Well I had taken db-class as a supplement to actual course at my College. It was just the professor speaking into the camera. While the courses like CS50, were so exciting.
Just to offer an anecdotal counterpoint, I thought Professor Widom was incredible.
Had you taken a distance learning class before? If you just stick a random professor in front of a camera, odds are pretty good that they're less interesting to watch and listen to than the "early adopters" that have been a part of this new wave in education thus far.
Yes, Professor Widom was incredible in terms of teaching concepts clearly. But it's very difficult for anyone to produce such an enthusiasm to a passive camera as one would in a live classroom full of students. What I am complaining is not about the quality of the knowledge they impart, but about the passion and enthusiasm that they just can't impart to a student viewing these videos.
But again, there are professors in these courses (In this particular course the Prof. teaches as if someone is listening to him http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/cs262/CourseRev/apr20...) who put a lot of effort, to produce an awe of surprise for instance when they arrive at something imp, like in a class-room. But this is an exception and can't be applied to every professor.
So I think there should be an improvement someway in this regard.
The interesting thing is there won't be all that many "slots" for professors in this market. So in the medium-term we should start to see more and more interesting lectures as the ones who are dull are simply beat out by the ones who aren't.
That's not always going to be a good thing, but it seems inevitable.
I guess it's a personal problem then!