The Four Student Archetypes Emerging in MOOCs

Update (3/10): Patterns and descriptions have been updated based on feedback in a new post.

As discussed in my last post, the focus on “completion rates” in MOOCs is somewhat misplaced, as open education is not simply an extension of traditional education. As several others have noted, not every student is attempting to complete a course, and in fact different students have different goals while participating in the same open course. This holds true for both cMOOCs and xMOOCs.