CLIFF NOTES: Here's a refresher from the New Republic succinctly framing Udacity, MITx, and other pioneers in online learning in the context of Clayton Christensen's disruption theory, and why many pundits see an increasingly viable threat to the monopoly of official degree-conferring institutions. For instance, check out David Wiley's argument for why learning outcomes-aligned badges (LOBs) make sense, particularly in higher-ed.
