I&#x27;m seeing a large number of comments talking about the in person effects of traditional education. Not just as it relates to education, but also ongoing employment. The two issues seem to boil down to:<p>1. Social status signaling. Including networking among alumni.<p>2. An environment with interpersonal interactions among the top performers will push you further than working solo.<p>Rather than simply saying &quot;MOOCs don&#x27;t do 1&amp;2&quot;, we should phrase it as &quot;what will it look like when they do?&quot;. Clearly the internet can handle social status signaling. The internet can also organize groups around specific interests. There are unique social groups that exist now precisely because of the internet.<p>For now MOOCs are a web version of correspondence courses. Is that all they will ever be? I doubt it. If I had to bet on education 100 years from now, I&#x27;d expect it to look more like MOOCs than the traditional collegiate experience. Certainly there are gaps in what exists today, but I&#x27;d expect those gaps to close faster than traditional colleges will adjust.