Free online university courses: are 'Moocs' a gamble?

By Mike Boxall. Twelve British universities are launching a free online course – or "Mooc" – service called Futurelearn. Mike Boxall explains why they're right to invest their financial futures in this untested model.
Few people would bet on the prospects of a business that gave away its products, complete with customer support, free to anyone anywhere with an internet connection. Yet this is exactly what the Open University, along 11 other leading British universities, is offering with the new Futurelearn service announced last week.
Futurelearn is the latest in the wave of Moocs (Massive Open Online Courses) launched by consortia of world-ranked universities over the past year. New players like Coursera, Udacity and edX have recruited millions of students to hundreds of degree-style courses from top-name institutions, all for free. Read more...