Online education isn’t new, but there has been a recent spike in interest in online college courses — especially free ones. “What made it so noteworthy was when a Stanford University professor put together an artificial intelligence course offered through the (Massively Open Online Courses),” said Al Panu, University of North Georgia senior vice president. “There were hundreds of thousands of people who had enrolled in that, and that really just brought to the public the incredible power and opportunity that those represent.”