Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ At New Online University, Advertisers Will Underwrite Free Degrees

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Maybe this will work, but it has to be done well. The ham-handed model suggested in this article is not it ("students may be asked a question like 'Are you a runner?' ... if a student checks "yes," he or she will thereafter see ads for a certain brand of running shoes). More likely such a site would collect demographic information that would be used to inform political and advertising campaigns not overtly associated with the program itself (for example, a tendency among influential students to speak negatively about a certain policy would result in a campaign around that issue) and brand placement and awareness campaigns inserted into learning material (for example, a series of placements in exercises intended to normalize, say, gun ownership or privatized health care). That, of course, is both the opportunity and the danger of advertising-supported learning.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 17, 2024 9:52 p.m.

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