I was on a panel for the wonderful iMentor organization earlier this week talking about the future of education.  Every time I do that these days I emphasize that instead of talking about education we should focus on learning.  Because the Internet is revolutionizing where, when and from whom we can learn.  Secondary education in particular is where we are beginning to see the first signs of the dramatic shifts to come.

Here are just a few examples of the amazing things that are happening.  MIT, which has been leading the charge on Open Courseware is working on MITx which will be a learning system on top of the existing great and free materials.  Udacity and Coursera are for-profit startups working on similar offerings.  Through Codecademy (USV portfolio company) many thousands of people are learning for the first time how to program in a highly interactive and engaging fashion. And through Skillshare (another USV portfolio company), people like Fred – experts in a domain – are beginning to teach without needing to become adjuncts or instructors at existing universities.

The increasing availability of these free or incredibly affordable learning opportunities will put tremendous pressure on traditional colleges and universities, especially at a time when students are finding it harder and harder to pay back their loans.  All of this is very much at the early adopter stage, but these Internet based systems are hugely scalable unlike the incumbents.  So when the shift picks up momentum it can happen quite rapidly.

I am excited about this revolution in learning and am looking forward to hearing from people on the forefront at Skillshare’s Penny Conference tomorrow.  If you can’t attend in person, there will also be a livestream.  I will be starting the day with a class on modern art – now that we have moved to Chelsea that seems particularly relevant!