My first week as a MOOC student

After my first week of my MOOC course I am satisfied. The classwork for week one did not take a great amount of time to complete, which is good because if it had I likely would not have continued with the class. The learning platform has an intuitive layout that makes navigating through the class syllabus effortless. I even learned a thing or two from the recorded lectures. I am looking forward to spending a little time this week navigating this learning process.

I wasn’t sure how much work I would be required to do. Even though there are three levels of participation and the work I decided to do is said to equal only one hour a week, I wondered how accurate this assessment was. I found the work for the basic level to be easy and not require too much additional mind work to comprehend the topic. The subject matter was clear.

I recommend MOOCs to anyone who is a life long learner and is not necessarily looking to earn a degree. The courses are perfect to supplement knowledge and satisfy curiosity. However, a single course will likely not help someone get ahead in their job search or career change. The certification that is available simply states that you have completed the course; it is a certificate kind of like one you would get for participating in a spelling bee. Plus, you have to pay for it. 

If I had one word of advice for those who are considering enrolling in a MOOC or have just enrolled, it would be that you can expect to do a little additional work that first week acquainting yourself with the syllabus and the chat forum. None of this additional work was laborious, but it might have come as an unpleasant surprise if I had been pressed for time.

I will update my MOOC experience if and when I run into anything that is surprising and/or my opinion of the educational tool changes. No news is good news in this case, I guess.