4-3 MOOC Tips Part 1 – How to Get the Most from MOOCs

As you might guess, online materials, and MOOCs in particular, are a fantastic way for adults to keep up with a learning lifestyle, whether they’re learning for work or for pleasure. This is probably why MOOCs are so very popular. There are thousands and thousands of them out there. So how do you find the ones that are right for you, and how do you take best advantage of them? Here are some quick tips based on super-MOOCer Ronny De Winter’s insights. Ronny’s a freelance software engineer from Belgium who has completed dozens of MOOCs. First, define what you’d like to learn, either in the short term or more generally in the next two to three years. Next, find the MOOCs or other online learning options that best fit your needs. Class-Central.com can be very useful here. This is a website that has thousands of reviews to help you see what others think about courses. They also have useful rankings, like top 50 MOOCs of all time and features that allow you to search by subject. Before enrolling in any MOOC, carefully investigate the course outline, prerequisites, syllabus, and suggested weekly workload to make sure you can manage it. Schedule enough time each week to work on your learning. To play it safe, it’s a good idea to arrange to have twice the recommended time available, just in case. Some people like to listen to videos at anywhere between 1.2 to two times normal speed. More advanced MOOCers can sometimes employ something called Fast-MOOCing. In this approach, you skim through the syllabus and slides before watching the videos. Then you watch the videos at up to double speed. Once you get comfortable doing this, it allows you to cover all the material more efficiently, which can be useful if time is in short supply. Whether you speed things up, though, can depend on the type of material. Some MOOCs on algorithms, math, or physics, for example, might be best done at regular speed. See how things go during the first week. If you you’re not getting a lot out of the MOOC, stop taking it. There’s no shame in stopping if you realize it’s not right for you. Don’t enroll in too many courses at the same time. You’ll get more out of your learning experience if you study a few subjects deeply rather than many of them superficially. Most MOOCs are frequently repeated, so you can usually take a course some time later if it doesn’t fit into your schedule. Use the discussion forum to enhance your learning and to get questions answered; but be aware, this can be time-consuming. You also do want to remember, however, that the more time you devote to active elements of a MOOC, like the discussion forums and projects, the more the material will stick with you. Any time you enroll in a brand new course, you may find it just a bit buggy. So if this bothers you, wait until a later offering. But first time courses can still be fun, so don’t discount them altogether. And there you go, advice from the best with practical insights about getting the most from MOOCs. Happy MOOCing.