I don't have any books for you, but I can give you my opinion on this idea (based on personal and observed experiences): > why Stanford, MIT, etc. decided to r

I don't have any books for you, but I can give you my opinion on this idea (based on personal and observed experiences): > why Stanford, MIT, etc. decided to release MOOCs 1. It's an interesting problem space for both learning and technology. 2. They aren't really giving much up. The value of their brick-and-mortar programs are as much or more about what happens away from the classroom as what happens in them. Many people do not understand this critical aspect of elite schools. 3. This article (http://news.mit.edu/2012/mit-harvard-edx-announcement-050212 http://news.mit.edu/2012/mit-harvard-edx-announcement-050212) is a blurb about edx when it started. The comments are mostly PR. 4. Courses like these are good for advertising and developing the recruiting funnel if used correctly. On a personal level, I hope that the vast majority of the education system in the US gets forceably reset through some sort of crisis (student loans?) so that we can start from scratch. The current system is largely run by the administrators for the benefit of the administrators all the way from K-12 to grad school. We can definitely do better, and online education may be a compelling part of a new path.