Will edX Put Harvard and MIT Out of Business?

A few weeks after Wharton announced that it would be offering a substantial part of its core MBA classes online, Harvard business school is developing online courses of its own, according to a report

Colleges around the country should be worried. The quality of online courses is catching up fast. Depending on whom you talk to, MOOCs (massively open online courses) will upend and democratize higher education, or are half-baked approximations of lectures that can never equal the classroom. 

Transformational is how some describe edX, an online education platform that will make Harvard and (MIT) courses available to everyone. Inevitable is probably a better term. As textbooks go digital, more testing is conducted on-line and mobile applications democratize education tools, education start-ups are on the rise. With billions at stake, venture capitalists will tell ...

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are teaming up to expand their online education programs -- and they're inviting other institutions to come on board.Called edX, the $60 million joint venture builds on MIT's existing MITx platform that enables video lesson segments, embedded quizzes, immediate feedback, online laboratories and student-paced learning.

Just like a traditional school, the courses now available online run the full spectrum from extremely practical to completely ridiculous and fun. 

First Wharton decided to offer the core of its first year MBA program online. Now Harvard Business School is exploring online options as well. 

Online courses, and massively open online courses (MOOCs) in particular, are quickly moving from a novelty to the mainstream. Leading colleges, graduate schools, and companies are investing significant resources into free education.

By TechCrunch: By Rip Empson John Wiley & Sons (JW.A) the 200-year-old publishing giant best known for its scientific, technical and medical texts and journals geared towards academic and scholarly audiences, appears to be on a mission to beef up its higher education business with a dose of technology.