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University of the People --grand experiment
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University of the People --grand experiment
6:11 PM EDT 8/26/09
WJ's little cohort project pales before the magnitude of this new grand experiment in social learning ---University of the People. This is higher education coupled with social networking and peer-to-peer learning on an international scale.

And it's free (for now).

Read more about it in this Wired Campus article.
RE: University of the People --grand experiment
11:58 AM EDT 8/28/09 as a reply to Betha Gutsche.
It will be interesting to see what happens.

You may recall that a lot of "people's universities" were started in the 70's so that people with teachable skills/knowledge could connect with learners in local meatspace. Some were connected with public libraries. They soon faded due to issues of density (how many people were interested in a particular topic in a given metropolitan area) and, I suspect, out of fears for liability.

Online may overcome these limitations.
RE: University of the People --grand experiment
3:23 PM EDT 9/9/09 as a reply to Bob Watson.
I do have an ounce of skepticism for this people's university idea. My experience with social learning is that it takes some very active facilitation on the part of one or a few committed individuals.

Maybe the scale of the global online connections will overcome the density problem and reach the tipping point of really useful knowledge sharing. It will be interesting to follow the experiment.