Bridging Communities of Interest

Mark Glaser over at the PBS Blog Mediashift posted late last week about the emergence of "Open Universities" incluidng Wikiversity and iTunes U and their ability to replace traditional "university learning" with a lower cost alternative.  Not surprisingly to me, Mark thinks things have a long way to go.  Education works best when it is a very emotional process, i.e., when there is emotional content associated with the information transfer. Reading about cabinet-making, for example, can never produce the same emotional impact as watching a craftsperson transform wood, as if almost by magic, into something useful and beautiful. Those emotional sensations become like rudders as the apprentice tries the trade himself -- by recalling how he felt when he saw the magic happen, the apprentice can better sense when he is right and when he is not.  At least for now, the Internet will always be a supplement to this process -- Facebook doesn't replace real friendship it makes it richer.  The Internet probably can't replace the teacher student relationship -- but it can help.  For example,  where universities or even departments can seem like islands, the Web has the power to build bridges across those islands to free information flow and dialog.  This in and of itself is something worth getting excited about.