Digital Super-universities
by Social networks are being set up at universities, they have a great future and will introduce us to a new decade of learning. Here is how.
The Future of Universities
It is not to be doubted that even though some universities are versatile, most have over the years turned into loggy monsters. Pained by bureaucracy, suffocated by procedures and pestered by credit systems, they have turned from what was once the ultimate way to support learning and research, to an agreeable standard. A new way of networking will bring an end to this, allowing the minds whitin the universities to roam freely once more, through a space without inhibitions, a social university network space.
Image source: wikipedia.com
University Networks Today
While some universities have rudimentary networking sites, usually used to transfer information or data files, they are still extremely underdeveloped. During my time at Ghent University (Belgium), I had experience with a system called Minerva, which was made out of groups or classes to which one could subscribe. Then the teacher could use it to divide files to the students following his class, the students could send files to the teacher and there was a discussion forum. Although of course handy, it is a watered down, less useful version of facebook or any of these social networking sites. There is no way to interact between different groups, there is no room to build a profile for the students or even the professors, there is no way to befriend people or send messages through other ways than e-mail. As a result, the community feeling fades, since the system is confined.
What the Future Holds
It is just a matter of time, before some pioneer universities will seek to implement the power and ability of social networking sites such as facebook into their teaching methods. They will of course do so through their own versions, inaccesible to outsiders, rather than letting their research and research ability fly freely around the internet. It was at Harvard University, where facebook started and given the success it had there, one cannot doubt that any recreation at another university will be at least as succesful. The only difference will be that it will be controlled by the university and rather than facebook being made public, it will be confined, since the university will harvest its power.
Image source: http://www.moillusions.com
The Final Step
While these networks are already being established by some universities, such New York city University and the University of Pennsylvania, one cannot ignore the next step. The combination of these future networks to create a bigger university. Universities will be allowed to share research, to interact not only between departments, but also between universities, whether they are in the same country or not. The result will be a test of strength and size as smaller, less strong universities will be swallowed by stronger bigger universities, leading the research. Academic conferences will be held through these networks, rather than in person and the universities will be compete and cooperate to solve problems in a more intense and more goal oriented way. The digital superuniversity will be a fact.
Creepy or awesome, that’s for you to decide.
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