Note in progress Last updated December 31, 2021

• While [[MOOCs]] early [[MOOCs]] failed to deliver on the challenge of democratized education — which, let's be honest, they were always going to — they pioneered a new market for online courses in the process. This market was in need of innovation by the early [[2010s]] and Course Marketplaces found their spotlight.
• Companies like [[Udemy]] and [[Skillshare]] entered the online education space, seeking to make a killing by building [[Massive multiplayer distribution systems]] that allowed anyone to become an independent instructor and get paid for their content. These content delivery platforms promised to democratize learning more than MOOCs by democratizing the ability to teach, as well.
• However, there were some fatal flaws:
  • [[Knowledge Transfer]] is very different from [[learning]]; allowing anyone to sell information on a given topic is not the same as empowering everyone to teach.
  • These marketplaces cornered the entire market share for online courses at the time, capitalizing on their dominance over content distribution channels.
  • Instructors did not make enough money; they had no control over their pricing, and the marketplace had power to unilaterally discount your admissions.
  • They had the same problems as [[MOOCs]] for students because they sought to increase the marketshare of online courses through teaching, rather than enhancing the student experience.
• Course Marketplaces are still around today and new ones pop up all the time, but soon after their popularization in the mid 2010s, [[Interactive Online Courses]] became the next big thing.