Seems to me that a couple of (related) factors are likely to create some major changes to post-secondary, and maybe also secondary, eduction. Those factors being cost and technology.

On cost, between 1986 and 2011 the cost of college tuition increased by 498%, more than 4x the 115% increase in CPI over the same time period (http://bit.ly/RaYciE). Likely this can be largely attributed to some combination of too much easy money and poor management. Bugs me enough that I am unlikely to give more than token gifts to my ivy league alma mater. I do not think they should be rewarded for creating a bubble, never mind increasing the size of the bubble, a bad thing that will eventually burst.

On technology, online learning is now ready for prime time. Video, testing, project, and collaboration tools are excellent. Given the choice between learning in person from the 278th best teacher in a field or in an online setting from the best teacher in the same field I might choose the online setting before even considering cost, which is another compelling factor. I get the arguments for needing “live” teaching and classes, but I think the arguments get weaker as you move down the educational institution food chain.

I have been poking around in and taking advantage of some of the online offerings, and they are pretty neat:

Coursera is maybe my favorite of the offerings, platform seems solid, and there is a good mix of subject matters, from technical to liberal arts and other.

Udacity is also a very slick platform, but the subject offerings are more limited and mainly of a technical nature.

edX has limited offerings right now, but a good mix of topics, and is backed by MIT and Harvard and a few other forward thinking powerhouses, I’ll keep an eye on this one.

 iTunes U has the largest and broadest set of offerings, but does not have any of the slick interactive and collaborative features of the other sites.