MOOCs, an acronym for "massive open online courses," mark an important, possibly revolutionary, development in education. These courses are online, free of charge, and open to anyone in the world who has a laptop and an Internet connection. Moreover, they are mainly offered by elite universities like Standford, Berkeley, Harvard and Columbia. The courses, like normal college courses, are sequenced by difficulty, enabling students to progress from beginners to the advanced. The courses cover not only a broad range of technical subjects such as math and computer science, but also courses in the social sciences and the humanities  . Though MOOCs are not offered for credit and degree, many students enroll in the courses for real skills or knowledge which they can put to some practical use. Some students even form online study groups, or in-person groups with students who live nearby. The format seems superior to the traditional school class. The average quality of the lecturer is much higher, because students do not have to stick with a mediocre  lecturer. Besides, students can scroll back or forward--in short, they can go at their own learning speed, which they cannot do in a live lecture. And, of great importance, they do not have to travel anywhere to attend an online lecture. One can obtain a first-class American college education wherever he or she lives and however little money he or she has. There is a problem of asking questions of the lecturer in a class of ten thousand students, but some MOOCs have solved it by allowing students to post questions online for a vote, and only the most popular questions are put to the lecturer. In a knowledge era, lifelong learning is not confined to a traditional classroom. Of course, students enrolling in MOOCs cannot be compared with those who are in traditional universities, but we need to rethink what a "students" is. Students in MOOCs are very clever, have work experience, and in many cases, have already developed a set of core competences. Moreover, they also offer unique international _ that would be the envy of any school classroom. Which word is the best to describe students enrolling in MOOCs?
Mediocre Creative Practical Competent