End of REAL College?

[DamnYankee]

A Virtual Revolution Is Brewing for Colleges
By Zephyr Teachout - Sunday, September 13, 2009

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 cannot survive.
washingtonpost.com

 

[chanel]

Very interesting article. Makes one wonder if some of these slacker young people will ever leave their parents homes.

 

[random3434]

This better not happen in the next 8 years, 4 more until Mini Echo leaves for college...............Indiana University bound!


I have to take 6 hours every 5 years to renew my license, I like the option of taking classes on line for that. But..........I think people should experience moving away and going to college (if that's in their plan) because those are some of the best times of your life! I wouldn't give up my years at IU for anything! Great professors, met a lot of interesting people, and am still best friends with my dorm mates I met my Freshman year on Delgado 1!

 

[chanel]

Same here Echo. My youngest starts in three years and doesn't want to go far from home. I told him to go far enough so that he won't come home every weekend. The experience of living away is as important as the academics.

I made the mistake of going to a school 26 miles away and keeping a boyfriend at home. Errrrr!!! Those weekends I never got back!

 

[random3434]

Same here Echo. My youngest starts in three years and doesn't want to go far from home. I told him to go far enough so that he won't come home every weekend. The experience of living away is as important as the academics.

I made the mistake of going to a school 26 miles away and keeping a boyfriend at home. Errrrr!!! Those weekends I never got back!

Exactly! I was a naive child basically when I moved to Bloomington my freshman year. Did my eyes get opened FAST!

I thought it was so great to see all the different cultures represented in college down there, I grew up in the typical white bread suburb, so getting to know all kinds of different people was fantastic!

And the classes, I loved all my classes! (except chemistry! )

 

[DamnYankee]

Only reason one of mine came home on weekends was because he had a job that worked around HIS schedule -- an employer he still works for in a management position while he finishes his education on a part-time basis. I think everyone has to find the path in life that works for them, and all the options should be open for them. Sometimes, technology goes too far and closes doors (i.e. newspapers) for people that would like them to be open. Perhaps the "happy medium" here would be mergers and co-op educational facilities.

 

[Annie]

Seems to me the only lesson to universities is they should be careful in turning out a good product, which the newspaper industry failed to do. Online degrees will have their niche, but it's certainly not your average or above average 18 year old. University is more than classes or even weekends. It's about networking, before that term was used. It's about discussions that come at 2 am.

Some universities though have been accommodating those students who really haven't developed the necessary skills. That is where community colleges or perhaps online courses may help.