This Ed Tech Dev post refers to the new Carnegie Mellon master's degree program where students work on real projects, are mentored by faculty online, and receive credit.

There are some obvious benefits to an experienced-based learning program. However, I also believe that universities should use this model in a productive manner. Why not have students work on new or existing open source educational software projects which are then used in the university, rather than paying for expensive site licenses? Give them credit for working on these projects with the assistance of a mentor. Imagine if many universities began putting their resources behind open source educational software development, not just as a means to develop software, but as a learning tool. Seems a win-win situation to me. Well, except for those who make money off the proprietary versions.