Ending October; Realizing Fears

I completed my first project for the Cost Economics course. I wasn't sure what I was in for, or exactly what I was going to do, but I somehow made it through. The project was laid out in such a way that you reviewed the information, your looked at and practiced with a mock assignment, so that when time for the assignment came due, you were properly prepared. Well, not everything works out as planned.

I read and reviewed the material, the Rumble text "The Costs and Economics of Open and Distance Learning." While reading the material it all made plenty of sense, because I was only reading it of course. I learned and felt I had an understanding of the basic concepts, such as overhead (sidenote: there was always the statement that DC public schools had the largest overhead in the country. I would quote this with the understanding that it meant that per student the cost to run the administrative and other sides of the school system were huge in comparison to other cities. I wasn't too far off course.) However, the Rumble text provided me a better explanation with direct and indirect costs as it matter in education. This will also prove beneficial as I begin to venture into the world of budgeting for the compliance costs at my current position.

So as I continued to read, I thought I had a basic understanding of the concepts and would be able to apply them to the project. Even the mock assignment made sense to me. So, I started the project, and was amazed. The basic ideas made sense, the maintenance, overheads, and development. These ideas to me were sound and made sense when applying them to the project. However, the more detailed analysis of the project made me investigate more and dig into a deeper undertsanding, or at least try to.

Gaining an understanding of depreciation or annualization was very difficult. As a homeowner and car owner, the idea of depreciation does not lose its message with me. However, when applied to education it doesn't hold the same value. Depreciation it what helps to distribute the costs of the planning or start up of the course development over time. An example was given in regards to the building where the product is developed. Yes, in the beginning it appears to be a huge costs, but when applied to the life of the program it is stretched throughout the development of the program.

The hardest idea for me was annualization. Literally, I reviewed this idea hours and days. The key concept of this idea that was hard for me to wrap my mind around was "the opportunity costs of interest forgone" (45). I took this as understanding that rather than spending the money or losing value in the money that was spent, it could have earned money in another account instead of being spent. In my mind, it makes more sense to stick with what is actually happening and not what may have happened. I'm still working my way, through this. Maybe the conference that is still ongoing with Rumble will provide additional insight.

Budgeting Fears

It has been quite some time since I have logged into the blog and relayed any of my thoughts. My thoughts have been stretched very thin lately between work and school. Currently at work I am fighting what feels like a losing battle to help others understand that quality is of importance. For some reason, quality assurance in the mortgage business is nonexistent (I say this very tongue in cheek). I am unable to breakthrough to the course providers that there should be interaction and a level of quality in their courses. Another battle is with my supervisor. Unfortunately, he has started to feel that almost everyone is doing wrong and that the technology that helps the course providers teach the course needs to be restricted for purposes of quality assurance.

In the school zone, I am working on a budgeting project. The actual term budget scares me and the project (until I break it into more pieces) is very daunting. I have read the material (sometimes even twice), and it doesn't seem to stick. Also, at times during this term, I am completely confused by the interaction in the course.

In previous classes, it was completely understood and laid out regarding course participation, and what postings we were expected to respond to. This term, the professors have put most of the onus on the students. For the first time, I feel almost as if I am in the course alone.

At any rate, I will continue to press on. I will complete my budgeting project, and gain a more thorough knowledge of the course assignments. I will remove all fears.

PS - I know that a comment to my blog was to include more of the course content, but I really needed to get back into the swing of things with just blogging (it has been a while).

Educational Value

In a similar vein regarding knowing one's own worth, it is interesting to note which countries appear to value education. I have always been of the thought that America does not value education and it shows in how they treat the educational system. It is even reflected in the quote, "if you can't do, teach." This connotes that if you fail in the area that you wish to work in and it doesn't work, just teach, since you are unsuccessful. As a product of public schools and a former teacher in the public school system, I am worried about where the country is heading in regards to its educational system which I feel shows the future of the country. I think its similar to a farm, that the students and children in schools are seeds planted to evenutally become the crops for tomorrow.

The assignment this week created more thoughts on this topic. We reviewed the data from a study of the student enrollment of developing and industrialized countries. It showed that developing countries student enrollment was increasing while the industrialized countries enrollment was stagnant. I am sure that there are many other factors that combine with this information outside of just my thoughts on the value of education, but it can be seen as a slight factor.

Also, what was seen was that the developing countries are realizing the value of education can be used to their benefit. Since many countries are using the developing countries for their labor force, the education levels in the countries that outsorce the work find a strong need for degrees as the labor workforce is not as strong in industrialized countries.

This is getting a little convoluted now, so I will have to rethink this a little more. Questions I am left with:

1. Is this just a cycle? The industrialized countries were once developing and once also had a strong labor force. However, now, the industrialized country focuses most of its employment on higher level education positions. So, what will happen once the developing countries realize they have started to promote higher education and the workforce is smarter and more skilled for the labor workforce that the country thrived on.

2. Will higher education begin to include labor education? For example, higher education is changing from just philosophical and artistic studies, to skill related degrees (I'm thinking MBA, computer scientist, accountants, etc.).

3. Will America ever place a focus back on its educational system.