Disrupting the University

Concerning technology, this is how the picture seems to developing and more or less in this chronological order.
1. Information wants to be free.
2. Educational traditionalists resist.
3. Education pioneers respond by teaching online and more and more for free. Prime examples: MIT open courseware, Khan Academy, Sebastian Thrun.
3. Most educational establishments start shifting lessons online but still try to brand their offerings and some begin certifying their free training. Example: MITX.
4. Casual or informal learning becomes more recognized.
5. Educational traditionalists claim the old way is the best way and point to diplomas, certificates, etc.
7. True, a big problem is certifying learning. There will be a rise in certification bodies with the acceptance that it doesn't matter where or how you learned it, if you know it you know it and someone will certify it. This is going to become a fast growing business but will have many problems to solve.
8. Technological tools will reduce the amount of things people have to learn and remember. Improved translating programs will mean that some people, but not all, will not need to learn English well. They will be able to rely on translators to help them for simple or basic needs. Other technologies will provide answers when information is needed. These will not replace the need for learning facts but will reduce the need. Example: Siri, Evi, Google translate, Google Glass Project.
9. Almost all of the current type of university teaching will be considered boring and disconnected from the exact needs of a career. Universities will have to drastically change their style. The best training will be a marriage between smart content (as a top professor can offer) with appealing presentation (similar to what a documentary producer can offer). Think Discovery Channel. This will be about 80% of the new role of cutting edge universities or teaching centers but with maybe 10% of more personalized training for higher level academics and 10% of more personalized training for slow learners who can't learn unless someone holds their hand.
10. Due to rapid changes in society because of the impact of technological advances, our children are preparing for a future where the types of jobs that they will have do not even exist yet, and these jobs and therefore careers, will be changing rapidly. Most people will have 3-4 careers in their lifetime. No longer will people go to university for four years to learn something they will use for a job they will have for all their lives. People will retool themselves 3-4 times and have to learn new skills, as well, to keep abilities updated. Therefore, learning will be more available and more bite-sized. Think just-In-Time learning.
In other words, universities, as we know them, are doomed. Certifying bodies will become more important than they are today. People will learn anywhere and everywhere, be able to get recognition for this learning, and will need to learn constantly as their careers morph from one field to another and technologies create new jobs that never existed before.