This is big news: Harvard and MIT form a partnership called edX that'll build on the MITx platform.  Harvard plans to start offering courses online for free (with certificates available upon completion -- for a fee).  And the two universities launch a research initiative to examine how these sorts of efforts support teaching and learning online and on-campus.

With bonus points for a east coast - west coast rivalry, as well as a university-funded ($60 million)/non-profit versus venture capital funded/for-profit one.

My thoughts over on Inside Higher Ed.