MOOCs

Back to school I’ve always been interested in why we do the things we do, so last year I decided I’d like to study psychology. Most courses I found, however, were either too expensive, too long or impossible to combine with work. I was about to give up when a friend suggested that I try a MOOC. What is a MOOC At first, I had no idea what they were talking about, but they explained that a MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course — a new type of course offered completely online to thousands of people, which is designed so that anyone can follow it, regardless of age, location or education — all that you need is an Internet connection. You can search for hundreds of different subjects, and can usually watch a short introduction video to get an idea of what the course is about. Starting out I chose a six-week social psychology course. At first, I had no idea what to expect or how much time I might spend studying. Each week there were video lectures to watch and readings to do, as well as some short assignments. The lectures were really interesting and easy to follow, and it was great to be able to watch them again or pause them to go and do something else. Most MOOCs have online forums, too, where students can discuss what they are learning. Although these are often really fascinating (because there are so many different opinions), they are very time-consuming. If you read everything on the forums, you won’t have time to finish the lectures! Motivation and organisation In fact, that seems to be one of the problems of this new way of studying. Research shows that 90% of the students who start a MOOC do not finish it, and I can see why. Although you do interact with other students online, you are basically studying alone, and that takes a lot of motivation and organisation. But the advantages of MOOCs for busy people today are obvious. There is a huge range of courses on offer in hundreds of subjects, and you have opportunities to learn new things and be in contact with many different types of people, all from the comfort of your own home. Why not check out a MOOC and start learning something new today?