedia would create the learning social structures
• The teaching would come from a variety of sources. Local community colleges, online distance learning schools. Most interestingly because the teaching and credentialing would be separate, it would be possible for a person with expertise in a subject to just put up a table and offer services as an online tutor
• Campus, computer, and library services could be provided on a contract basis by a local university
• The National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates could provide hands-on
  research experience

Why the open architecture degree?

• it removes the gatekeepers and institutional conflicts of interest.
• it gets the best education of all of the world and allows each institution to do what it is best at instead of trying to what is bad at
• it turns the student from a passive learner on an assembly line to an active learner
• it allows the student to customize the degree to their own needs

All the pieces are there!!!! We just need to put them together. What we need

• we need people who are interested in this idea to start talking with each other.
• we need degree plans
• we need students willing to try this one
• we need institutions who are flexible enough to encourage students to try this

If you are interested in any of this, leave a comment