Tony Bates explores the kinds of online learning he expects in both the near and far future given what he knows so far. His predictions include the disappearance of online learning as a separate construct, the end of lecture-based courses, and the rise of multi-purpose, open delivery, with multiple levels of service and fees. He predicts that university degrees will increasingly be seen as milestones, rather than an endpoint, on the journey to lifelong learning. He also states that there will be “a greater emphasis on instructors having good teaching skills as well as subject expertise. Thus most universities and colleges will require faculty to have assessed teaching skills before tenure or permanent appointment, and equal attention will be given to teaching expertise as research in promotion.”
http://www.tonybates.ca/2014/01/12/2020-vision-outlook-for-online-learning-in-2014-and-way-beyond/