MOOCS, “massive open online courses” – the teaching of undergraduates wholly, or partly, through the internet are here to stay. At a time when college fees are going up 6% or 7% a year, blending teaching with online learning may help make the system more affordable.

This is alarming college professors, who say that education requires face-to-face contact. Naturally, professors are anxious about their jobs. Only the teaching stars are going to feature in online courses. American students have to put up with lectures in huge auditoriums, and the only direct help they usually get is from a teaching assistant. Meanwhile, to pay for ever more expensive facilities and administration paying themselves business-style salaries they have to clock up huge debts.

A while ago I did an online course from Yale. I took it very seriously, did the homework and the essays, and got a good report from, yes, the teaching assistant. But you get out of life what you put into it. Epicureans should thrive on online courses, because they are concientious and take education seriously. The American education bubble is about to burst, and about time.