Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are getting lots of press. The 3/4/12 issue of the NYTimes declares that "Instruction for Masses Knocks Down Campus Walls". 160,000 learners participate in Stanford's AI course, which begets a whole new crop of MOOCs in everything from natural language processing to game theory.
Should your university offer its own MOOC? Probably not. Higher ed is a "me too / follow me" business. We are risk adverse because most of us have lots to lose. So when an MIT does an OpenCourseWare / MITx or a Stanford does a MOOC we are all much more likely to follow along. But offering open course materials or learning environments may not make sense for your institution.