R.I.P. College
College is done. Over. Finished.
We are living in the end days. This disruption of education has been discussed and predicted for many years.
Companies, if they even continue to hire humans, will educate personnel with AI within organizations.
If people still want to endure four years and feel like they are getting something for their obscenely high tuition and student loan debt, then sure. Colleges top-heavy with staff and administrators are very happy to have you.
College, Inc.
Still valuable?
Q: Is there still value in a 4-year college education?
A: OF COURSE! If done right.
However, more and more and more administrators and layers of management have been added while less attention is given to what goes on in the learning environment. More and more resources allocated to student enrolment and recruitment, student experience; more on all the “extras” than on thinking, reading, discussing and learning.
How do I know? Because this has been my life for 25 years and, dear reader, I have seen the changes. However, not a whole lot has changed in the classroom in 25 years, just the changes all around me. This is common across all the post-secondary institutions I have had the privilege to teach at.
The only things getting better are the numbers and salaries of managers.
It’s behind the paywall now, but a worthy post. Wither Critical Thinking (April 2024). If you are interested, ask me and I’ll send it. Better:
Anyway, here is what is coming and might (finally) disrupt post-secondary ed:
An Educational “Experience”
Coming in the very near future
[Cue the creepy video ad]
Woman walking in a shared office environment: “Hi, I’m Sasha, Director of Educational Experience here at Apex Learning Environments where we offer you a premium learning experience that’s second-to-none in the entire Metaverse!"
“A learning experience personally tailored to you and your learner’s needs.”
“Exams and essays are no indication of learning. And, at Apex, grades no longer matter.”
You will receive a personal assessment and feedback for the betterment of you, the learner.
Everyone graduates at the top of their class, in their own time, in their own way.
“Attendance is not taken. Students do not have to attend to be present. Learning is not a place at a scheduled time. All students learn in different ways.”
“Get your degree on your phone. It’s all gamified. No need to hold your head upright or ever speak to another human. All social anxieties are eliminated.”
“What was formerly a 4-year degree can now be completed in as little as 3 weeks. some students can stretch out as far as 7 years.
“And we are fully accredited by the International Digital Self-Directed Learning Infosphere, so you know your are earning a quality degree.”
“Download the app and get started today!”
“Apex: a college degree without ever getting out of bed!”
Master degree and PhDs also available. We generate and defend your dissertations on your behalf.
Huxley was right
All the humanities: history, literature, philosophy and culture will be set adrift. All this historical knowledge fizzle away. No one’ll read them any longer. It’s not like many were reading them now.
All digital now: editable, invisible and censored as physical books fade away
Western civilization is now fully polarized and distracted. Owned. Minds are owned.
School
That’s a funny word: school. Where’s it from?
Greek: σχολή (skholē)
Originally meant “leisure”, “free time”, or “a place of leisure for learning and discussion.”
In classical Athens, skholē referred to the time and space where free citizens (not laborers) could engage in philosophical or intellectual discussion.
"The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed" - William Gibson
Why “finally”?
Because nearly everything has been disrupted by the Internet, but not college
All print media, news media, the music industry, television, film, shopping, travel, training,
Of course colleges have been using online learning platforms for decades.
YOU: So what is the disruption and why the disruption now?
ME: AI.
You have been able to seek higher knowledge on your own for a while.
We invest significant time, effort and money for a college education.
We’ve had libraries for centuries, but you have to go and search and read and think. Too much work. No direction: don’t know what to read, what to think and importantly how to think.
We’ve had the Internet and search and digitization of books and articles for decades, and YouTube but you have to search and read and think. Work. Greater access and limited direction. It is possible to determine what to read, what to think and even how to think.
We have AI now. Ask and it delivers.
YOU: Is it a real disruption?
ME: It’s possible, yes. There are multiple factors: rising tuition costs, declining demographics, economic situation and a real driver is the employment market. People go to college because the market wants people with college degrees (for a handful of reasons). If you could acquire knowledge, skills, discipline in less than 4 years and demonstrate this to an employer at a fraction of the cost, would some / many people do it? Over time if employers and industries preferred this method it would pick up momentum.
A bachelor degree on your phone, gamefied, in your spare time. Earn tokens. Win stuff!
Yeah, use AI and turn college education into a multi-user game. It’ll happen.
YOU: Is it only the technology and the format/platform the driver to this brave new world?
ME: Well, the lower cost and the time saved, too.
What if AI can constantly assess your learning and give you feedback and adjust for your learning style? Everyone learns at different rates and different styles. and, everyone has a different background and life experience.
So, maybe Apex Learning Environments is coming soon?
YOU: You are a professor, aren’t you concerned?
ME: no.
The interviewers you will meet as you enter the room for your next job interview:
YOU: Shall I tell you a little about myself?
THEM: That won’t be necessary. We already know everything.
Prediction:
College campuses, as they close down, will be converted to retirement homes.
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"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." - John Dewey
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