Professors will still play a critical role in the new educational model -- whatever that is. I think we are seeing the beginnings of it with online education. It's interesting that many university students that board at college also treat much of their studies as an online class. For example, many students purposefully skip lecture and instead review the recording later, so that they can pause the playback and take accurate notes without missing the next important point made by the professor.

College cannot go online entirely -- field work and lab work come to mind -- but the model is going to have to change dramatically in order to survive.

The idea of a university is a medieval one. In those times printing was so expensive that few beyond the wealthy owned books. It made economic sense to send your children (usually boys) to a distant university to board and learn. Now that the cost of information distribution is practically zero, this model of education increasingly makes little sense. Combine this economic trend with two others: (1) Most college graduates owe a debilitating amount of debt; and (2) most college graduates are finding that the implicit bargain of a four-year degree for a reasonable chance at financial security. These three trends spell doom for the current model of college. Change or die.

Heh... that way Google could help prevent TWI (Texting While Intoxicated)