There is a cache setting you can put in your slot that will fix it, but the app has to be restarted to clear the cache. It's not selective on what gets cached...and it doesn't work well with most apps. If you could selectively add directories that cache it would work so much better, or if it worked in some asynchronous way if a file changed in the cache (for apps that auto-update.) I don't know the solution, but it's an annoying problem.
If you Google/Bing for "Azure Website slow" this issue is the cause is 99% of all the complaints. The current solution "Local Cache" is lacking. It does work, but not in my use cases.
If something works poorly without manually applying cache, it reminds me of WordPress. It seems it's nearly impossible to get Azure on par with the rest in terms of performance.
I'm not sure I understand why coursera and edX are not discussed in this space; as someone who works with higher ed institutions, I see these platforms often adopted to replace traditional publishers.
As for the article, I'd assume it is because it is Bloomberg,
and so, these things being more nonprofit/altruistically driven,
will never be as 'sexy' as a 'market disrupting' company set up to shake things up and create more 'value'..
For me that depends on how you define MOOC. I think that there is great scope for teaching the rote learning parts of the curriculum using online resources. Khan Academy have been doing some really interesting trials with schools along these lines.
In the next few years I think we will see more schools move towards a model where they have content primarily delivered through digital media and a teacher's role becomes more like that of a surgeon; fixing individual student's mistakes in their conceptual models.
