Internet och högre utbildning

Med internet möjliggörs en utveckling för högre utbildning liknande den inom mediebranschen: ett fåtal prestigefulla universitet erbjuder undervisning för en låg avgift till en världspublik och konkurrerar därmed ut de halvstora aktörer (universitet och högskolor) som tidigare funnits på marknaden. Med hjälp av informationsteknologi kan lärosäten som Harvard ge studenter överallt möjligheten att lyssna på högkvalitativa föreläsningar och använda interaktiva program av olika slag (samt ordna seminarier över Skype eller liknande). Sedan etablerar man filialer runt om i världen där studenterna kan examineras muntligt eller skriftligt och få ut examensbevis.

In 2009, about 29 percent of college students took at least one course online; by 2014, that number is projected to increase to 50 percent.
...
The most promising initiatives involve cooperation between and among schools. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University recently announced a $60 million initiative to create edX, described as “a transformational partnership in online education” that will “enhance campus-based teaching and learning and build a global community of online learners.” Through video and immediate feedback, students will be able to take online versions of MIT and Harvard courses that include exams, papers and even laboratories.

Länk

Hur påverkas jobben?

This doesn't just mean a different way of learning: The funding of academic research, the culture of the academy and the institution of tenure are all threatened.
...
Because the current college system, like the newspaper industry, has built-in redundancies, new Internet efficiencies will lead to fewer researchers and professors. Every major paper once had a bureau in, say, Sarajevo -- now, a few foreign correspondents' pieces are used in dozens of papers. Similarly, at noon on any given day, hundreds of university professors are teaching introductory Sociology 101. The Internet makes it harder to justify these redundancies. In the future, a handful of Soc. 101 lectures will be videotaped and taught across the United States. 

Länk