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January 2003 |
DIGITAL DIPLOMA MILLS The Automation of Higher Education
“David Noble spells out the meaning
of the automation of higher education in terms of academic freedom, civic
values, and the distortions of research, curriculum and tuition on campus.
Noble knows more than anyone about the growing struggle by faculty and students
in North America against these erosions. Digital Diploma Mills is a
wake-up call to millions of teachers, students, and parents about the battle
over an underpublicized but big assault on quality education and intellectual
freedom.” “David Noble’s critique of
technology has never been more forceful—or more usable for
faculty—than in his writing on distance education. This collection of his
ideas is a succinct and brilliantly pointed antidote to cyber hype. Most of
all, its force derives from a passionate attachment to the notion of education
as a vital human compact between individual, in-the-flesh students and
teachers.” “Digital Diploma Mills is
essential reading for faculty union activists and others struggling to
understand and combat the increasing corporatization of our universities. David
Noble outlines the dismal future toward which higher education seems to be
headed, but even more important, he eloquently reminds us of our obligation to
forestall that future and to preserve the promise that genuine education
entails.” “David Noble has done it again.
Digital Diploma Mills provides a penetrating analysis of how the
marriage between new technologies and the corporate search for profits shapes
what happens in the classrooms of higher learning. This is essential reading
not only for those who care about the pursuit of truth in an autonomous
academy, but for all who are concerned with the growing corporate encroachments
in virtually every sphere of our existence.” “David Noble’s insightful book
sounds a sobering warning. If digital education becomes just another fast-food
commodity, students and teachers will lose, while higher education becomes
further entrenched in corporate big business. Digital Diploma Mills
should be required reading for educators and others interested in the brave new
world of online education.” Is the Internet the springboard which will take universities into a new age, or a threat to their existence? Will dotcom degrees create new opportunities for those previously excluded, or lead them into a digital dead-end? From UCLA to Columbia, digital technologies have brought about rapid and sweeping changes in the life of the university—changes which will have momentous effects in the decade ahead. In the first book-length analysis of the meaning of the Internet for the future of higher education, David Noble cuts through the rhetorical claims that these developments will bring benefits for all. His analysis shows how university teachers are losing control over what they teach, how they teach and for what purpose. It shows how erosion of their intellectual property rights makes academic employment ever less secure. The academic workforce is reconfigured as administrators claim ownership of the course-designs and teaching materials developed by faculty, and try to lower labor costs in the marketing and delivery of courses. Rather than new opportunities for students the online university represents new opportunities for investors to profit while shifting the burden of paying for education from the public purse to the individual consumer—who increasingly has to work long hours at poorly-paid jobs in order to afford the privilege. And this transformation of higher education is often brought about through secretive agreements between corporations and universities—including many which rely on public funding. Noble locates recent developments within a longer-term historical perspective, drawing out parallels between Internet education and the correspondence course movement of the early decades of the 20th century. This timely work by the foremost commentator of the social meaning of digital education is essential reading for all who are concerned with the future of the academic enterprise. Introduction Chapter One: Lessons from the Pre-Digital Age: About the Author If you have any technical comments or suggestions, about this web site, please send e-mail to Our Webmaster at mrwebmaster@monthlyreview.org.  |
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