I think another question to be asked is how do we educate kids thru adults in today's environment. It's all changed since I was in school. Regarding open book test, my friend went through graduate school with an online college. Yes, open book tests are kind of ridiculous, but at the end of the semester my friend went through vigorous multi-hour face to face testing with a teacher so they could confirm the student knew the info and they weren't afraid to fail someone.
With all due respect to Dave Essler and his wife, there are so many lecture-type classes in college we're just financially irresponsible not to streamline that process. One online recorded lecture can educate 10's of thousands of students with basic information and the same lecture can be used over and over and over. Use teachers to teacher or help with the nuances and oddities of a subject. I certainly don't need a live teacher to tell me who Da Vinci was.