I agree. I don't know about computer science students, but as a civil engineering student college means a whole lot more to me than just being lectured at. I'm involved in half a dozen student organizations, and a lot of the time I find myself learning more outside the classroom working with professors and other students on competition teams and organizations than I am in class. It's sad that so many people think watching videos can teach them as much as actually plugging into a real life program with other students and experience faculty to interact with. I think it shows there's something wrong with how most people are approaching college in general.
I agree that what students do outside the classroom is as important, if not more important, than the lectures. However, going through the lectures, in person or through a video, lessens the learning curve for critical skills that are a prerequisite to outside the classroom learning experiences. In other words, these videos give everyone who watches them an opportunity to engage in the next level of learning.
I believe it is possible that with these prerequisites moved outside of universities, it becomes possible for more group learning experiences, not unlike those you experienced with professors and other students, to become available to everyone. Currently, the latter is only available (mostly) to students at a university.
People don't (read: shouldn't) think that all it takes to become a computer scientist or civil engineer is to watch a few videos. They definitely know that they can't without learning the concepts in those videos, allowing themselves to become more involved with real challenges in the field and further their educations.
I agree that there's more to college than just the classes, but why can't we try to get some of this environment to exist outside of a college environment? What's sad to me is that once you leave undergrad, a lot of the things you talk about become closed off to people.
