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List:       nextgen-online
Subject:    Re: [Nextgen-online] The Future of Learning Institutions in a
From:       Charl van Niekerk <charlvn () charlvn ! com>
Date:       2009-06-29 9:35:58
Message-ID: 3817f86f0906290235x4fee20d1y7bb1fc3c064e3e9 () mail ! gmail ! com
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To me personally, it seems like the value of having a formal education
is fast decreasing. Other than the more conservative / traditional
business types, people rarely seem to judge my level of skill based on
my academic achievements and more on my interests and personal
projects. Potential employers read our blogs, for example. :)

While I was studying, I found the course material was far outdated. It
gave me a good general background but did not nearly prepare me for
work. That I did myself, determined my own niche area, and learned
myself with documentation that is freely available online accompanied
by a lot of practice as I went along.

Personal projects are awesome. Only problem back then was that hosting
these on the public internet was a problem. Now with App Engine,
Heroku, and cheap / free PHP hosting, that is no longer an issue for
students on a tight budget.

I never will regret finishing my B.Sc. (thanks to Joke!) but if my
university opened up its eyes to the world a bit, it just would have
been so much more fun.

Best Regards,
Charl
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