The article defends the adjuncts, not the tenured. There are good (if
self.-interested) arguments for the latter to support the former: if the
substitutes for the tenured are more expensive to hire...

James Devine
 On Jul 26, 2013 4:30 PM, "raghu" <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 3:24 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Talking about access to higher education allows MOOC providers like
>> Coursera to avoid discussing the effect their services will have on
>> people who work in higher education now. Professors, believe it or
>> not, are people, too. They have families and health problems and
>> student loans of their own. Moreover, three-quarters of American
>> college instructors work on a contingent basis, for a median income of
>> $2,700 per course, often without benefits of any kind. Since these
>> faculty members also have no chance at tenure, these adjunct faculty
>> members would be by far the easiest professors to replace with MOOCs.
>>
>
>
>
> The good argument against MOOCs: they are nice resources to make available
> to the world (like Wikipedia), but only rich assholes from Wall St think
> they are a good substitute for a real college education - much less a real
> college *experience* of the kind that said rich assholes from Wall St want
> for their own children.
>
> The bad argument against MOOCs: they "affect the terms and conditions of
> employment" of tenured college professors.
>
> The ugly argument against MOOCs: tenured college professors pretending to
> care about how they will affect the livelihoods of their adjunct colleagues.
>
> Tenured college professors like Jonathan Rees are privileged members of a
> labor aristocracy that has never given any indication that they give a shit
> about the livelihoods of anyone other than themselves.
>
> Rees should stick to the good arguments against MOOCs that an average
> member of the public can be expected to have some sympathy for.
> -raghu.
>
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