by Cerise Oberman and Tim Hartnett

What do 35 million people around the world have in common? One answer is that they are enrolled in MOOCs — massive open online courses.

If this is a new term for you, don’t feel surprised. MOOCs only burst on the educational scene five years ago. Greeted by both fanfare and skepticism, the early visionaries and founders expected MOOCs, as noted in a 2014 New York Times article, to be “a revolutionary force that would disrupt traditional higher education by expanding access and reducing costs.”