Opinion: Charging for knowledge is antiquated

Coursera, in less than six months, has enrolled 740,000 students.

Free universal knowledge is the most valuable resource in the world. Knowledge is an economic good that becomes more valuable as more people “consume” it.  The distribution of knowledge is in the process of transitioning from a scarce resource to a commodity.

The impact of this change upon the value of human capital in the world is nearly unimaginable. This change to free distribution of knowledge has the potential to dramatically improve lives and economies around the world. We are on the threshold of a global revolution in education that could make this one of the most exciting times in human history.

Sal Khan, founder and faculty of one of the Khan Academy, had a vision in 2009 of “educating the world.” With the Khan Academy now educating 1 million students a month, his vision is becoming a reality. This initiative has been followed by edX, the partnership of MIT and Harvard, which has a mission to educate 1 billion people.…Read More

Oops! We could not locate your form.