One of the promises of the Internet was to make education easier to deliver and more robust in its application. We dreamed two decades ago of teaching our students and those around the world in ways that simply weren’t possible without the connectivity associated with online networks. Now, it seems that education has finally caught up.

It isn’t just the traditional educational institutions that are having an impact. Online-only educational startups are popping up while established companies like Google are making their own play. Effectiveness often comes down to size. How many courses are offered? How many resources are available for support? How large is the infrastructure behind the learning?

Let’s take a look at the three major types of organizations getting involved with online education to see how size really matters when it comes to results.

The Old Schools: Harvard and MIT

When one thinks of higher education, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is often top of mind. The neighbor to Harvard has a long history of taking the brightest minds and making them brighter. It’s not a surprise that they teamed up to become one of the innovators in the online education arena.

With $60 million invested between them to improve their online educational offerings through a nonprofit organization they are calling “edX,” they intend to expand their presence as the leader in online universities for research schools.

Students will not receive credits for their activities, but they may be able to pay for a certificate of completion.