The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University have teamed up to deliver online learning to millions of people around the world, through their new edX initiative. "Through this partnership, the institutions aim to extend their collective reach to build a global community of online learners and to improve education for everyone," the edX site reports. (If you're familiar with MITx, it is now a part of edX.)

As Slashdot has noted: "[edX is an] open-source technology platform to deliver online courses. They plan to offer classes starting in Fall 2012. Perhaps this nonprofit venture is a better method for online education than Udacity, the startup created by Stanford professors after their wildly successful free online course offerings." Here is more on this effort and how it will be driven by open source.

If you're unfamiliar with the fast-growing world of online learning (e-learning) it's becoming a huge business, and top universities such as U.C. Berkeley now offer free webcasts and podcasts to the public. Did you know that one of the biggest players in software and platforms for e-learning is a free, open source offering? If not, consider Moodle, which we covered here. Moodle is a course management system (CMS) that leverages developers from all around the world, and allows people to deliver and take courses online. In the latest piece of Moodle news, there is now a Moodle iPhone app. 

The idea that lectures and online classes can succeed is nothing new. E-learning is actually big business, and large universities such as U.C. Berkeley are investing in technology and teams to take lectures and classes online. There are also free, open source platforms, such as Moodle, that make it easy for anyone to deliver a lecture or class online. Still, the common denominator for broadcasting online remains YouTube, and that's why it's not surprising to see a successful, free and open series of lectures taking shape there.