This is the next Teachers Union battleground. Mooc’s: Massively open online courses being spearheaded by some pretty prestigious universities such as Stanford, Mit, Princeton.
I expect the fight at the K-8 level will be the where the pitch battles take place as that’s where liberal indoctrination takes place, but it will go far beyond that as teachers start facing irrelevancy and tenure grows scarce.
I think it is entirely possible to retake at least a part of academia for conservatives. With the current economic system many colleges and universities are relying on adjunct or part time faculty more and more. If Freepers with advanced degrees, (Masters or Doctorate), who have some time available, obtain positions at colleges think of the impact we can have. Sure adjunct faculty are generally limited to a few courses per semester but we begin to make a difference one classroom at a time. I have been teaching humanities and history at my local CC.
It is very gratifying each semester to hear from students how I’ve opened their eyes and got them to think critically. And that is really all it is, thinking critically. I don’t preach to them or advance my agenda. I often end up playing the left’s position in the role of Devil’s Advocate. I just make sure that I present both sides of any issue we are discussing and then let the students decide....it is amazing how many of them are really conservative and didn’t even realize it.
A good TEACHER will take these resources, add value, and give a superior education to the on-line only version. An "education professional" will have all the problems you postulate.
I suspect that what will happen is that the on-line coursework will be used to cover the basics (replacing classroom lecture), and that actual classroom time will be used for individual tutoring, drill, and added customized instruction.