I would like to share with you a new model of higher education, a model that, once expanded, can enhance the collective intelligence of millions of creative and motivated individuals that otherwise would be left behind. Look at the world. Pick a place and focus on it. You will find humans chasing higher education. Let's meet some of them.
我想和你们分享 一种全新的高等教育模式 这一模式一旦发展起来 能提升数以百万计的有创造力和上进心的个人 的集体智慧, 而没有这一模式的话这些人可能会被甩在后面 看看这个世界 任选一个地方并聚焦于此 你会发现人们正在追寻高等教育 让我们来认识其中的一些人
Patrick. Patrick was born in Liberia to a family of 20 children. During the civil war, he and his family were forced to flee to Nigeria. There, in spite of his situation, he graduated high school with nearly perfect grades. He wanted to continue to higher education, but due to his family living on the poverty line, he was soon sent to South Africa to work and send back money to feed his family. Patrick never gave up his dream of higher education. Late at night, after work, he surfed the net, looking for ways to study.
帕特里克 帕特里克出生于利比里亚 一个有20个孩子的家庭 在内战期间,他和他的家庭 被迫逃离去尼日利亚 在那里,尽管处境恶劣, 他依然以近乎满分的成绩高中毕业 他想要继续接受高等教育, 但是由于他的家庭 生活在贫困线上, 他不久后被送至南非工作, 寄钱回家 供养他的家人 帕特里克从未放弃他的高等教育之梦 结束工作后的深夜里, 他在网上寻找各种途径来学习
Meet Debbie. Debbie is from Florida. Her parents didn't go to college, and neither did any of her siblings. Debbie has worked all her life, pays taxes, supports herself month to month, proud of the American dream, a dream that just won't be complete without higher education. But Debbie doesn't have the savings for higher education. She can't pay the tuition. Neither could she leave work.
来认识一下黛比 黛比来自佛罗里达 她的父母没有上过大学, 她的兄弟姐妹也都没有 黛比生活的全部就是工作, 缴税,每月维持自己的生计, 以美国梦为荣, 但是没有高等教育的话 这个梦并不完整 但是黛比没有足够的积蓄 来负担高等教育 她付不起学费 她也不能抛开工作
Meet Wael. Wael is from Syria. He's experiencing firsthand the misery, fear and failure imposed on his country. He's a big believer in education. He knew that if he could find an opportunity for higher education, an opportunity to get ahead of the rest, he has a better chance to survive in a world turned upside down.
来认识一下瓦伊尔 瓦伊尔来自叙利亚 他正亲身感受着 他的国家所遭受的 痛苦、恐惧和失败 他是教育的忠实信徒 他知道,如果他能找到 接受高等教育的机会, 一个能超过别人的机会, 他就更有可能
The higher education system
在一个颠倒混乱的世界里生存下来
failed Patrick, Debbie and Wael, exactly as it is failing millions of potential students -- millions that graduate high school, millions that are qualified for higher education, millions that want to study yet cannot access it for various reasons. First: financial. Universities are expensive; we all know it. In large parts of the world, higher education is unattainable for an average citizen. This is probably the biggest problem facing our society. Higher education stopped being a right for all and became a privilege for the few.
高等教育体系 辜负了帕特里克、黛比和瓦伊尔, 正如它也辜负了 数百万的潜在的学生—— 数百万的高中毕业生, 数百万有资格接受高等教育的学生, 数百万学生想要学习 却因为各种原因无法实现 首先,经济上的原因 大学是昂贵的 我们都知道这一点 在世界上的很多地方, 对于普通民众来说, 高等教育无法企及 这个可能是我们社会 所面临的最大的问题 高等教育不再是所有人的权力,
Second: cultural. Students who are qualified for higher education can afford -- want to study -- cannot, because it is not decent, it is not a place for a woman. This is the story of countless women in Africa, for example, prevented from higher education because of cultural barriers. And here comes the third reason: UNESCO stated that in 2025, 100 million students will be deprived of higher education, simply because there will not be enough seats to accommodate them, to meet the demand. They will take a placement test, they will pass it, but they still won't have access, because there are no places available.
而是成为一种少数人的特权 第二,文化上的原因 合格的、能负担得起的、想要学习的学生 却无法得到高等教育, 因为它不得体, 它不是女人可以去的地方 比如,在非洲, 无数的女性 由于文化上的阻隔 而无法得到高等教育 第三条原因: 联合国教科文组织声明, 到2025年,将有1亿学生 被剥夺高等教育的机会, 仅仅是因为没有那么多的座位 来容纳他们,来满足需求 他们会参加程度测验, 他们会通过测验, 但是他们仍无法得到教育,
These are the reasons I founded University of the People,
因为没有足够的位置
a nonprofit, tuition-free, degree-granting university to give an alternative, to create an alternative, to those who have no other; an alternative that will be affordable and scalable, an alternative that will disrupt the current education system, and open the gates to higher education for every qualified student regardless of what they earn, where they live, or what society says about them. Patrick, Debbie and Wael are only three examples out of the 1,700 accepted students from 143 countries.
由于这些的原因, 我创办了人民大学(University of the People), 一所非盈利性的、免学费的、 授予学位的大学 它提供了另一种选择, 为那些没有其它选择的人创造了一种选择, 一种价格合理的选择, 一种可扩展的选择, 一种打破 现行的教育体系的选择, 为每一位合格的学生 打开高等教育的大门, 不论他们的收入,不论他们身处何处, 不论社会如何议论他们 帕特里克、黛比和瓦伊尔 只是来自143个国家的 1700位被录取的学生中 的三个例子
(Applause) Thank you.
我们——(掌声)——谢谢
(Applause)
We didn't need to reinvent the wheel. We just looked at what wasn't working and used the amazing power of the Internet to get around it. We set out to build a model that will cut down almost entirely the cost of higher education. And that's how we did it. First, bricks and mortar cost money. Universities have expenses that virtual universities don't. We don't need to pass these expenses on to our students. They don't exist. We also don't need to worry about capacity. There are no limits of seats in virtual university. Actually, nobody needs to stand at the back of the lecture hall. Textbooks are also something our students don't need to buy. By using open educational resources and the generosity of professors who are putting their material up free and accessible, we don't need to send our students to buy textbooks. All of our materials come free.
我们不需要重新发明轮子 我们只是看到那些有问题的地方, 并使用互联网的神奇力量 来绕开问题 我们着手建立一种模式, 它将削减掉 高等教育的绝大部分成本 我们是这样做到的 首先,大楼需要花钱 大学有很多的开销 是虚拟大学所没有的 我们不需要将这些开销 转移到我们的学生头上 这些开销不存在 我们也不需要担心可容纳的人数 在虚拟大学里 没有座位数的限制 事实上,没人需要 站在讲堂的后面 我们的学生 也不需要购买课本 使用开放的教学资源 以及教授们的慷慨馈赠, 很多教授把他们的教学材料 免费公开, 我们不需要让我们的学生去购买课本 我们所有的材料都是免费的
Even professors, the most expensive line in any university balance sheet, come free to our students. Over 3,000 of them, including presidents, vice chancellors, professors and academic advisers from top universities such as NYU, Yale, Berkeley and Oxford, came on board to help our students.
甚至是教授, 任何大学的收支表上最昂贵的一项, 也对我们的学生免费 我们有超过3000位教师, 包括校长、副校长、 教授和学术导师, 他们来自顶尖的大学,比如纽约大学、 耶鲁大学、加州大学伯克利分校、牛津大学, 来帮助我们的学生
Finally, is our belief in peer-to-peer learning. We use this sound pedagogical model to encourage our students from all over the world to interact and study together, and also to reduce the time our professors need to labor over class assignments.
最后,是我们对于同伴学习的信念 我们使用这个可靠的教学模式 来鼓励我们来自世界各地的学生 一起互动并共同学习, 这同时也缩短了教授们 需要花在课堂作业上的时间
If the Internet has made us a global village, this model can develop its future leadership. Look how we do it. We only offer two programs: business administration and computer science, the two programs most in demand worldwide, the two programs that are likeliest to help our students find a job. When our students are accepted, they are placed in a small classroom of 20 to 30 students, to ensure that those who need personalized attention get it. Moreover, for every nine-week course, they meet a new peer, a whole new set of students from all over the world. Every week, when they go into the classroom, they find the lecture notes of the week, the reading assignment, the homework assignment, and the discussion question, which is the core of our studies. Every week, every student must contribute to the class discussion, and also must comment on the contribution of others. This way, we open our students' minds, we develop a positive shift in attitude toward different cultures. By the end of each week, the students take a quiz, hand in their homework, which are assessed by their peers under the supervision of the instructors, get a grade, move to the next week. By the end of the course, they take the final exam, get a grade, and follow to the next course.
如果说互联网把我们变成了一个地球村, 这一模式能培养其未来的领导力量 看看我们如何做到这一点 我们只提供了两个项目: 商业管理和计算机科学 这两个项目 是世界上需求最广的, 这两个项目最有可能 帮助我们的学生找到工作 当我们的学生被录取后, 他们被安排到 由20至30人组成的小班 来保证那些有个性化需求的学生可以得到相应的关注 此外,每九周的课程 他们会认识一个新的同伴, 一组来自世界各地的 全新的同学 每周,当他们进入课堂, 他们会找到本周的课程笔记、 阅读任务、课外作业, 以及讨论问题—— 这是我们学习的核心 每周,每位学生 都必须为课堂讨论做出贡献, 同时也必须对其它人的贡献 做出评论 通过这样的方法,我们开阔了学生的思维, 我们发展了一种正面积极的态度 来对待不同的文化 每周结束的时候, 学生们参加一个测验, 提交他们的课外作业, 作业会在教师的监督下 由同学互相评估, 得到成绩,然后继续下一周的学习 在课程的末尾,他们参加期末考试, 得到成绩,然后开始下一个课程
We open the gates for higher education for every qualified student. Every student with a high school diploma, sufficient English and Internet connection can study with us. We don't use audio, we don't use video. Broadband is not necessary. Any student from any part of the world with any Internet connection can study with us. We are tuition free. All we ask our students to cover is the cost of their exams, 100 dollars per exam. A full-time bachelor's degree student taking 40 courses will pay 1,000 dollars a year, 4,000 dollars for the entire degree. And for those who cannot afford even this, we offer them a variety of scholarships. It is our mission that nobody will be left behind for financial reasons. With 5,000 students in 2016, this model is financially sustainable.
我们为每一个合格的学生 打开了高等教育的大门 每个学生,只要有高中文凭、 足够的英语能力和互联网连接, 就可以和我们一起学习 我们不使用音频和视频 宽带网络不是必须的 来自世界任何一个地方的任何一个学生 只要能连接到互联网 就可以和我们一起学习 我们没有学费 我们的学生只需要负担 考试的成本, 每门考试100美元。 一个全日制本科学位的学生 选修40门课, 每年将支付1000美元, 整个学位需要4000美元 对于连这些也无法负担的学生, 我们提供了各种类型的奖学金 没有人会因为经济上的原因而被抛下, 这是我们的使命 到2016年,随着5000名学生, 这一模式在经济上是可持续的。
Five years ago, it was a vision. Today, it is a reality. Last month, we got the ultimate academic endorsement to our model. University of the People is now fully accredited.
五年前这还是一个畅想, 而今它成为了现实 上个月,我们的模式 得到了学术界的最终认可 人民大学现在已完全通过认证
(Applause)
(掌声)
Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
With this accreditation, it's our time now to scale up. We have demonstrated that our model works. I invite universities and, even more important, developing countries' governments, to replicate this model to ensure that the gates of higher education will open widely. A new era is coming -- an era that will witness the disruption of the higher education model as we know it today, from being a privilege for the few to becoming a basic right, affordable and accessible for all.
有了这一认证, 现在到了我们扩张的时候 我们已经展示了我们的模式是可行的 我邀请大学,更重要的是 发展中国家的政府, 来复制这一模式, 来保证高等教育的大门 将一直敞开 一个新的时代来临了, 这个时代将会见证 我们今天所知的高等教育模式 的瓦解, 从一种少数人的特权 变为一种基本权力, 所有人都可以承担,可以获得
Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
(掌声)