Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education
Educational resources distributed via the Internet are rapidly proliferating. One prominent concern associated with these potentially transformative developments is that, as many of the leading technologies of the last several decades have been, these new sweeping technological changes will be highl...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
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Cambridge, MA: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/84476 |
| _version_ | 1826202426767572992 |
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| author | Acemoglu, Daron Laibson, David List, John A. |
| author_facet | Acemoglu, Daron Laibson, David List, John A. |
| author_sort | Acemoglu, Daron |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Educational resources distributed via the Internet are rapidly proliferating. One prominent concern associated with these potentially transformative developments is that, as many of the leading technologies of the last several decades have been, these new sweeping technological changes will be highly disequalizing, creating superstar teachers, a wider gulf between different groups of students and potentially a winner-take-all educational system. In this paper, we argue that, these important concerns notwithstanding, a major impact of the superstars created by web based educational technologies will be the democratization of education: not only will educational resources be more equally distributed, but also lower-skilled teachers will be winners from this technology. At the root of our results is the observation that for web-based technologies to exploit the comparative advantage of skilled lecturers, they will need to be complemented with opportunities for face-to-face discussions with instructors, and web-based lectures will increase the quantity and quality of teaching services complementary to such instruction, potentially increasing the marginal product and wages of lower-skill teachers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:07:18Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | mit-1721.1/84476 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:07:18Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Cambridge, MA: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/844762019-04-11T09:05:43Z Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education Acemoglu, Daron Laibson, David List, John A. computers, education, inequality, Internet, non-rival technologies, online education, superstars Educational resources distributed via the Internet are rapidly proliferating. One prominent concern associated with these potentially transformative developments is that, as many of the leading technologies of the last several decades have been, these new sweeping technological changes will be highly disequalizing, creating superstar teachers, a wider gulf between different groups of students and potentially a winner-take-all educational system. In this paper, we argue that, these important concerns notwithstanding, a major impact of the superstars created by web based educational technologies will be the democratization of education: not only will educational resources be more equally distributed, but also lower-skilled teachers will be winners from this technology. At the root of our results is the observation that for web-based technologies to exploit the comparative advantage of skilled lecturers, they will need to be complemented with opportunities for face-to-face discussions with instructors, and web-based lectures will increase the quantity and quality of teaching services complementary to such instruction, potentially increasing the marginal product and wages of lower-skill teachers. 2014-01-24T00:15:08Z 2014-01-24T00:15:08Z 2014-01-17 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/84476 Working paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics;14-03 application/pdf Cambridge, MA: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | computers, education, inequality, Internet, non-rival technologies, online education, superstars Acemoglu, Daron Laibson, David List, John A. Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education |
| title | Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education |
| title_full | Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education |
| title_fullStr | Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education |
| title_full_unstemmed | Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education |
| title_short | Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education |
| title_sort | equalizing superstars the internet and the democratization of education |
| topic | computers, education, inequality, Internet, non-rival technologies, online education, superstars |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/84476 |
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