The problem with Khan academy and whatnot is that it requires too much self control on the part of students. I've created a lot of content for math classes tha

The problem with Khan academy and whatnot is that it requires too much self control on the part of students. I've created a lot of content for math classes that I use for online classes. The number one problem I'm confronted with when teaching online classes is that students have a hard time staying on track. The advent of cheap books and libraries did not obviate the need for teachers. There is something about going to class - even a boring lecture class - that induces a much larger percentage of students to stay on track. In online classes they fall by the wayside. Even though these materials are free very few students are able to learn the material on their own without being in a class. This problem needs to be solved in order for open courseware materials to take off.