How Technology Can Save American Education

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/03/03/how-technology-can-save-american-education

The main points of this article are that the 20-30 year olds are now so burdened with student loan debt that they aren't keeping the economy going by making large purchases like past generations.  There are many ways to alleviate such student debt.  One is MOOCs.  In the article, there is a Georgia Tech Masters program for Computer Science and it only costs $7000.  That is way less than the one we are taking that is for sure.  This article also discusses the buzz word that makes parents and teachers cringe, common core.  The author states that the future of education is most likely going to be more diverse, but he feels that common core is not helping our students be more diverse, in fact, it is doing the opposite.  Another way the author says that education can improve is to have more educators and less administrators.  He even states that if schools (and I assume he means both higher and K-12 education) had a higher ration of teachers to administrators, the schools should be rewarded.  What a novel concept.  After all, we know that administrators cost more, and are less directly involved in educating our students.  Not that there isn't a place and need for administrators, there is.  Clearly the author is giving his opinions about how using technology can change education, and in some ways, aid in alleviating student debt.  One suggestion he cites is to go a less expensive route, like a community college.  
I liked this article, mostly because I believe in the way the author does.  I, too, went to a community college.  But I also found a way to pay for my degrees so I had no student debt.  Yes I knowingly chose a lower paying career,  but the returns can be amazing.  As far as the common core not helping our students be diverse learners, I agree.  I think ALL of the standardized testing is removing all natural talent from being shown to be positive and marketable to our students.  There have always been students who have shown natural affinities for specific things, artistic, hands on, technological, and many more.  It seems that those differences aren't valued, and the only things that do matter are scores on standardized tests.  Those should not be the only things we teach students that show their value.  Our country was founded on differences, and we are not valuing them anymore.  
Thankfully in small town Eureka, many of the common core scares aren't making that much of an impact.  Our teachers still teach students to learn, they encourage and value each student for his or her specific intelligence.  We obviously include the common core values (?) in our instruction to some degree (weird math and the like) but we make sure that our students will be successful and will learn.  Our students are encouraged to join the military, to go to ICC or Heartland, or to do whatever they need to be successful.  I went to a junior college, and found it harder than the university I got my Bachelor's from.  But with the small class size, the help was extraordinary.  
I think technology can change our entire view of education.  Just today, my children were on websites to help them practice their math and reading skills, and were excited to show me how well they did.  In fact, I am being yelled at to get off my computer so they can get back on.  This I think is a good sign.  They are having fun learning, by using technology.  If I made them read or do math problems on paper, they would throw a fit.  (I know, shocking, but true.)  I think MOOCs are a great way to get educated for less money and on our own time.  I think that if they got more publicity and the benefits shared more globally, they would be used more.  I hadn't heard of them until I started these classes.  I love school, love learning and usually like what I am learning.  I think with inexpensive classes that I can take on my own time, and get more credentials, I could certainly have different choices in my career.  We all could.  I seriously am thinking of taking a few online courses after these courses are over to get more certifications.  Life long learning is taught by example.  We, by taking this class and learning more about technology, can change the way education works.