This tool, the results of which pervade every facet of modern life, created professorial superstars long ago. Their names may not be household words, but their knowledge influenced thousands of students who never heard them lecture. Future professorial superstars may spellbind a million students. Higher education's critics claim that all other social institutions have found ways to deliver goods and services less expensively because of information technology. And they may be right.
Information technology does have the potential to reduce some costs.
In the future, many institutions may need fewer classrooms, dormitories, laboratories, and parking lots. However, they will need more and better fiber-optics systems, computer networks, software packages, and work stations, all of which require maintenance and upgrades. A Personal Quandary. My assessment about the inevitable technology-driven world of higher education collides with my academic experience. Of the eight years I spent in college and graduate school on a path to a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, I was fortunate to spend one year at CalTech.