Back in 2013, the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that MOOCs—massive open online courses—were about to change everything: Nothing has more potential to lift more people out of poverty—by providing them an affordable education to get a job or improve in the job they have. Nothing has more potential to unlock a billion more brains to solve the world’s biggest problems. And nothing has
![The True Power of MOOCs May Have Been Accidental](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/b77f525afdc14aa42a158b4f8127d4999fcd9a79/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.theatlantic.com%2Fthumbor%2Fb8pr3wJ-1xTHHqpa_taB1v3n6PQ%3D%2F0x161%3A2200x1307%2F1200x625%2Fmedia%2Fimg%2Fmt%2F2015%2F06%2FMOOCs%2Foriginal.jpg)