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Sir Ken chats about education in terms of nurturing learning environments

Re: "Online learning shaking up the world of education," Jan. 30. Monday I started a MOOC (massive open online course) at the University of Edinburgh, "An Introduction to Philosophy." Eighty thousand students are enrolled. My email inbox is crammed with hundreds of introductory personal statements covering what meals students just ate, major obsessions, relationships, etc.

Twenty years from now, many colleges and universities will be closed, their classrooms deserted and their students learning at home. These are the predictions of many post-secondary commentators these days. What is it that has changed so drastically? Is it that students are more demanding, faculty less committed, budgets too tight?