Last year, I tried my first MOOC (Mass Open Online Course) through Coursera. I had heard about it, had the time for it (I was looking for work) and was open for something new, so why not give it a try? The course I selected was "Foundations of Business Strategy", purely out of interest for the topic and maybe it would provide me useful information that I can use in a future job.
This course had a mix of video lectures, quizzes, cases, forum discussion and final paper (case of your selection) with peer review. Through the discussion forum, I met someone who lives in Toronto and we agreed to discuss the cases each week over Skype. We also proof-read each other's final paper before submission.
I have to say that I enjoyed this first experience with a MOOC. The course was well organized, interesting material. I think the peer review is smart: it's clear that the instructor can't review all papers and by reviewing each other's work, one learns from the others. Overall the course took me more time than I thought and sometimes I was working against deadlines (especially for the final paper). The vacation that we had planned in between didn't help!
I didn't participate so much in the discussion forums. Mainly because I had the feeling I was always behind, that whatever I wanted to say was already said by someone. And there were so many discussions going on, one could spend the whole day reading and contributing!
It is good to realize that there are many people participating in a MOOC, numbers like 50,000 participants. Also, only a small percentage finishes the course. It's so easy to sign up and there are no consequences when you don't complete it, which might explain the drop out. There is (almost) no contact with the professor, only through the videos and maybe in the forum. Some courses offer chats with the prof, but I haven't participated.
I found it very useful to connect with another student and discuss the cases through Skype. He said the same, that without our discussions (and commitment to connect every Saturday morning) he probably would not have finished this course. So that's a piece of advice: do the course with someone else.
After this first course, I've finished and cancelled a few other courses. I am sure that I'll continue to use this source, I think it's a great way to keep learning.
Useful link: List of MOOCs