- Jun 2024
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human.libretexts.org human.libretexts.org
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My professors encourage academic freedom.
I have noticed that professors in college are on average a lot more passionate than a high school teacher for example. This is great because one of the main things that makes a course enjoyable is having a teacher who is passionate and cares.
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I had easy access to the internet growing up.
This is one of the biggest things that I take for granted everyday. Just the fact that I had internet access readily available to me at such a young age is a crazy thing that I don't find crazy because I'm so used to it.
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My high school prepared me for college-level research
I attribute my success in college to all the AP classes I took while in high school. This may not be the case for all high schools but I felt that the on level classes in my school were not solid enough preparation for the work effort needed for college. This might be because AP teachers tend to care more. In my school at least most of the on level teachers were coaches or teachers that just didn't care and handed out really easy assignments all the while putting the least amount of effort into teaching and just reading off a slideshow that was outdated.
Annotators
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human.libretexts.org human.libretexts.org
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This graphic is meant to illustrate the incredible profits experienced by academic publishers. You can see that scholarly publishing is far more profitable than being one of the biggest retailers in the world (Amazon).
The big question is how do we fight this? If they are making this much money how do we tackle such a colossal business that will do everything in their power to keep making more money.
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Academic publishing is big business. These companies are making billions of dollars. You've undoubtedly been directly impacted by this; you've likely faced decisions on whether to buy a $100+ textbook that is required for a course
It is easy to forget certain privileges we have. I look at textbooks or classes that I think are too expensive and can still pay for them, but the truth is that most of the world may not be able to. I'm not totally sold on the value of textbooks but I know that more often than not a lot of what is done always goes back to profit.
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We are active users of technology - I am teaching and you are learning online. When we're submerged in this kind of environment, it's sometimes easy to forget that what's known as the digital divide still exists.
It is really easy to forget about the rest of the world when you grow up in an advanced economy comparted to a developing one. I am definitely guilty of this. Phones and internet access is taken for granted and can effect our views on society as a whole. This reminds me of a video that interviewed advanced economy children and developing and they were asked if they had a wish what would they ask for. The advanced kids said money, or a nice car or house, while the developing kids said to see a family member that had passed away or to have plentiful amounts of food. Upbringing is extremely important when it comes to views on many topics.
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The idea that status impacts your access to information is nothing new. What is relatively new is that librarians and others are critically talking about it as it relates to higher education.
I believe that this applies to college too, I am a personal believer that getting into the most "prestigious" colleges does not have to do with only academics. I believe that you are able to buy into some or get in through wealthy family connections. Information privilege may apply to this considering that you would have more "prestigious" research material at Harvard for example than another college.
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