That prediction came from Sebastian Thrun, a computer scientist probably best known for his part in making Google’s driverless car. He is still a research professor at Stanford University. But he left his teaching position at Stanford to help start Udacity, a provider of MOOCs.

Universities that fail to join the movement for MOOCs may be worried about their chances of survival. Colleges also hope to gain more students and cut operational costs in return for their investments.

The web site Class Central says twenty-three new courses were added to the list of available MOOCs by October first. These study programs are from about four weeks to twenty-four weeks long. They usually have videos, homework, weekly tests, a final examination and a rating in the class.

A growing number of organizations offer the courses. They include the California Institute of Technology, also known as Caltech. Other providers include edX, a partnership of universities led by Harvard, and a not-for-profit company called Coursera.

Two Stanford University computer scientists, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, launched Coursera a year ago after years of research. Today, Coursera and other MOOC providers offer hundreds of courses.

Daphne Koller says that before long, people may wonder why college students ever filled a room to hear a lecture. Traditionally, colleges and universities required teachers to give lectures to their classes for an hour or more. The teacher provided information, and the students took notes.