MIT's Online Education Prototype Opens For Enrollment

OldHawk777 writes with news that MITx, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's online learning initiative, has opened free enrollment for its first course: 6.002x: Circuits and Electronics. "Modeled after MIT’s 6.002 — an introductory course for undergraduate students in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) — 6.002x will introduce engineering in the context of the lumped circuit abstraction, helping students make the transition from physics to the fields of electrical engineering and computer science. ... 'We are very excited to begin MITx with this prototype class,' says MIT Provost L. Rafael Reif. 'We will use this prototype course to optimize the tools we have built by soliciting and acting on feedback from learners.' To access the course, registered students will log in at mitx.mit.edu, where they will find a course schedule, an e-textbook for the course, and a discussion board. Each week, students will watch video lectures and demonstrations, work with practice exercises, complete homework assignments, and participate in an online interactive lab specifically designed to replicate its real-world counterpart. Students will also take exams and be able to check their grades as they progress in the course. Overall, students can expect to spend approximately 10 hours each week on the course."

A brave new world

[EmperorOfCanada]

I have been enjoying the Stanford CompSci stuff. It lacks polish but it is great. I love the teaching company stuff as well. Online lectures are still all a bit of a dogs breakfast but they can only get better and better. But at some point I could see the free online product being better than that offered by most Podunk universities. There will always be gaps such as doing a chemistry lab but at some point soon online free will be better than the worst North American institutions.
I have four questions:
These online courses in many cases are certainly better lectures than those given by 99% of local lecturers so when will local courses use this resource?
When will you be able to get a usable certificate from these places?
And when will employers begin recognizing them?
And what happens to the whole going to University experience if you sit in front of a computer for 4 years? This last leads me to believe that the most likely outcome will be a blending of bricks, mortar, and internet.

And a side point. This doesn't just apply to University. The Teaching company has HS level courses that blow anything I took completely out of the water.