A similar article was posted in the Boston Globe today, but with a different angle on it:
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrod...es-all/mvVGOfdCZqIhVLcVBVUVCJ/index.html

I know many will view this development as a threat or impacting their college degree and/or may not agree with me, but I say that it's only good for gifted, especially those who had lacked the money and the physical access/availability to MIT and Harvard, and that it's particularly good for the world at large. It's a big gain for parents who are homeschooling/unschooling their eg/pg kids and pressed for cash. It's a big gain for twice exceptional kid with print disabilities.

Billions of people around the globe are gaining access to the Internet and educational content online. From countries, such as Nepal, that are poorest and least networked in the world to the US, the impact is and will continue to be staggering. Billions of people who never had access or availability to a printed materials are acquiring knowledge and information with digital technology and free/open source materials. One Laptop Per Child is distributing hardware and software around the world. Governments around the world are also distributing hardware and software freely to children. Some, such as Turkey, are making wifi internet freely available and accessible as well.

Imagine billions of children worldwide using free software/open educational resources, and other creative commons content to learn and interact with their family, friends, neighbors, and the world. Imagine poor slum girls in Nepal who would otherwise be illiterate and enslaved or trafficked for money but can now take a course with MIT and Harvard online. Imagine if a future Taylor Wilson - a profoundly gifted kid who is working on nuclear fusion and now advising the Department of Homeland Security - being able to connect with MIT and Harvard professors, who may not otherwise be in a position to do so.
(http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/...lor_Wilson_sets_world_record_112465.html).