I just got back from vacation yesterday. I’m taking physics this term in school, and while I was away I’ve been keeping up-to-date with various websites provided by the instructor. I’ve also been enjoying some lectures put up by Yale. I hear MIT has some good content on the subject too.
Over the past few months I’ve been seeing a few mentions of how universities might become obsolete recently. This is ridiculous, of course; it has been possible to learn this sort of material on your own for free since the public library was invented. What is clear, though, is that education is experiencing the first waves of disruption from the internet. After all, it’s one thing to read textbooks before bed, but nowadays I could get the books instantly, watch the lectures, and discuss the problems, even if I lived in the middle of nowhere and had to use solar panels and satellites to stay powered and wired. Hell, I could probably even do it if I didn’t speak English.
It reminds me of how the internet is disrupting books. Books aren’t going away; quite the opposite, in fact. But books can’t stay the same in the years to come. They translate too easily into bits, and the internet applies a constant pressure to serve up information as easily and cheaply as possible.
This power of the internet to push towards connection, collaboration and knowledge is probably my favorite trend right now. It’s something I can watch disrupt television, healthcare, politics, publishing, and yes, education, on a timeframe short enough for me to watch.
I’m sure Clay Shirky would agree.
UPDATE: Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom
One Comment
Hey ho,
Yeah, if they’d had the internet when I was a girl… Or when I was trying to get a degree…
I found teachers more interesting as people. The thing about a class is the serendipity that happens there that is often not in the curriculum. Unless you want a social scene. It’s also hard to DO experiments on your own, not just watch them. Or go on field trips.
But Universities are much more than teaching kids; they’re think tanks and places for people to donate money to people doing research and places for people to receive grants and do more study. It’s actually a recent thing that they are such diploma mills. Until the government lets internet communities get grants and be tax write-offs, Universities will flourish. But many colleges already hurt for money. If they lost that, they would go under.
But teaching art on the internet is very difficult and teaching art like ceramics or cooking is impossible. Because you have to do it and have the instructor there to help you learn i a physical way. It’s almost impossible to play in an internet orchestra or play football on an internet team. Much of University funding is about sports and sports ain’t gonna happen on the internet despite the fan base there. Talk about sports, but no sports.
I could see going to lectures on line and reading books and materials on line, but some things are off in the distant future.
later gator,
mom