Online Education.

A few days ago, one of my professors was talking about the future of higher education and how he believes it will be almost, if not entirely, virtual. At first, I thought he was being dramatic but he justified himself well.

In college, I took a few online courses. Since beginning graduate school, I've taken three courses that were exclusively offered online but were required for my degree. One, ironically, was a course on how to use a computer. Even in the classes that met face-to-face, we relied more on computers than each other. On more than one occasion, a classmate had to "skype in" to avoid getting an absence that would penalize her grade.

On Wednesday, I have two online exams due and they mark the end of my program. I won't necessarily have to see my classmates or professors again. While I thought my professor was odd, it seems that an increasing amount of coursework is done online. I was constantly required to use Twitter, Engrade, Blackboard, Google Docs, Ge.TT, and other various sources to complete and submit assignments. 

I've read a few articles on the issue and it seems very likely, especially considering the upkeep costs of running a university, that the future of higher education will be online. Here are some of the things I've read on the issue:

"The Future of College: How Online Education Is Changing Everything" (Distance Education)

"Colleges Should Stop Imitating Harvard" (CNN)

"Crossing state lines gets tougher for colleges, universities" (Independent Mail)

"The Future of Colleges: 9 Inevitable Changes" (The Chronicle of Higher Education at Georgia Southern University)

Those are just a few articles I found on the issue but what are your thoughts? Have you heard this before?

P.S. The "kissers" responded to the photo that made them famous.