College tuition has risen more than any other component of the cost of living for the last 18 years. But in the Internet era, information is free and ubiquitous. To the extent education is a knowledge industry, it would seem to be ripe for completely disruptive change. Ideas like the Open Courseware Consortium, which started at MIT, point the way; Gaming, blogging, tweeting, open-source programming projects, information marketplaces modeled on Etsy, peer-to-peer tutoring that works like BitTorrent; all may have a place in--or REplace--the classrooms of tomorrow. That's the heady thinking behind "Hacking Education", a gathering at Silicon Alley VC powerhouse and Twitter backers Union Square Ventures today, with thinkers like Jeff Jarvis, Danah Boyd, and Steven Johnson all chiming in. Follow the discussion in real time on Twitter today; the transcript will be up on Union Square Ventures site by next week. 

Image: Muzzy Lane Software, makers of educational video games;

Via TheDeal.com