Well today was my first day of my online class at UMass for Drugs & Society. Having never taken an online class before, I was not too sure what too expect. While there appears to be a lot of reading and writing involved, in the end I think it is going to be pretty damn easy. Since I already write a ton on my blog, on the Kay Hanley board, and on h2otown.info, I am used to writing from a half an hour to a full hour each day. In addition to the reading and group discussion we have to do for the class, there are also video lectures from our professor to watch. Though online classes can never replace the feel of an actual classroom, I think advances in technology and the spread of broadband might make tradition classrooms a thing of the past with in 25 years. Hell, they might even still have dorms for people to have the college experience, but get rid of the actual classrooms at the schools altogether. It also gives the college the ability to outsource the professor job to some genius in India who can teach a ton of students at half the price. The college may only have a few professors physically on campus to due research which the students can assist in more now that they don’t have to be physically in class as much.

            For the record, I don’t just think the internet is going to have a huge change in college education. I see Elementary School aged children being home schooled at a much higher rate in the next 15-20 years. If a lot of parent’s want to work, then maybe one parent who takes a class to get a teaching certificate can stay home with about 5-10 children and download/teach the school districts curriculum themselves with the help of maybe one teacher who oversees a bunch of small home school programs. What I am writing here is no revelation since many of these types of scenarios are already happening, but I think what will shock people is how quickly the education system changes in the next 10-20 years.