Here is an article by a jounalist who does not understand the history of distance education and why it is the only practical way to earn a degree for many people. The perils of online college learning - latimes.com He could have popped over to CSUDH which has offered distance degrees since 1974 and offers several DL degrees to obtain some positive data. This column appeared in various newspapers around the country including the one I read in Colorado.
On reading it, it seems the author's goal wasn't really to explain the differences between MOOCs and other forms of online and distance learning, which he apparently doesn't understand himself, but simply to find an excuse to bleat that profit is ba-a-a-a-ad.