Are our academic institutions at risk of collapse in the future due to distance learning, the Internet age and the fast flow of information? It seems by the time someone in a fast moving technological field gets a degree the industry has already hyper-spaced them and is onto the next new thing in that area of science. This does not play well for a University Student with a new degree who does not immediately jump into a new fast moving company. It also takes away from the normalcy of 4-year colleges where you go away and learn something. For those in industry and research the best bet is to learn the basics in an online course and immediately plan to go to all seminars in the industry around the nation, while reading all the white papers online and watching all the webinars possible. Yet if everyone did this, then what would happen to our Universities and top colleges? Well some would still exist as a catalyst to help train people on behalf of industry to fit specific niches like trade schools or specialized curriculums and others would continue to exist out of tradition. In the future it may not make much sense to go to a University to learn something or a specific area of thought, but rather for the experience of going to away to college and we must consider this subtle transition in the future and not be so shocked as it occurs you see? Consider this in 2006. |
