By Megan McArdle, Bloomberg
MOOCs are in very early days yet; they’re still learning what’s effective. Most first-generation products have significant drawbacks that get worked out through iterative improvement — just look at early automobiles or the first Kindles. They may even have drawbacks that don’t get worked out: 100-odd years in, my car still can’t drive me home while I nap, something that many a good horse could do in 1880. But the other advantages of cars, like speed and comfort, outweighed that one disadvantage. So maybe Jonathan Rees is right to panic, because he’s absolutely correct that disruptive innovation tends to be very bad for the folks whose industries get disrupted. But the rest of us should be excited. Even if our grandkids miss out on the experience of ivy-colored classrooms, they may end up with a whole world of opportunity we never had.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-25/are-online-courses-failing-america-.html
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