In order to determine (and shape) the long-term impact of MOOCs, we must consider not only cognitive and technological factors but also cultural ones, such as the goals of education and the cultural processes that mediate the diffusion of a new teaching modality. This paper examines the implicit cultural assumptions in the "MOOCs and Technology to Advance Learning and Learning Research Symposium" and proposes an alternative theory of diffusion to Clayton Christensen's disruptive innovation model as an illustration of the complexity that these assumptions hide. ...