My personal experience is that I've taken MOOC courses with an end goal of _actual learning_ the topic thoroughly, or at least getting the most out of the subject. This was related, but different than my objectives in college, where I was mostly concerned about my _grades_ and completing a degree to show employers. Although, not mutually exclusive, I find that when I'm focused on learning the subject completely, I'll eventually go off the normal course guidelines and spend extra time on supplemental materials (blogs, additional explanations, etc..). I'll also spend extra time completing all the assignments as perfect as possible (doing the extra sections, etc..). This is different than when I was in college, where I would often trade off a few extra grade percentage in order to make a deadline to achieve that A- or whatever. Couple this with the fact that I defer the MOOC assignments if work/life gets in the way and eventually I miss the projects and test due dates.

IMO (speaking personally here) - I find this approach to be Much more beneficial than the traditional college system. I learn the material better and have a deeper understanding of the entire subject. I've officially "failed" every MOOC course I've taken, because of missed due-dates. But when I look through the actual submissions, I usually receive near 100% on every assignment. This probably wouldn't apply to every topic, but the MOOC courses give me a structured way to learn that I wouldn't be able to come up with on my own, but also provide enough flexibility for family life, work, etc..