Will Technology Kill Universities?

Free online courses, crowdsourcing, and big data are transforming the university from a gatekeeper to a public resource

In 2001, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced it was going to put the university’s entire body of course materials online, for free. That meant syllabuses, as well as problem sets and exams—and their solutions. There were even going to be some video lectures online. In 2002, the MIT OpenCourseWare pilot project debuted with 32 courses. Today, according to MIT, 125 million visitors access material from 2,150 classes, including the very popular “Introduction to Computer Science and Programming,” which helps students feel confident about “writing small programs that allow them to accomplish useful goals.

MIT’s creation of OpenCourseWare is credited with sparking a global movement to make educational resources free to access, adapt, and redistribute. It’s been over a decade and hundreds of universities now offer open course material online. The Internet has expanded its reach, computers have gone through several generations, and mobile phones are nearly ubiquitous. In this new environment, it’s clear that sitting down in front of a chalkboard with a spiral notebook and pen is an anachronism—but what else will be? 

Every generation of new technology brings excitement because it changes and improves human experience. Think of how excited people were when the book, the radio, and the television first entered their lives. These tools significantly changed the way we taught and learned—and the Internet, the personal computer, and today’s participatory cyber-infrastructure are carrying on that tradition. The creation of massive open online courses (MOOCs), for example, enables flexible and free educational opportunities to hundreds and thousands of learners around the world.

MOOCs have sparked debates about whether they will replace teachers and physical schools, but this is an alarm that has been sounded before with other new technologies. From a historical perspective, the answer has been a clear and consistent no. The reason: the human element is indispensable for educational systems. Student experiences in schools and universities aren’t only about mastering a particular body of domain knowledge and acquiring cognitive skills such as problem solving. They are also—and more importantly—about interpersonal social experiences, such as collaboration, leadership, friendship, and apprenticeship. MOOCs just cannot afford such immersive and comprehensive educational experiences. And let’s not forget that current MOOCs have limitations (for instance: credibility, accessibility, the high demand for motivation, and self-regulation).

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Will Technology Kill Universities?