Why Universities May Be Doomed

I think the idea has become almost a truism now that with technology, we can do a lot of education for ourselves (though Eben is right to point out that there are some teaching functions, like one on one mentoring and small group interactions, that do not scale). The inevitable counter to these arguments, as you point out, is that universities perform a signalling, certification function. I think you make a great point that technology can provide a substitute in this domain as well, if creatively applied. That's an important point and one that I haven't seen made in these types of discussions.

I would agree with Eben that the point about the fate of universities as institutions is independent from your points about the educational and signalling uses of technology. I don't think that you need to establish that universities are doomed to make your points here. It can be simultaneously be true that universities persist as institutions (though perhaps changed in some ways), and that technology provides an alternative route to education and certification. It might also be true that creative use of technology can increase the amount of value that a person inside a university gets out of her time inside the university.

-- DevinMcDougall - 28 Nov 2011