An open course is caught in the dilemma of cohort versus individual-based progress. The length of time I need to process and work through activities varies according to my learning approach and daily circumstances. An open course would ideally allow people to proceed at their own pace. The pressure in this MOOC comes from the relentless demands of social networking tools that force the pace driven by the speedy and early respondees at the expense of those who drop in during the middle of the week, or need more time to reflect and think. The latter are faced with the extra reading and having to make sense of a topic that has evolved through the chain of the eager and early. How important is it to conduct this MOOC to such a tight schedule…why put external pacing mechanisms (such as the weekly readings) on it at all? All the readings could be put in place from the outset. Why use that mechanism as a structure knowing that individuals read at different pace and some like to get ahead? That way George does not have to carry the load of being at a certain place in time to manage a virtual course. Why not set up a MOOC as a rolling intake program, with the structure in place, and people setting off on the journey when they find out about it and join. Presumably, the market appeal of the course and word of mouth will keep it populated. This would demand a different style of moderation but would shift the workload from weekly stimulus, summaries and readings to monitoring and occasional guidance. I am sure these considerations are at the heart of PLEs and would have been part of the deliberations on designing this…