Better teaching is dubious to me. First, it’s not a given that instructors from Harvard or Stanford are necessarily better teachers. They are hired and promoted in large part due to their research agenda and history of funding projects with large grants. You can be the worst teacher ever, but if you are pulling in millions in grant funding (of which the University gets a significant percentage) then you are likely to get tenure at many top academic institutions.

But let’s just say the best lecturers really are at these places and you can watch their lectures via a MOOC. Remember the M stands for “Massive”. How much time do you think the average student gets to spend 1:1 with the instructor? The best students that graduate from from my department are those who seek me individually for 1:1 help, who put in extra effort over summers and the semester to join my or other research projects, and who stand out by becoming involved with department activities. They tend to get glowing recommendations, and connections to startups and industry partners with which t he faculty member has contacts.

There are a number of projects being worked on in my department with inroads to Facebook, Microsoft, Google, etc. When I pass a recommendation over for a student I know well, they get seriously considered. Is there an equivalent benefit for a MOOC?