implications for the educational system in the U.S.

based on Brown & Duguid's (2002) conclusions.

The warning or conclusion I found most interesting, and perhaps most plausible was that technology has the potential to create a new glass ceiling for many students particularly those who are or were likely to be educationally and/or socially marginalized to begin with; education made possible by technology may not take into account the other factors that interfere with learning. Furthermore, distance-learning students may achieve the appearance of an equivalent degree yet those students will have missed out on the interpersonal and group learning experiences and social dynamics --"communities of learning"-- which are the flip side of the educational coin, and professional opportunities will be just out of reach for technically credentialed, though unprepared individuals.
Brown & Duguid suggest that there will have to be parallel changes in the institutions to create and maintain communication and interaction between students, faculty, administration and institutional services that may lead to (or be precipitated by) fundamental changes in how we think of education: as a student-directed constant, rather than ending at the completion of a degree.