In the modern world, most of us assume a basic equality of access to the benefits that civil society has to offer: the right to vote, ability to pursue justice in the courts, protection of life and property, etc. But, when it comes to higher education, it often seems that people are completely prepared to forgo such democratic expectations. To put a fine point on it, if you ask just about anyone, they would probably tell you that no one should expect to get as good an education at a community college as they would from an Ivy League school.
I don’t think that there is anything particularly nefarious about this difference. On the contrary, the current “merit” based approach, in which people earn the right to attend schools with better resources, reflects another very important “democratic” value. That having been said, does it have to be this way? Are there ways to widen access to the resources available to those yearning to learn regardless of what institution they find themselves attending?
I think the answer is yes for a variety of reasons. For example, the ongoing revolution in development of Web based software has made it possible to provide great tools to people at dramatically lower cost than in the past. This is one of the opportunities that Carmun intends to pursue. Right now there are a few tools that have been around for awhile that allow people to store and format bibliographies when they are writing papers. One product, EndNote charges the end user somewhere between $100 and $300 for a personal license. Another, RefWorks charges universities directly for access to their software. In either case, people who can’t afford a solution personally or who attend institutions that can’t are ultimately left on the outside looking in. Based on the advances in Web development technology, Carmun has implemented similar tools to RefWorks and Endnote and intends to offer them for free to anyone and everyone.
We also hope to be able to something even more dramatic. One of the greatest advantages that the premier institutions of education have is the community of bright and motivated students and faculty that they bring together. Being exposed to ideas and sharing your own among a community of intellectually curious and motivated individuals has the power both to inspire and to educate.
At Carmun, we hope to build
a virtual community that provides access for any and all people to that same kind of intellectual
foment. If we are successfully, perhaps
one day, people will feel that the education you receive has to do with what
you put into it and not what institution you are lucky to attend.
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