This is probably bound to catch on fast in the us where teachers and their unions are thought (by an unnerving possible majority) to be one of the primary factors in our ongoing economic problems.
Alternative education programs like this don't have to be capable of replacing traditional education to be a success.
(I could be getting confused by how you folks in the US still call what we call university 'school' in which case disregard my comment :/)
This article had a catchy headline, but what is described is not much different from how most of my classes were in college. They've just removed the couple hours of lecture and instead just give out the problem sets. There is no democracy in choosing the problems you are solving, or any encouragement to explore things that interest you.