For most people, the word college conjures up images of massive lecture halls, absentminded professors, wild dorms and piles of money for tuition; but that definition is rapidly broadening. Many colleges and universities are offering loads of courses online. However, a company called Coursera is taking another step in the realm of higher knowledge. Coursera offers more than 1,000 free open online courses expected to attract millions of students and adults who want to keep their minds sharp. More than a dozen top-notch institutions—from Stanford and Princeton to John Hopkins and the University of Virginia—are taking part. Some of these courses can be taken for credit. Oh, and did we mention they’re all free? “This is the tsunami,” says Richard DeMillo, director of the Center for 21st Century Universities at Georgia Tech. “It’s all so new that everyone’s feeling their way around, but the potential upside for this experiment is so big that it’s hard for me to imagine any large research university that wouldn’t want to be involved.” (New York Times)
