This thread was started by Violeta Cautin, who mentioned GRE and her learning projects in the getting to know each other forum.
I have been thinking of doing some kind of formal course again but I would not be officially accepted at the university here in Brazil because I would need to sit the entrance exam again, which I find ridiculous. I sat it in 1970 for Social and Political Sciences (at that time my interest was Anthropology - still is) but as I did not finish the course, I am required to do it again.
Now what is paradoxical is that I was allowed to do the 2 last years of graduate studies in English Language and Literature (as I could speak/understand/write the language better than some of my professors, I was exempted of the first two years which are, in Brazil, basically learning the language). Although I graduated with honours (ten out of ten in linguistics) and I am allowed to teach at secondary school, I cannot postulate for a masters or a PhD (well, I could eventually, as a listener, but would not receive accreditation or have my papers commented). Instead of sitting some kind of GRE, I would need to sit the entrance exam and do the 4 college years, a rule I refuse to comply with - even though it has already caused me unpleasant situations.
This kind of system, the bureaucracy which blocks participation (nobody is responsible for it - nobody can do anything about it, nobody can solve this), and the multiple barriers to learning and access to knowledge are the main reasons I am observing with much interest the wave of change brought by ICTs towards openness, deobstructing the pipes and making the energy, exchanges and communication flow. The connectivism course will be an interesting experiment and experience in architectures of participation and how people organize themselves to make this happen.