From Silicon Valley, A New Approach to Education

"Last year when Andrew Ng, a computer science professor at Stanford University, put his machine-learning class online and opened enrollment to the world, more than 100,000 students signed up."

"'I think all of us were surprised,' he says."

"Ng had posted lectures online before, but this class was different."

"'This was actually a class where you can participate as a student and get homework and assessments,' he said."

"The class was interactive. There were quizzes and online forums where teaching assistants, fellow students and Ng answered questions. In the end, tens of thousands of students did all the same work and took the same tests that Stanford students took; thousands passed."