The Future of Learning Institutions focuses on the change in communication, media and interpersonal relations. It does not seem to be concerned that the digital age will see a fundamental change in the institution itself, its structure, purpose, direction and position within society, particularly at what, today, is the undergraduate level in post secondary systems. How this might affect, globally, the preK-12 system is also of significant interest, particularly given MIT’s “One Laptop Per Child project and the ubiquitousness of cell phones and other networking technologies.

The change, institutionally, will also be affected by the much promoted web 2.0, open access and open source movements and efforts such as MIT’s publishing its courses on the Internet.

With the above, the idea that the library is the heart of a university changes significantly and with linkages in brick and click space for courses and knowledge exchange, the core purpose of the university defaults to “certification”.

One can not assume that the venerable Ivory Tower’s walls will remain unbreached and that the institution will be a sinecure, except, perhaps at the graduate or research levels.

The Learning Institution as an “institution, academic journals and communications vehicles and function of all who enter the walls will find that the past that never was is not here, nor is the extrapolated future just enhanced by technology.