Steve Wozniak's 'Woz U' Institute Faces Blowback, Former Student Calls it a '$13,000 E-Book'

[pweicks]

Would you trust a surgeon who learned how to cut from watching some YouTube videos?

College and its associated degrees serve many purposes beyond just stuffing information into students' heads, but that information is often broader and deeper than what you'll get online for free - especially for advanced programs that you absolutely do need if you want to get hired - or to keep your current job. My wife, at the Director level in a prominent hospital system, was told that if she expected to keep her job, she needed to go back and get a Masters. That's what the company requires because a degree tells the company that you know your stuff. They don't want to deal with candidates who simply say "Oh, just trust me. I can't prove I know anything, but I watched a ton of YouTube."

The college/university system is a total mess, I agree. It's a travesty that profits have been put above educating students, even at schools that are federally funded. It's sickening that at a lot of schools, especially here in Texas, the goddamn football program gets more funding than any ten other programs combined. But those problems aren't solved by burning down the system and eliminating formal education altogether. I mean, they are, but it's the perfect example of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Yes, a surgeon should know how to perform surgery. But how much extra baggage and unnecessary garbage did that surgeon have to go through and pay for just so that their professors and the dean of their school can maintain their mansions that they live in? Colleges are way too theoretical nowadays. They need to just get to the point of things, and I think people are starting to really get sick of that. But the colleges know that it would put a huge dent in their profits if they started doing that. I’ve been attending WSU for four years now and finally decided to just switch to an ATC where I can learn the same things in a quarter of the time and for an eighth of the cost. How? Because they just get straight to the point. They don’t talk about all the theoretical garbage and generals that you don’t need to know to get a job and get your work done. It’s not theory first and then practicality. It’s practicality first, and then with that comes theory. College is trying to put the buggy before the horse. I also think that a high level medical profession such as a surgeon is an exceptional situation. That’s what medical school is for. So why can’t they just go straight into med school without dealing with all the general BS prerequisites? Haha.. BS... Get it?

 

[Gasu E.]

But this isn't a school. Whether you're largely self-taught or not, spending five figures of money at an institution with such poor regulations and with the namesake not even feeling responsible for quality just seems like a terrible idea.

You don't have to go to a university to learn CS/SEng (in fact, I find that alumni are often poor programmers in practice because they lack, well, practice), but Woz U seems like a fairly poor substitute.

Programming is not truly an academic subject; it's a job skill, like blacksmithing used to be. I went to what was probably the top CS program in the world at that time, and they told us "if you want to be a programmer, don't study here; that's not what we teach." Some of the really best programmers at that university either did not graduate, or were marginal students who just managed to squeak by.

 

[Blackstick]

Woz is a nice guy but it’s sad he put his name on an inferior product. Also, people shouldn’t invest in their education based on a celebrity endorsement alone.

 

[Solomani]

Something like this makes him a "disgrace"?

Yes. He lent the "University" his name and his endorsement, and certainly received some payment in return. He is to be held partly accountable for his part. He profited from this misguided adventure.

 

[whyamihere]

A year ago I wrote this comment on the original story:
"This reads like a bad infomercial. Not surprising from a for-profit school no one has heard of. Gotta say, didn't expect this of Woz. His legacy demands better."
A bit sad I was right. But more surprised people actually signed up for it.

 

[satchmo]

I'm not sure of Woz's programming prowess. Perhaps back in the day, but has he kept up with newer languages?
Sometimes you need to upgrade your skills or reinvent yourself.
Fortunately for him, I don't think he really needs the money.

 

[Patek]

One year ago Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak backed a new online learning institute that is aimed at educating users in coding and other digital skills. Called "Woz U," the subscription-based platform is now facing blowback from participants who cite a lack of quality in the courses and experience offered.

CBS News spoke to one student, Bill Duerr, who said that he expected quality from the $13,200 program (which lasts 33 weeks), but faced ongoing issues. Duerr said the system was full of problems, like live lectures coming pre-recorded and out of date, unqualified mentors, frustrations with typos while coding, and sometimes completely missing instructors for certain courses.

Duerr compared Woz U to a "$13,000 e-book."
Besides Duerr, CBS News interviewed more than two dozen current and former Woz U students and employees, all referencing similar complaints. One employee was Tim Mionske, an "enrollment counselor" who sold Woz U to prospective students. Even when he began to have second thoughts about Woz U and its validity, the company was focused intently on driving as many sales as possible.

CBS News asked Mionske if he regrets his time with Woz U, and if he felt like he had to do something that wasn't right.
Wozniak responded to Business Insider in an email, claiming he had not seen the CBS News report and that he is "not involved in any operations aspects" of Woz U, and as such could not answer any questions. Woz U president Chris Coleman said in a statement that the company is aware of certain errors in course content and that it has implemented a quality control system to catch them. He denied students being pressured to enroll and claimed that Wozniak reviews all of Woz U's curriculum.

In Woz U's original announcement, the platform was billed as a way to get people into the workforce quickly and affordably. At launch and shortly after, programs trained users in computer support, software development, data science, mobile application development, and cybersecurity. Woz U is an online learning course with an app and website, but the institute said last year it plans to open physical campuses in more than 30 cities across the United States and around the world.

Article Link: Steve Wozniak's 'Woz U' Institute Faces Blowback, Former Student Calls it a '$13,000 E-Book'

One year ago Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak backed a new online learning institute that is aimed at educating users in coding and other digital skills. Called "Woz U," the subscription-based platform is now facing blowback from participants who cite a lack of quality in the courses and experience offered.

CBS News spoke to one student, Bill Duerr, who said that he expected quality from the $13,200 program (which lasts 33 weeks), but faced ongoing issues. Duerr said the system was full of problems, like live lectures coming pre-recorded and out of date, unqualified mentors, frustrations with typos while coding, and sometimes completely missing instructors for certain courses.

Duerr compared Woz U to a "$13,000 e-book."
Besides Duerr, CBS News interviewed more than two dozen current and former Woz U students and employees, all referencing similar complaints. One employee was Tim Mionske, an "enrollment counselor" who sold Woz U to prospective students. Even when he began to have second thoughts about Woz U and its validity, the company was focused intently on driving as many sales as possible.

CBS News asked Mionske if he regrets his time with Woz U, and if he felt like he had to do something that wasn't right.
Wozniak responded to Business Insider in an email, claiming he had not seen the CBS News report and that he is "not involved in any operations aspects" of Woz U, and as such could not answer any questions. Woz U president Chris Coleman said in a statement that the company is aware of certain errors in course content and that it has implemented a quality control system to catch them. He denied students being pressured to enroll and claimed that Wozniak reviews all of Woz U's curriculum.

In Woz U's original announcement, the platform was billed as a way to get people into the workforce quickly and affordably. At launch and shortly after, programs trained users in computer support, software development, data science, mobile application development, and cybersecurity. Woz U is an online learning course with an app and website, but the institute said last year it plans to open physical campuses in more than 30 cities across the United States and around the world.

Article Link: Steve Wozniak's 'Woz U' Institute Faces Blowback, Former Student Calls it a '$13,000 E-Book'

[doublepost=1539127286][/doublepost]I have some insight into this WOZ U. first of all, Woz himself has nothing to do with the venture. He is merely lending his name to it. He has exactly zero to do with it. The school itself is a scam. There is nothing special about it. It is hugely overpriced and the education they charge a small fortune for can be learned from a single textbook. They are scam artists. Some of the people involve are known scammers such as the same people who run Grand Canyon and ITT and U of Phoenex, a bunch of crooks basically. Don;t be fooled. I got ripped off but I got smar

One year ago Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak backed a new online learning institute that is aimed at educating users in coding and other digital skills. Called "Woz U," the subscription-based platform is now facing blowback from participants who cite a lack of quality in the courses and experience offered.

CBS News spoke to one student, Bill Duerr, who said that he expected quality from the $13,200 program (which lasts 33 weeks), but faced ongoing issues. Duerr said the system was full of problems, like live lectures coming pre-recorded and out of date, unqualified mentors, frustrations with typos while coding, and sometimes completely missing instructors for certain courses.

Duerr compared Woz U to a "$13,000 e-book."
Besides Duerr, CBS News interviewed more than two dozen current and former Woz U students and employees, all referencing similar complaints. One employee was Tim Mionske, an "enrollment counselor" who sold Woz U to prospective students. Even when he began to have second thoughts about Woz U and its validity, the company was focused intently on driving as many sales as possible.

CBS News asked Mionske if he regrets his time with Woz U, and if he felt like he had to do something that wasn't right.
Wozniak responded to Business Insider in an email, claiming he had not seen the CBS News report and that he is "not involved in any operations aspects" of Woz U, and as such could not answer any questions. Woz U president Chris Coleman said in a statement that the company is aware of certain errors in course content and that it has implemented a quality control system to catch them. He denied students being pressured to enroll and claimed that Wozniak reviews all of Woz U's curriculum.

In Woz U's original announcement, the platform was billed as a way to get people into the workforce quickly and affordably. At launch and shortly after, programs trained users in computer support, software development, data science, mobile application development, and cybersecurity. Woz U is an online learning course with an app and website, but the institute said last year it plans to open physical campuses in more than 30 cities across the United States and around the world.

Article Link: Steve Wozniak's 'Woz U' Institute Faces Blowback, Former Student Calls it a '$13,000 E-Book'

WOZ U is a RIPOFF, pure and simple. Wozniak himself has nothing to do with this organization other than lending his name to them. The school is run by a bunch of scammers. There is nothing you can learn at WOZ U that you can't learn from a book a little experience. These are a real bunch of crooks running this place. Beware!