MOOCs and personal development

tldr; version: MOOCs can be valuable resources for your PD - but the credentials aren't valuable as certs.
Some caveats up front - I'm an ex-academic recently moved back to working as a practitioner in my field. This means I probably have a bias towards some traditional education (so your mileage may vary)
I am a firm believer in the value, which borders on a vital need, for on-going development. By that I mean development of every kind - personal, professional and physical. I'm not a shining example of doing all three, but I do believe they're important.
When looking at education and training, and they are different, you should consider what it is that you need. This will vary depending on your stage in life and your career - and even the type of field in which you work. One question is - do you need the formal certification or is learning something enough in its own right?
Regardless of whether formal credentials are important to you, some time should be spent identifying the quality of education/training on offer. Stay away from anywhere that implies they can take you from novice to guru in a compressed amount of time. You might pass exams and get bits of paper, but compressed learning usually means no consolidation or retention and is worthless in the long term. Those places are charlatans and turn out qualified incompetents - don't be that guy.
As for MOOCS - they can be a valuable item on any resource list you make when working through the coaching model. There's some fantastic stuff out there, taught by some amazing people. There's also crap - so "buyer beware". If you think you've nothing to lose because it's free - remember that you can't get back the hours in your life spent on worthless stuff.
I treat MOOCS as I would a book, or podcast series ;-) They can be an extremely valuable resource, but any certificate you get out of them is a gold-badge, atta-boy kind of thing. They tend to be certificates of completion and not much more. If you need formal certification then do the full thing; do it properly. If you need academic credentials - enroll in an academic program, with an eye on the reputation of the institution. You don't need to restrict yourself to Harvard - but watch out for the bottom-feeders (looking at you Phoenix).
If you do NOT need credentials and are looking to boost your understanding of a topic - then sure - add MOOCs to your list of resources. Just remember to finish what you start. So few people finish online courses - it takes a real discipline.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
I'm currently switching fields. Having a degree in another field (I'm going from music into marketing) to me seems to make it harder to get work in the new area.
I'm contemplating if I should go back and get an MBA or not and figured these online courses might help me bypass the need to go back since school is pretty expensive.
Your view on this certainly makes sense. Much appreciated.
 

[accidental double post]

 Jordan,
I'm roughly in your shoes, in the middle of a career change. I'm using the MOOCs as a warm-up before the MBA. In the last 12 months, I have done a couple of Operations Management modules, intro to finance, corporate finance, financial accounting and project/quality management. I have learned a lot more in those modules than when I did similar modules in a brick and mortar university ages ago. It could be that I learn more from passionate teachers. Those modules didn't lead to widely recognized certificates, but the knowledge I gained did lead to noticeable achievements at work.
At the end of this month, I am starting a two semesters Professional Certificate in Management  with the Open University. While the price is higher than Coursera/Udemy/Udacity, the certificate I will get has a real tangible value. If all goes according to plan, I should start a MBA with OpenU next year.

Thanks Michael!
I agree it's a nice warmup. I'm going to look into the OpenU MBA.