I have always had mixed emotions about these massive open online classes (MOOC).

(I reported on this way back in 2013, when MIT and Harvard hooked up to create their own MOOC program, EdX.   (It was for the same reason why I wasn’t thrilled with the Zoomification of public schools during the pandemic.)

I still recall with horror the first biology and microbiology courses I ever took.  While there were less than 4000 students in all degree programs at Poly (which census included the much larger night school program), there were 300 kids in my biology class.  At MIT, years later, the school enrollment was about the same, but there were some 250 kids in my microbiology class. As I said then, it truly made no difference how great the teacher was or was not. The class was just too big, and it was simply a lecture hall with a speaker.

Moreover, MIT was letting its alumni learn via videotaped lectures and reading material since 2001; MIT called it OpenCourseWare. To be honest, I’ve enjoyed those programs, which lets me learn new things and maintain my technical currency.

When MIT and Harvard set up EdX, they ran the program different from many others who were setting up MOOC’s.  Offering the program to those who couldn’t afford to attend these elite universities, to those who needed a refresher- even as a supplement to the faculty-led instruction.  (Over time, the number of colleges belonging to the edX platform reached 170.)

But, now, the environment is changing.  edX is being sold to 2U, Inc., a publicly traded company founded in 2008 that provides a platform for lifelong learning.   (2U had already been working with MIT- the Sloan School of Management, the School of Architecture and Planning, the Media Lab, and the Computing Science and Artificial Intelligence Labs (CSAIL), so this was not a shot out of the blue.)  edX will become a subsidiary, operating as a public benefit company (a “B” Company)- with free and low-cost access to its programs.  (There goes my free access to edX as an MIT alum.)  The $ 800 million being paid for edX will be to a non-profit entity (soon with a new name) that will theoretically steward and enhance the open edX platform.  The purported driving force was the pandemic- which led edX’s commercial competitors to spend millions and millions to improve their remote learning, leaving edX in the dust.

Because 2U is a public company, MIT and Harvard couldn’t bring their alumni into the discussions, since the SEC frowns on such public disclosures of information.  Which brings up the fact that this acquisition is still subject to the review of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and other government regulators.  But, as a public benefit company, the entity will continue to protect learner data and offer free courses (audit track)- and afford on-line baccalaureate programs. (Certificate programs will be available at low-cost, as well.)  One of the key changes is to offer the edX programs in non-English formats.

This is going to be an interesting adventure for edX.  And, hopefully not a nightmare for those of us who’ve enjoyed free access to its programs.

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