It&#x27;s probably worth observing that he&#x27;s specifically referring to his field: history. The couple of times that I&#x27;ve dipped into liberal arts classes online I&#x27;ve thought they were pretty horrible. I&#x27;m sure you can have captivating lectures but with limited personal interactions and feedback--especially with a MOOC--they don&#x27;t really work as classes. Discussion boards don&#x27;t scale that well under the best of circumstances.<p>MOOCs can be reasonably effective as learning tools for things like programming. They don&#x27;t have a real business or certification model but that&#x27;s a somewhat separate discussion. But for history, literature, etc. I&#x27;d mostly rather just read a good book.