Going Back To School, Old, And At Home

HIGHER EDUCATION is transitioning from brick and mortar to the internet. This transition, and its ramifications, is the topic of discussion on "The End of College", by Kevin Kerry, who uses the term "the university of everywhere" to describe the phenomenon. Just recently a sixteen year old boy from the middle of nowhere in Outer Mongolia took an online class offered by M.I.T., got a perfect score in the entire class including the final exam, and is now physically on campus in Boston at M.I.T. as a full time student. His exact program of study is unknown, but possibly includes higher math, medicine, classical literature, or rocket science. then, who knows? On to save the world, most likely. In another few years someone in his position might not even have to leave Mongolia and travel in person to live on campus at M.I.T. in order to achieve all this. Ah, the many wonders of the computer age. Anything seems possible. For some years now my plan has/had been to work hard, save money, then retire at sixty and go back to college, and learn like hell. maybe computer studies, programming, web site design, whatever. Sociology and psychology classes, definitely. Also, German and Russian, and maybe a smidgeon of Italian. Just the other day I turned sixty, retired, and my plan now is to enroll at the University in the fall, and get started. may my journey be long as glorious. I am, like, soo totally excited. My question is; how much time will I spend in physical classrooms on physical campus, and how much time online, in the comfort of my own lovely home? who knows? I certainly don't. I'm sure I'll find out though. Maybe a combination of both would be best, some time at home, some time on campus. somehow, though, I have the distinct feeling that in the future we are going to be seeing some very, very educated people, all over the place. And how can this be other than good? Rest assured, though, that if there is any way to derive evil from this modern marvel, we'll find it.