Ah OK interesting I think I get what you are saying in that given an authority figure's specification, the student in a class will be far more likely to succeed

Ah OK interesting I think I get what you are saying in that given an authority figure's specification, the student in a class will be far more likely to succeed at reaching that arbitrary externally imposed spec than a MOOC subscriber. With the side issue that 100% of everyone in my 20 person automata theory class back in ninety-something is a much smaller number than 2% of 24000 people signing up for Ullman's automata theory MOOC. The fundamental problem is authority along with excessive broadness. If I want to learn Y and the MOOC teaches X Y and Z, I will fail the MOOC. There are also Skinner box conditioning issues where my assignment for something like using bootstrap framework, will be scratching my own itch of project or doing some project at work, such that again I'll fail the MOOC because I'll refuse the assignment; I already have a more ambitious self assigned assignment and am not doing both my assignment and someone elses much less interesting assignment. Whereas if I sit in class I'll have peer pressure and financial pressure to do the class assignment regardless of work or hobby interests. Sort of a traditional in-person or online class is a goal in and of itself; MOOCs are a means to an end for work or hobby for most.