Online-education trend expands - Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY

Colleges and universities have offered online courses for years, but the embrace by elite higher education was "really a game-changer," says Ray Schroeder, director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois-Springfield. "Now we've really moved to disruption in higher education." A looming question: Are MOOCs any good? Schroeder's center, founded in 1997, is working with the American Council on Education to determine whether MOOCs can improve college completion rates, particularly among low-income young adults and older adult learners. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting that effort, and the edX pilot program with community colleges. Last week, it announced 12 grants totaling more than $3 million to study MOOCs, which "hold great promise, but are not without challenges," says Dan Greenstein, who directs the foundation's higher education efforts. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/18/more-on-board-with-online-education-trend-of-moocs/1713079/