Could online education put an end to college universities?

Seth Reeves

Recently in my Information Systems class, everyone got into a big discussion about the Internet and Higher Education from a single quote by Peter Drucker, "Thirty years from now the big University campuses will be relicts. Universities won't survive. It is as large a change as when we first got the printed book." Drucker said this referring to how he believes that Higher Education will almost fully rely on the Internet for online education.

A portion of the students agreed with Drucker and some of the positives to his theory. Online Education could do a lot for giving people around the world a better, more customized eduation. In lectures, almost every professor just rambles on about their lesson, and may think that everyone understands. In reality, there are a lot who aren't really understanding the material to only a few who do. Online Education could allow people to go at their own pace, and take courses set up for their own learning abilities. Also, online education is much more convenient than going to college, and way less expensive. But could education from the Internet totally wipe out what college universities have to offer?

However, the reason why colleges will not be taken over by online education is because college is not just about the education, but the experience. College is the first time teenagers experience living on their own in the real world. They get to meet new people and be in a new enviroment. Aside from the experience, human interaction will always be more crucial to learning than online education. The ability to raise your hand, ask a question, and have a professor or teacher physically explain it to you is very important to successful learning. That is how people have been learning since Socrates was teaching. This is how we human beings learn, and this is how it will always be.

Although, colleges should have a few online courses so that people who don't have time to experience college (adults with a job) can still get a college education. But, never shall universities be overrun by online education!