I've been a lot of things in my job since I started working at IHI in May of 2011. As the Managing Editor of the IHI Open School, I've been excited, challenged, frustrated, overwhelmed, stressed, and exhilarated. (I've also been exhausted at our National Forum, but that's a story for another time.)

Never, though, not once, have I been bored.

I primarily work on the IHI Open School online courses, which means I'm fortunate enough to work at the corner of education and health care – two of the most exciting fields out there. They are both in a state of constant motion and, more importantly, constant innovation. If you blink, they both change. If you blink again, you're way behind. If you blink again, well, you get it.

One of the most enjoyable parts of my non-boring job is to learn about new innovators and other types of education – health care or otherwise – on the market. For the past year, that has meant a whole lot of MOOCs. MOOCs, for those of you who don't follow the field of education, are massive open online courses. They're popping up all over the place – most notably, on sites such as Coursera, edX, and Udacity. (And even though it's on smaller scale, they're also popping up in the IHI Open School. We have 19 courses that we hope will find their way toward a massive following someday.) 

I took a Coursera course last year and found it to be slightly challenging and incredibly engaging. I chose "Gamification," a topic that applied to my personal and professional curiosities. (Coursera now offers more than 200 courses from more than 30 universities on everything from gamification and financial planning to calculus and cryptography.)  During the six-week course that started with more than 80,000 students from around the world, I watched dozens of video lectures, completed online quizzes, participated in lively discussions, and completed (and reviewed) peer-evaluated assignments. I'm proud to say I was one of the 8,280 students who earned a Statement of Accomplishment for completing the course. I have it displayed above my desk at work.

I talk about the course – and all of these new models – fairly often. (My wife, as you can imagine, is fascinated by these conversations: "Tell me more about assessments!" Ha. Yeah, right.) And even though my background isn't education (it's journalism and health care publishing), I often get asked one question: Do you think online education will ever really replace traditional higher education?

Before I get to my answer, I'd like to point out the divisiveness of the issue. A professor from Virginia wrote an op-ed in The New York Times this past July that was headlined "The Trouble With Online Education." You can probably guess his stance. Opinions on both sides followed from passionate readers. Similar conversations, it's safe to say, are going on in colleges and high schools all over the country.

What do I think? Can online education ever really replace face-to-face teaching? No. But it can come really close. And I think it will in the next decade for three main reasons:

1. Like education, life, in general, is going virtual. I can't remember the last time I chose to make a phone call instead of sending a text, email, or a tweet. And I'm 32. Imagine someone half my age who's about to enter college. For better or worse, students today feel more comfortable behind a computer screen. I'm not going to comment on whether that's good or bad, but it's hard to argue against its convenience or cost effectiveness. The trend is only going to grow in coming years.

2. Higher education is way, way too expensive. One year at Boston University, to choose a random school down the street, is $62,519. That includes classes, food, books, insurance, and a $3,000 stipend for personal expenses. With some quick math, that means an education without inflation (which is almost guaranteed) is $250,076. What else can you buy with that? A 2,000-square foot home in Portland, Oregon or Columbus, Ohio. A 3,000-square foot home in Indianapolis. You can even create a replica of the Oval Office in your home – although I'm not sure why anyone would ever want to do that. The fact is that higher education is going to price itself out of the game. The tipping point is coming. And someone is going to develop a hybrid model (rigorous online courses and a weekend summer camp, maybe) that will combine high quality education and a place where young people can polish their social and professionals skills.

3. Online education encourages connectivity. I was fortunate enough to attend a four-year college and graduate school. I had great experiences at both, but I can't help but think I could have learned more (or at least learned differently) if students from Australia were in the course. Or from Brazil. Or South Africa. As the world gets smaller and smaller, we'd all be doing ourselves a tremendous disservice by staying inside our comfortable bubbles otherwise known as campuses, cities, states, and even countries. We have the tools to connect. Why wouldn't we?

Whatever happens, I can guarantee one thing: The future – and my job – will not be boring.

Agree? Disagree? What is your view on the online education revolution?