Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Is college's stone age is about to end?

Mark C. Taylor, chairman of the department of religion at Columbia University, asks whether college's stone age is about to end in a three part article on the university in the Internet era.

The three parts are at:
Here are a few quotes and paraphrases:
  • We produce too many unemployable PhDs.
  • Is one paying for education or certification when attending college?
  • Some subjects can be outsourced; for example, let one college have a strong French department and another a strong German department.
  • Online education will be modular.
  • There will be online winners and losers.
  • Financial pressure and improved technology have reached the point where much education will soon go online.
  • The networking of higher education will transform how teachers teach and what students learn.
  • Disciplines will need to be reconfigured -- departments can be transformed or abolished.
  • Faculty will increasingly serve as academic counselors who advise students on designing classes and integrating programs at different institutions.
  • Excessive competition and overspecialization are the plagues of higher education.

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