LAUSR

In 2011, Stanford computer scientists Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig came up with the bright idea of streaming their robotics lectures on demand over the Internet, and letting anyone sign up and participate in the coursework. When more than 160,000 enrolled, the professors thought they had a tiger by the tail. The MOOC-massive open online course-had arrived. To date, about 58 million people have signed up for MOOCs. Thrun promptly cofounded Udacity to commercialize MOOCs. He predicted that in 50 years, streaming lectures would so subvert face-to-face education that only 10 higher-education institutions would remain. Campuses would become obsolete, replaced by "star" faculty streaming to screens all over the world.