Tag Archives: non-traditional learning

How The World Will Soon Change In Receiving Information, News, Entertainment, And Education

From using Google, Facebook, WordPress, and YouTube, I can see very clearly that the World will soon change in how people receive Information, News, Entertainment, and Education.  It’s not that I want things to be this way, it’s just that this is inevitable now.

When I was a kid, people watched the evening news on ABC, CBS, and NBC, these were the only television networks available in most towns.  Most people received a local daily newspaper at their homes, which they read in the morning, at lunch, or in the evening.

Now, anyone can access the internet at any moment of the day or night, and read news stories from thousands of local, national, and international professional news organizations, and also from hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens who write posts and upload videos using Facebook, WordPress, and YouTube.

It is at the point now, where for any particular event, anywhere in the World, an ordinary citizen with a cell phone can immediately capture the event on video, write a post, and upload this video on Facebook, WordPress, or YouTube.

Ordinary citizens can now report on any event more quickly, more thoroughly, and without any censorship, compared to professional news organizations.  Because of Google, an ordinary citizen’s post on Facebook, WordPress, or YouTube has just as much chance of being viewed, as a professional news organization’s article.

Because billions of people look at Facebook, WordPress, and YouTube every day to view content posted by billions of individual users, companies now buy advertising on each of these services, just like they used to do for television and newspaper advertisements.

Do you now see and realize, that most people on Earth, now receive their information and entertainment each day, from the posts of billions of individual people to Facebook, WordPress, and YouTube?

I will not even be able to fully explain what the ease of access to information on the internet will create and change as far as education.

Right now, if you wanted to know how to change the drive belts on a Ferrari, Mercedes, or Dodge, for any year and model, you would probably find at least one YouTube video on how to do this, posted by someone who was actually doing this drive belt replacement, on whatever vehicle you selected.

If you wanted to receive tutoring on Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry, or Calculus, you would probably find more than several YouTube videos showing instruction.  The same for Physics, Chemistry, Latin, French, or German.

People are beginning to question, is it really worth going to a traditional college campus and living on a college campus for four years at a cost of $40,000 to $100,000, when there is no guarantee of employment afterwords?  Or, if I want to be a nurse, why am I required to take, pass, and pay for, classes in Physical Education, a foreign language, and Art?

Think about this, how much time do young people have to spend in bathing, getting dressed, driving to campus, walking to class, waiting for class, walking back to their car after classes, and driving back home?  How much money do they have to spend on good clothes, a running vehicle, vehicle repairs, fuel, vehicle insurance, and eating out in order to attend college on a campus?

I don’t like the idea too much of eliminating traditional college campuses, but it looks like for young people who do not have a lot of money, the best thing for them, would be to work a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job, come home, watch a couple of instructional videos for two hours each night, videos that they can pause, and take a test once per week.

What if someone is married or has a child, they might be interrupted to have to go to the grocery store, cook dinner, load the laundry machine, put the kids to bed, and being able to watch instructional videos when they have the time in the evening, being able to pause the videos, might be the best way or the only way for them to complete a course of study.

What I foresee, is that large professional news organizations, and prestigious colleges and universities, may lose their revenue and become almost obsolete.  This will be a huge change for society, because for several hundred years, newspapers, colleges, and universities have controlled who succeeds and who fails in the World.

Look at it this way, now the poorest person on Earth, whether in Africa or Alaska, can go to a library and get on a computer, and learn just about everything there is to know about Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Medicine, Accounting, Law, Astronomy, Foreign Languages, you name it.  They can learn as much as they want, for as long as they want.  There is no one to tell them that they do not have enough money, the proper experience, the proper credentials, a good enough academic record, too much of a criminal record, or that there is any other reason why they can’t learn about any subject.