Does it mean MOOCs are dead? Not really. It just means they aren't the massive world revolution none of us thought they were anyway. And it also suggests that universities, far from being swept away by MOOCs, are in fact the home of MOOCs. You see, MOOCs make sense as an adjunct to university business, they don't really make sense as a stand alone offering. One wonders if the likes of Shirky will be writing about how wonderful the university model of open education is. So in the end, far from being a portent of doom of the university model, MOOCs are a validation of universities and their robustness.
Doris Reeves-Lipscomb on 02 Mar 12"Change: Education, Learning, and Technology" assessment of MOOCs by Lisa Chamberlin and Tracy Parish, August 2011. Interesting pro/con assessment of MOOCs--participation, distributed learning, credit or no credit, commitment, facilitation. Conclusion: jury still out!