Hi Dave,
I read your post with great interest. I resonate with your views and insights on Online courses.

I like your story of the 3 little pigs in the illustration of the importance of the laying of good foundation of a house (especially in learning & the prerequisite).

Being a teacher since 1985,I think this course on Connectivism could be difficult for novice teachers, mainly because of the complicated concepts, jargons and metaphors used. It may take those beginning teachers or learners sometime before they could fully comprehend the knowledge and theory.

My experience with University courses is that most professors would tend to emphasise more on the theoretical aspects, though they would always like to use case studies to illustrate the applications. So MIT or Harvard type of open courses may be relevant to undergraduate students, researchers and scholars who need a strong theoretical background. However, I am unsure if they could fully meet the needs of practitioners of education, due mainly to the absence of teaching practice.

I also think an open course on rhizomatic knowledge could be a challenge to people (teachers and learners) who has little teaching experience.

However, I have benefited from this course on Connectivism, since I could easily integrate the theory with my applications at work. Also I have already learnt the Web 2.0 tools back in 2006 and so this course is just a reinforcement of some of the concepts and applications.
I would continue to explore the issues you highlighted and comment on my blog.
You are welcome to visit my blog
http://suifaijohnmak.wordpress.com
Renewed thanks for your great post.