Welcome to Yahoo! U

[Onkel Neal]

The Web will dismember universities, just like newspapers.

Students starting school this year may be part of the last generation for which “going to college” means packing up, getting a dorm room, and listening to tenured professors. Undergraduate education is on the verge of a radical reordering. Colleges, like newspapers, will be torn apart by new ways of sharing information enabled by the Internet. The business model that sustained private U.S. colleges can’t survive.

The real force for change is the market: Online classes are just cheaper to produce. Community colleges and for-profit “education” entrepreneurs are already experimenting with dorm-free, commute-free options. Distance-learning technology has just hit its stride after years of glitchy videoconferences—and will keep improving. Innovators have yet to tap the potential of the aggregator to change the way students earn a degree—much like the news business in 1999. And as major universities offer some core courses online, we’ll see a cultural shift toward acceptance of what is still, in some circles, a “Phoenix U” joke.

So, does it seem likely that competitve forces will bring costs down and online universities will replace the brick and mortar diplomma mills we call college?

[SteamWake]

Doubt it too much invested in them to just write them off.

Besides you cant download a centrifuge or mass spectrometer over the internets

[Thomen]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Doubt it too much invested in them to just write them off.

Besides you cant download a centrifuge or mass spectrometer over the internets

Indeed. Some courses are just to complicated to take as online classes. If I would have to take, as example, Math classes online I'd probably shoot myself. It is allready complicated enough in a class room..

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

The Web will dismember universities, just like newspapers.





So, does it seem likely that competitve forces will bring costs down and online universities will replace the brick and mortar diplomma mills we call college?

I think that will take some time. I do think that going to college is a good experience. This year at my daughters high school they offer college accredited courses via the internet. Each class is $300.00. My daughters go to a private school so the $300.00 I pay for the college course comes off the tuition fee for the high school. It is not a bad deal because essentially the first year of college for my daughters is free. Yes, I see online college as the thing of the future. Closing the institutions will take some time. One thing for sure, I would go back to University of Maryland College Park in a heart beat. Man, what a great 4 years I had at that University. The experience offered when attending college is very good IMO. I sure did meet different walks of life and different beers as well.

[PeriscopeDepth]

I hope not. I for one do not feel comfortable taking some classes online. Learning is an interactive experience that email and a chat interface don't quit cut it.

PD

Well you can already go to high school online here, in Wisconsin at least, been able to for the last 5+ years.

[Skybird]

Schwarzenegger said something like that about California when he entered office: modern PCs in public schools, PC-based education, schools of the 21st century.

Meanwhile he has fallen silent on that. The reasons are well-known: lack of money.

Don't write off some of the old ways too soon.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Doubt it too much invested in them to just write them off.

Besides you cant download a centrifuge or mass spectrometer over the internets

Good point! Science classes will not go away.

[Platapus]

Many online programs require some in-class work also. This is especially true for those classes with labs. And there will always be some classes that simply can't be taught online.

But a lot of your core classes (English, Math, History) can be easily accomplished via distance learning. It is not like the old correspondence school. Some distance learning classes have realtime video class rooms where everyone has to show up at the same time but they don't have to be in the same location. The instructor lectures and the students can ask questions in real time.

I don't think that distance learning will ever completely replace brick-and-mortar schools, but it does give working adults more options and that's always a good thing.

[Thomen]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Doubt it too much invested in them to just write them off.

Besides you cant download a centrifuge or mass spectrometer over the internets

*cough*

http://www.oraxcel.com/projects/masssim/


/jk

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Good point! Science classes will not go away.

Same thing for so many other things. The general collegiate experience involves a lot of academics that can be remotely learned, sure - but what about sports, social activities, group projects and labs, etc? Also I think there are a group of people who just learn better in the classroom.

I think you'll see more of this trend towards online learning when considering places such as community colleges, technical schools, etc.

Dunno about you but I was always more comfortable about exercising alone at home not some stupid gym.

Come to think about it except for sex, I do alot of stuff better when I'm alone.

[Castout]

Online classes are not cool. How do the boys tease the pretty gals now

Online job however is very appealing

[Aramike]

Come to think about it except for sex, I do alot of stuff better when I'm alone.

Liar. You know you're better at sex alone too...

Originally Posted by Aramike

Liar. You know you're better at sex alone too...

Masturbation isn't really sex, mate.