I don't want to get into a debate about whether Coursera themselves are disruptive. My original question was intended to be more about online education as a who

I don't want to get into a debate about whether Coursera themselves are disruptive. My original question was intended to be more about online education as a whole, even if I didn't make that clear. I do think popularity and marketing both matter. Amazon was not the first online store. Linux wasn't the first or only OS. Neither was Microsoft the first windowing OS, not even close. Does popularity / marketing matter for education? It might. When someone says they took a course on Coursera, or at Oxford that means something to almost everyone. Very often education serves a dual purpose: 1. Actually learning the thing. 2. Being able to put a signal on your resume that gets you past certain barriers.