There is a good deal to like in this NYTimes piece, as Perez-Pena correctly notes that it is a "major development" that "…a dozen highly ranked universities said they had signed on with Coursera, a new venture offering free classes online." Indeed.
Where I think the NYTimes, along with other media outlets, has been less than rigorous in reporting is the important distinction between Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the instructor led, cohort based online courses.