[vga15]

As others have stated, most devs have gotten a large chunk of their knowledge from the web. Google is their school.

However, I believe you were asking about those that want a more 'structured' university-like approach. Although these exist, I'd certainly say there's room for the 'google of education', or the 'wikipedia of programming' etc.

The most VITAL factor for structured learning is the result at the end. How will the world know that I'm any better than when I'd started? Any organization that can serve as a single authoritative credential node, to be referenced in my bio, would certainly be sought after. Much like the MCP, Cisco certifications etc.

I'd imagine an initiative quite like stanford giving out certificates for its AI (&other) online classes, would be interesting. Or perhaps similar to paul wilmott's CQF certification for quants.

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To sum it up, there's tons of free content that can be used. What's important is structure, and being an authoritative, well-respected provider of credentials. Also, the organization should have strong credentials themselves, and build awareness constantly. Tests would certainly feature heavily in the process. They could leverage startups and other universities to get there quicker~