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MOOCs aren't for every learner. This article provides both sides of the story around some common components of most MOOCs. To provide the reader a participant's point of view of MOOCs, our collective interpretations (along with impressions shared with us by others) are encapsulated.

In particular, the designation of MOOCs as 'democratizing education' really needs to be carefully examined. Presumably, 135,000 learners who wanted to learn about AI were disappointed or unable to follow the Stanford AI course. If this was really about democratizing education, these students should have been accommodated in some way. With regard to connectivist MOOCs, I worry whether they are just preaching to the converted by reinforcing participants' existing knowledge or values, or whether they lead to significant change in learners. They may do or they may not. We need more research on this. Octavo's simple research study, although valuable, just reinforces the need for more thorough research, and we also need more experimentation, with different designs and approaches.