I love Alison

The trouble with education is that it is expensive and most people cannot find the time for it. Learning involves traveling to a large city, giving up regular work and spending a great deal of money on lectures that will inevitably be expensive as they involve a live performance by a skilled lecturer.
Very few people could afford such a show through their own resources and so the state stepped in and poured money into it. This made a degree only slightly more affordable but did nothing to overcome the other problems- and the fact that conventional education is reliant on good lecturers. State funding brought its own problems, of course because western universities became overrun by minority groups such as feminists who were only interested in promoting their own agenda. Basically, in a university you get what you are given. You have to accept the ideology that is served up to you or you simply will not pass.
This is old technology and is a perfect picture of how society was organised prior to the Internet. Information flows downwards from the apex of some pyramid and is tightly controlled by a well intentioned elite.
It is not surprising that we see this system starting to break down. Allison is a sort of free vocational course provider that is funded entirely by advertising. If you wish to be issued with certificates there is a charge for this- but it is possible to avoid the need for physical certificates completely as the information is available online.
Alison profile
It should be noted that some courses do not result in a certificate and that the computer seriously underestimates the time spent studying. These are minor gripes.
An employer may check the courses you have completed simply by clicking a link directly from your C.V.
The main problems are that many of the courses do not correspond to mainstream ones and there is no formal examination at the end. This means that Alison certificates are generally not understood by employers. To counter this Alison have introduced flash tests by which candidates may take an instant test at any time- even at the interview if this is required.
This is an exciting, competency based approach and I wish them well.