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So when would we go off into the "real world" and what would be transition for that?
Oh and why not open college to everyone instead of just getting rid of them completely b/c they are exclusive? I think I'm going to use the same competition argument I used before. At college you definitely some sort of competition b/c the job market and what comes after is ruthless.
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<p>Well, you know, prolonged adolescence seems to be a Western phenomenon. In non-Western countries, people were often considered to be adults at puberty. Of course though, we now have more to learn before we really can go out into the world - personally, I'm glad that the minimum driving age isn't lower. :p</p>
<p>One of the problems with education is age-segregation - this phenomenon of massive schooling has never been attempted before. Certainly, before mass schooling happened, people were fully able to grow up into adults and to "live" normal lives. Schooling isn't necessary for this - people can get in-job training for their specific tasks.</p>
<p>Supposedly, college is for an "education". But it's also regarded as a signal for the job market - it's often treated as such - many students are only motivated by potential job opportunities. Still, it doesn't have to be the only signal for the job market. Students could have the option to take tests in advanced subjects (provided by a nationalized testing agency) and to pass them to prove their ability - this seems to be accepted in the software industry - where people have to pass certified exams in order to get accredited (don't quote me on this, I just heard of that). </p>
<p>This wouldn't be a huge leap from previous arrangements - considering that college grades are already heavily based on finals and midterms anyways</p>
<p>You obviously don't need to be in a classroom to write papers anyways.</p>
<p>What of research and other opportunities though? Professors are generally open in letting students volunteer for research, whether the students go to university or not. But research seems to be one of those things where students have to be on campus for (same with labs). Labs aren't going to be easily transferrable online through the Internet. :p There's a difficulty.</p>
<p>Yeah, there are some things in college that are hard to mimic. For some people, college is largely useless. But for some others - they see it as the highlight of their lives. And the rigorous environment in the college certainly seems to motivate students to learn - whether they actually remember the material or not - that's a different story.</p>
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Anyways, one thing that I've thought about: free market education. Let the market decide prices for textbooks (instead of forcing students in particular classes to buy certain textbooks). People can post reviews of textbooks on Amazon.com, and these reviews in turn inform potential buyers of the product. There's always the potential for abuse (heh, Amazon.com used to have a lot of it), but that abuse can be moderated.</p>
<p>The other issue is BitTorrent. :p Why buy textbooks when you can download them off BitTorrent? This makes online learning A LOT easier, but it might prevent authors from fully realizing their profits. Artists don't seem to be profoundly affected by p2p file sharing, but there is a key difference between the fanbase of an artist and the fanbase of a textbook. :p Frankly though, one thing is inevitable: more free content will be posted online, and we'll ask the question, do we even need textbooks in the future?</p>