> It's my belief that the MOOC, and online education in general, are something of a fad. It's new, and therefore interesting. But we've always had correspondenc

> It's my belief that the MOOC, and online education in general, are something of a fad. It's new, and therefore interesting. But we've always had correspondence courses, and libraries where you can go and self-study almost any topic under the sun. MOOCs differ from just reading a book on important aspects: 1. You have a teacher break down the content for you 2. You have graded assignments, which helps giving confidence you're absorbing the content 3. Interactive media (video, software) can be a more effective media to explain certain concepts 4. You have interaction with other students learning the same subject > If most people were really good at self-study, we wouldn't have ever built up institutions of education. Back in the day, your only chance of having access to knowledge was at institutions, so I'm afraid this is more of a tradition than anything else. Remember that the church was once the source of knowledge too. Nowadays though, people aren't going to college for knowledge as much as for filling a pre-requisite to enter the job market.