Do you think the Internet will ever replace College?

[Very Tired]

So I've been teaching myself animation as my hobby lately using only the resources only available online. It's amazing looking back on the 3 months since I've started how far I've come. If this current rate continues I'm pretty sure I can work myself into a paying job in the field in a few years, that is if I was interested in working in animation. So I've been thinking, the internet is fairly new compared to college, online education sources are popping up, forums like these where you can ask questions could possibly replace asking your teacher questions. It might be easy to picture learning something that involves a computer program replacing college but I'm wondering if college is in any danger of people just self teaching themselves the field they are interested in and jumping into the work force, completely skipping college. Probably not anytime soon, but as the resources available on internet grows in the coming years.

So here are the pros I thought up off for doing this:

-It's cheap - I've taught myself everything using only free resources only. Free programs like audacity or sfm, an online pdf of the Animators survival kit, Youtube tutorials. The only thing I'm actually paying for is Adobe CC which is $20 a month, and thats just because I'm not the type of person who torrents the adobe products for free. Evening buying 3ds Max for $3700 would pale in comparison to the $30,000 my college tuition costs.

-Learn the way you want to - Yeah, learning online doesn't force you to take some classes on history, or do some busy work. I've worked and learned at animation at my own pace, going on and off when I felt like it. Not because I was forced to due to it being homework.

-No grades? - You have to admit that's a plus, I've seen plenty of people drop out of college for a job in their field because their employees were impressed by what they used their skills for, not because of some letter next to their transcript.

[Deleted]

Yes and the telegraph will replace letters one day-studys show that children actually learn for the teacher.

[Åmbulance]

When you can supplement the income they will lose, i will say no. Case in point DIV I schools.

[Sorrior]

Maybe but it will probably be more like the internet becomes what college once was for bettering yourself and pursuing knowledge.....I wish college was what it once was instead it's now been borderline added as an extra hoop.

[Deleted]

Probably when the Daily Mail becomes reasonable.

[Kraenen]

nah, you still need in vivo experience for the brain to really soak up all the info and make the actual learning process, rather than some kind of rote mem

[Deleted]

It could be used as a extra resource. Take over completly, not gonna happen in a looooonnnnnggg time.

Also aren't there already online courses, with half of them being huge scams with no value?

[Chirri]

Something like this?

http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitr...the_cloud.html (22 minute video)

It would take some significant changes to the way we educate kids, and the way we look at education, and the way we ensure accurate information is available.

[Reg]

I really hope not. The social aspect of a college/university is just as important to life as an education, in my opinion. I don't mean the drinking/partying aspect even though that has its place, but I mean the daily social interactions that develop team work and other qualities people should have.

[Endus]

You don't go to college just for access to the library, you go to college for access to mentorship by professors who know the field and can help guide you in ways you might not have foreseen as necessary.

Are we going to reach a point when the information is all online? Probably. Will that replace education? Not really, because the information is only maybe 25-40% of the process.

[BoysBoysBoys]

Internet can't replace labs. Internet can't replace getting a guaranteed source of help (e.g the prof, students). Internet can't detect plagiarism etc..

At the very least when it comes to science classes, the internet will likely never replace College/Universities.

[OzoAndIndi]

Would be nice, considering people could be judged more on what they're able to do... which of course still is possible, however...I doubt it will replace the requirements of needing fancy degrees. Additionally, there are other aspects that go into certain fields of work that self teaching is not likely going to cover if someone isn't interested in that part, but is still good knowledge to at least have the basic understanding of even if not directly involved in it. And someone learning on their own may not even be aware that something is an aspect of the business they need to know about. Animation included, given the need to be able to work alongside other individuals necessary to producing a project. It's one thing to be talented with the modeling and animation, it's another to be able to coordinate with the concept artists and others as a team.

[Very Tired]

Would be nice, considering people could be judged more on what they're able to do... which of course still is possible, however...I doubt it will replace the requirements of needing fancy degrees. Additionally, there are other aspects that go into certain fields of work that self teaching is not likely going to cover if someone isn't interested in that part, but is still good knowledge to at least have the basic understanding of even if not directly involved in it. And someone learning on their own may not even be aware that something is an aspect of the business they need to know about. Animation included, given the need to be able to work alongside other individuals necessary to producing a project. It's one thing to be talented with the modeling and animation, it's another to be able to coordinate with the concept artists and others as a team.

Funny thing is, I've actually taken my animation skills and joined a group of around 70 people working to produce a 2 hours film. They have everything, background artists, voice actors, writers, storyboard artists, and us animators, all learning to work together over the internet, we've talking in Skype now. And there are a bunch of these projects that I could choose to work on even though I've only known of Adobe Flash's existence for 3 months.

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Internet can't replace getting a guaranteed source of help (e.g the prof, students). Internet can't detect plagiarism

Not sure what college you're going to, but the internet is the only way my teachers detect plagiarism (turnitin.com). Forums are also a great source of help, and possibly more specialized in the area you have questions in instead of your teachers.

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You don't go to college just for access to the library, you go to college for access to mentorship by professors who know the field and can help guide you in ways you might not have foreseen as necessary.

Are we going to reach a point when the information is all online? Probably. Will that replace education? Not really, because the information is only maybe 25-40% of the process.

But this is probably what I'm saying people can do on their own. Yes, reading about animation would have been pretty useless for me, but playing around in Adobe Flash and After Effects for hours on end allowed me to connect the dots on my own, without needing a teacher to guide me through it.

[Deleted]

But this is probably what I'm saying people can do on their own. Yes, reading about animation would have been pretty useless for me, but playing around in Adobe Flash and After Effects for hours on end allowed me to connect the dots on my own, without needing a teacher to guide me through it.

But what happens when there is something you can't possibly solve or understand? Or if you are doing something that looks right but is wrong or horrible ineffective?

[Torgent]

You don't go to college just for access to the library, you go to college for access to mentorship by professors who know the field and can help guide you in ways you might not have foreseen as necessary.

Are we going to reach a point when the information is all online? Probably. Will that replace education? Not really, because the information is only maybe 25-40% of the process.

Well said. I will also add that college is more than learning information. College offers a unique experience to socialize and grow as a community of students. Being smart because of an online class doesn't help you if you can't communicate with peers effectively. There are also many many subjects that just can't really be learned from photos on a computer. For example: Anatomy and Physiology labs. Getting hands on experience with real or modeled body parts is what prepares people in medical fields to do their job. There are many examples of things that can't be replaced by sheer information alone. Sciences are great examples of such.

So, no. I do not believe that the internet will ever replace college.

[Very Tired]

But what happens when there is something you can't possibly solve or understand? Or if you are doing something that looks right but is wrong or horrible ineffective?

If I'm really that desperate I Google the problem I'm having. Plus Im sending the .swf files and .fla files to more skilled animators on my project. They usually tell me if I'm doing something horrible wrong or ineffective.

[Ispamx]

Internet can't detect plagiarism etc..

Actually I find the Internet to be the most effective tool in detecting plagiarism. Similar to Shop Ebay, my University uses Turnitin which takes all the past works submitted by students of the university, Scholarly Journals, and other works in the Universitys database and highlights segments of your assessment that are deemed to similar too these works, also providing a citation of the original work. Whenever I submitted an assessment quotes I used and other necessary things were always highlighted as direct or similar versions. Though of course as long as quotes were properly referenced you do not get in trouble for them.

[Deleted]

If I'm really that desperate I Google the problem I'm having. Plus Im sending the .swf files and .fla files to more skilled animators on my project. They usually tell me if I'm doing something horrible wrong or ineffective.

And this is more effective/better than siting in classroom and raise your hand?

[Very Tired]

And this is more effective/better than siting in classroom and raise your hand?

Indeed, any problems I've had have probably been encountered by hundreds of other people doing the same thing. But there is no guarantee my professor will know of the exact solution on the spot to every single one of my problems.

[Torgent]

Indeed, any problems I've had have probably been encountered by hundreds of other people doing the same thing. But there is no guarantee my professor will know of the exact solution on the spot to every single one of my problems.

The point is that your professor would have taught you how to do it in the first place. Classroom learning isn't just fumbling through a program until you figure out how to do something. The professor tells you how to do it, then any problems, they will correct.