Exactly. Even the author of this post has argued for "filtering out" the weaker students in a Darwinian fashion with MOOCs:
"MOOC education is survival of the fittest. Every student is just one insignificant datapoint while the course is running. Do well, do poorly, struggle, drop out – no one notices. But when the MOOC algorithm calculates the final ranking, the relatively few who score near the top become very, very visible. Globally, talent recruiting is a $130BN industry. It’s “Google search for people” in action."
In contrast, there are folks who look at how can we help more students succeed in math and physics (without dumbing the courses down and grade inflation). Wright State (and now many other universities) created a pre-calculus course that teaches the math in context with many engineering examples. 90% of students who took this course went on to pass Calculus, compared to 60% of those who didn't: http://cecs.wright.edu/community/engmath
The object is to teach math and science. Prestige is a side-concern for the kinds of, how shall I put this, foolish mortals who believe that zero-sum rankings make them special, eve when those rankings fail to represent an objective increase in their knowledge and capabilities.
When it comes to scientific knowledge, it is very definitely better to serve in Heaven than to rule in Hell, so to speak.
"MOOC education is survival of the fittest. Every student is just one insignificant datapoint while the course is running. Do well, do poorly, struggle, drop out – no one notices. But when the MOOC algorithm calculates the final ranking, the relatively few who score near the top become very, very visible. Globally, talent recruiting is a $130BN industry. It’s “Google search for people” in action."
From "The Darwinization of Higher Education": http://devlinsangle.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-darwinization-o...
In contrast, there are folks who look at how can we help more students succeed in math and physics (without dumbing the courses down and grade inflation). Wright State (and now many other universities) created a pre-calculus course that teaches the math in context with many engineering examples. 90% of students who took this course went on to pass Calculus, compared to 60% of those who didn't: http://cecs.wright.edu/community/engmath