College versus internet
Spoken as a person who has immersed herself in both, traditional academic learning and internet learning, I can clearly say that a college education is still superior to internet-based models.
Information can be passed over the internet but quality relationships, space for discussions, experiential learning, midnight study sessions, and coffee with friends are part of the college learning experience that the internet cannot duplicate.
Clearly the internet is an essential part of a college education now. I am currently writing a thesis and could not do the in-depth work I am doing without the resources that are available on the internet.
In class sessions, a great majority of our readings are assigned from journals accessible via the internet something that was impossible for the last generation. However, in class we have discussions, debates, and conversations that require us not only to express our opinion but to consider others while doing so. The internet is still for all and intents and purposes, an anonymous venture when it comes to making your voice heard. You can speak without being known. In a classroom, you put yourself up front for everyone to see and judge or hopefully, understand.
College learning takes on a flavor of its own depending on the culture of the campus, the camaraderie (or lack of) of the professors, the administrations well-designed or faulty policies. A college education extends beyond the classroom to the spaces between the buildings and the spaces between people. The internet, in spite of Facebook, My Space and Twitter still cannot create interpersonal space for reflection and discussion.
With internet-based models of learning you will obtain plenty of information. You will be able to read the assignments, write about them, email them to your professor. You might even get back well-written comments, but the quality of the interactions will still be lacking. You won't be able to interact in a way that speaks not just to knowledge but to wisdom as well.
Internet learning creates a vacuum where your thoughts and your opinions are the only ones that matter. You can say what you want, when you want. You might receive criticism on a bulletin board or through email, but there is no real risk. Thoughts and ideas are reduced to words on a screen and the very real people behind them are lost.
Learning is about more than memorizing facts or taking in information. Learning is about synthesizing and contextualizing all that goes along with those facts and figures. Learning is about practicing in the world, trying on ideas sometimes falling flat and sometimes soaring but always assimilating and growing.