"Professors who care about public education should not produce products that will replace professors, dismantle departments, and provide a diminished education

"Professors who care about public education should not produce products that will replace professors, dismantle departments, and provide a diminished education for students in public universities." This last sentence frames the discussion perfectly, and I agree with its sentiment but not the unnecessarily gloomy warning to other professors. An MOOC is a tool in the toolbox and can be used or abused. The sentiment is to not abuse this tool. The warning is to not make poor tools but is stated in an underhanded way that could derail a very healthy discussion. MOOC's have unfathomable potential as a tool for educating people in a much larger circle than rich students attending a "high quality" university and that context should not be covered up when it does not favor your rhetoric. So I am glad to hear his warnings and hope others heed them. But I also hope people continue to improve this tool in the educational tool-box. There, I fixed the last sentence of the open letter. "Professors who care about education should strive to produce products that enhance education for students in public universities and students everywhere."