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Friday 26 February 2016

Is the internet making university obsolete?

I have been reading about this topic a lot lately and seeing it popping up various places. Not only that but many of my university friends are speaking and posting about this as well. So the question is, will universities become obsolete soon?

I somehow doubt this. Yes it is true that vast amounts of so called free on-line universities have been appearing lately, as well as on-line paid universities, but I believe that many people are too set in their old ways and traditions (and those of their parents) for the traditional land based/ physical campus based university to die out any time soon. 

Also, many can argue that the overall free knowledge acquirable over the internet has made all forms of university studies old fashioned and out dated but I think that most people prefer having some physical proof of "their knowledge" in the form of a university degree/diploma they can frame.

I must say though that I find the ideas of self education and free education (such as that being offered at free on-line universities) very appealing. Just do an internet search and you will see what I am talking about. But I doubt that these trends will be picking up any time soon. 

The general discussions flying around concerning so called "self'-education"(educating yourself via internet searches, and free on-line educational resources) and free on-line education (such as that offered by free on-line "universities"), is that these will become the preferred method/methods of "studying" due to factors such as poor service delivery, horrid study conditions and the overall high cost of university studies that do not guarantee a higher salary or even a job these days. But, as I said above, I really think it is highly unlikely that "self-education" and on-line universities both free and paid for, will be taking over the traditional university any time soon. What do you think?

Edit: I recently found and tried www.udemy.com, which is a website on which anyone can enrol for fairly cheap courses about virtually anything they can think of. The courses are created by people who have expertise in the said fields. You will even find some free courses in the prospective fields you choose to explore. This website is a good example of a "self educating" resource that many people make use of. Why not try Udemy out for yourself and let us know what you think about internet education as opposed to your university studies? I took a short paid course on philosophy which can be found at this link, however you can try any course you want (in any field you want to search, whether paid or free).

5 comments:

  1. I think all universities and formal studies of any kind are already obsolete because they don't equip a person for real life and real situations.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What about medical studies? I think those equip people/students for real life situations? Surely you cannot operate on someone or give them medical advice without formal training?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maybe you can. Operate and give medical advice without studying that is. You could learn all that on the internet too I'm sure and someone could develop an operation type game in which you learn how to do various operations for example. I also don't see the need for studies. I completed a masters degree quite a while ago in a field I never even practised in. That degree has not helped me even once and was just a waste of money.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes. Same. Surely you cannot operate on someone or give them medical advice without formal training?

    ReplyDelete

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