Shots fired in the The Online Education Wars

The State of Minnesota has fired warning shots across the bows of MOOCs such as Coursera and similiar courses, by notifying Coursera that offering its courses to Minnesota residents.... The state's explanations of why it has acted this way seem to raise more questions than they answer.

This seems to me to be another exchange in the opening salvos of The Online Education Wars I discussed not two days ago. However, even I was taken by surprise by this latest combatant - I had anticpated uninformed educators, and well-intentioned academic administrators, to throw the next cog into the wheels of online education. This regulatory intervention, seemingly out of left field, may well be the harbinger of a new cast of characters involved in muddying the debate on online learning. Watch this spot.

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Comment by Cynthia Anne Faas on October 25, 2012 at 10:35am: This is disturbing. The question of IP is a biggie in the Chronicle discussion threads as well as state funding vs. private interests. It is sad to me that knowledge and learning is denied to those who have the initiative to recieve and provide it especially while I can be innundated on my private time on my private phone with unsolicited political rhetoric trying to rally my swing vote.

I wonder how they will police this "law." Will there be coffee undergrounds with encrypted wi-fi for students to congregate at?

Bryan, you are from Minnesota, what are YOUR thoughts?

Comment by Noam Ebner on October 28, 2012 at 4:02am: Thought some of you might want to see this (and H/T to Jackie Font who reads all, sees all, and shares all!): A good article on the waves whirling about in the cauldron of higher education, and a great individual story demonstrating that online learners can get hit by all sorts of ricochets - but that they learn in an incredibly flexible and often supportive environment.

@Cyndi - I expect to see you running one of those coffeeshops. Save me a seat, near the router, and a cup of the good coffee - the stuff you keep in the back.