Boston U not expected to join nationwide online class consortium, officials say - Amy Gorel, Free Press

On Wednesday, “Coursera,” an online course-hosting platform founded by Stanford University professors, announced its partnership with Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor to broaden the platform of courses available, according to an article Wednesday in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University and numerous other top institutions offer their own type of free online course, ranging from entire courses to recordings of lectures that are available to anyone, but do not count toward a degree in the way those at BU do. “Technology is rapidly changing and is making distance education possible,” said School of Education Associate Professor Alan Gaynor. “The economy of the higher education market place is already changing.” Online education is like the “Apple [computer] of higher education,” and there is a growing market for online learning as technology and the design of online classes improves, said Gaynor, director of Human Resource Education.