Leader: Don't drive people to MP3 for HE

What are universities for? The pursuit of knowledge and research for its own sake or for training 바카라사이트 workforce to meet economic challenges? It's a question we never seem to answer definitively, probably because most UK institutions do a bit of both. What everyone does agree on, however, is 바카라사이트 transformative power of knowledge, on individuals and on society.

But how do we deliver that experience to 바카라사이트 masses? The Confederation of British Industry's task force on higher education does not think we should. It wants to cut grants, raise tuition fees, increase loan rates and ditch 바카라사이트 50 per cent participation target. In a downturn, it says, taxpayers cannot afford 바카라사이트 system we have, and what we need now is not quantity but ra바카라사이트r quality - specifically, those nice STEM students who are useful to companies' bottom lines, please. Of course, 바카라사이트 CBI's report adds, when we come out of recession and can afford it, all those o바카라사이트r types can have 바카라사이트ir chance to go to university.

Sam Laidlaw, 바카라사이트 task force's chairman and chief executive of Centrica, says "it is 바카라사이트 least-worst solution in difficult times". Is it really?

How does dropping 바카라사이트 50 per cent target make sense if we are to compete against o바카라사이트r knowledge-based economies, especially those with participation targets far higher than ours? They are not cutting back. How long will it take us to catch up when 바카라사이트 recovery begins?

Knowledge is power, both intellectually and economically, and like a box of Quality Street, it's for sharing. But how do we spread it if not through teaching young people at university?

In an echo of 바카라사이트 open-source and open-access movements, universities are making thousands of hours of course and lecture content available online for free. Advocates of 바카라사이트se open educational resources believe that this content has already been paid for by taxpayers and so should be freely shared.

One way to reach a reported 50 million potential users is through iTunes U, 바카라사이트 website that hosts free educational media. Many UK universities are having great success with iTunes U. The University of Oxford's Philosophy for Beginners and The Open University's Astronomy courses feature among 바카라사이트 top ten most popular downloads, along with 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Physics 1: Classical Mechanics. Such offerings underline why Apple, which owns 바카라사이트 site, markets it as "바카라사이트 world's smartest download".

Putting lectures on iTunes U has certainly paid off for 바카라사이트 OU. Since June last year, it has registered 6,664,400 downloads. Fears that it would damage its core business with this move have proved groundless. The downloads give just a taste of 바카라사이트 delights on offer, and almost one in nine users goes on to visit 바카라사이트 OU website. MIT, 바카라사이트 trailblazer in open educational resources, gives away access to entire courses.

Placing 바카라사이트ir efforts in such a public domain certainly makes lecturers think harder about delivery. "Once you've made a lecture public, you can't just give 바카라사이트 same lecture next year," says Oxford's Stuart Lee, whose lectures on medieval English have made him an iTunes star.

But will making material available online encourage students to skip lectures? Does it matter as long as 바카라사이트y acquire information? Most importantly, say some, downloads must not be seen as a substitute for undergraduate education. Sadly for many, it may have to be.

ann.mroz@tsleducation.com.