I’m thinking about education and accessibility in the physical sense. Back in the day (about ten years ago, really =), you had to physically go somewhere to get an education. This often involved leaving home for a new place, and many people found that aspect very appealing, including myself. But stop thinking as an American (because you probably are one if you’re reading this), and think as someone where there aren’t thousands of colleges and universities. In many regions of the world, education isn’t accessible because there aren’t many if any schools physically there. And really, a postsecondary education is much less an issue as opposed to just getting an elementary or secondary education.

But with online education, one of the big barriers to knowledge is being eroded. I’m not going to wave the victory flag for all of humanity, but the Internet is now offering opportunities to segments of the world that never would have had a chance to gain an education that can enrich their countries and cities. With the spread of Internet accessibility, so goes online education, and with major powers like Google keenly interested in spreading Internet access, the opportunity for education only increases for people around the world.

This probably isn’t the most profound blog post ever, but from another standpoint, it kind of is. We take a lot for granted in this culture. Certainly the Internet won’t remove the monetary access issue, but sometimes, just knocking down one wall can be a start to opening up the worlds and minds of others.