I actually took a for-credit online class last year and I did rather poorly in it, at least by my normal standards. There were several problems. First, I didn't

I actually took a for-credit online class last year and I did rather poorly in it, at least by my normal standards. There were several problems. First, I didn't find the material very interesting (it didn't cover what I thought it was going to cover). But second, and maybe just as important, I just hated watching the video lectures. I had a lot of trouble motivating myself to spend several hours watching lectures, and when I did watch them I often found I got very little out of them because I couldn't ask questions in real time. So, for instance, if I wasn't completely clear on a point in minute 10, I might be lost for the next 40 minutes and my only recourse was to watch the part that confused me over and over again in the hope that it would become clear (which is boring). I think I simply can't learn well from video lectures. When I was in school I was the type of student who would always engage the lecturer. I asked a lot of questions, sometimes when I was confused, sometimes when I wanted more information, and sometimes when I thought I had something to add or wanted to know about some special case. This just doesn't work with video lectures. So I think the answer to your question is that I probably wouldn't do very well in a MOOC, even if there was some kind of consequence behind it. Edit: I do think that MOOCs are a great thing and I hope they stay a part of the "scene", partly because it is nice to have the option (I enjoy participating in them even if I usually don't get very far), but mostly because they seem to "work" for a lot of people, like yourself. More options is good, just don't take away my in-person lectures! :)