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List of the Most Popular MOOCs

onlinecoursereport.com

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Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#2

Post by Pamar »

Interesting but... I enrolled and completed a couple of the courses listed there. I'd be interested in seeing for each what percentage of enrolled students actually completed the whole course. Anecdotally the numbers are really really low (as in "around 5%").

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#3

Post by Schiphol »

Pamar wrote: post #2

Interesting but... I enrolled and completed a couple of the courses listed there. I'd be interested in seeing for each what percentage of enrolled students actually completed the whole course. Anecdotally the numbers are really really low (as in "around 5%").

5% sounds pretty high to me, considering how low (nonexistent, really) the entry barrier is. Where does that figure come from, if I may ask?

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#4

Post by Pamar »

Schiphol wrote: post #3
Pamar wrote: post #2

Interesting but... I enrolled and completed a couple of the courses listed there. I'd be interested in seeing for each what percentage of enrolled students actually completed the whole course. Anecdotally the numbers are really really low (as in "around 5%").

5% sounds pretty high to me, considering how low (nonexistent, really) the entry barrier is. Where does that figure come from, if I may ask?

I think I took it from an article online, and it matches my own experience (when you actually finish one of these there is often, but not necessarily always, a message from the course manager with some statistics about how many people turned in the final assignment or are anyway eligible for the certificate).

EDIT: Found a couple of articles:

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2014/12/mooc-completion-and-...

http://er.educause.edu/articles/2013/6/retention-and-intenti...

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#5

Post by dagw »

Pamar wrote: post #2

Interesting but... I enrolled and completed a couple of the courses listed there. I'd be interested in seeing for each what percentage of enrolled students actually completed the whole course. Anecdotally the numbers are really really low (as in "around 5%").

I'm a huge MOOC fan, but after completing a couple of the very early Stanford ones I haven't completed any. Quite frankly I don't see completing a MOOC as the best use of time. I use MOOCs to either pick up new skills I need for work, brush up on stuff I haven't looked at since University or as 'entertainment', basically learning interesting stuff purely for fun. For non of these things actually completing the course to their satisfaction adds anything to their value.

I wish people would stop looking so much at completion scores and not judge the concept as a failure just because they are so low.

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#6

Post by Schiphol »

Pamar wrote: post #4
Schiphol wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5% sounds pretty high to me, considering how low (nonexistent, really) the entry barrier is. Where does that figure come from, if I may ask?

I think I took it from an article online, and it matches my own experience (when you actually finish one of these there is often, but not necessarily always, a message from the course manager with some statistics about how many people turned in the final assignment or are anyway eligible for the certificate). EDIT: Found a couple of articles: http://er.educause.edu/articles/2014/12/mooc-completion-and-... http://er.e…

Thanks for this. Incidentally, the second paper you link to is co-auhored, among others, by Daphne Koller, who teaches [this great course on probabilistic graphical models](https://www.coursera.org/course/pgm) and Andrew Ng, who teaches [the best-known intro MOOC in machine learning](https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning/home/welcome).

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#7

Post by jfaucett »

Im Noticing a lot of these courses are coursera, and one of the most frustrating things about the plattform is the fact that most courses close and access to course materials/videos etc. is revoked after the course is over, this destroys the whole point of a mooc for me, and this choice seems arbitrary.

Why cant education materials just be open and remain open to everyone, journals and textbooks included? There are enough tax paying citizens all over the world pumping money into our education systems that there is no reason it should not be freely available 24/7 to all.

The fact that unlimited free education still doesnt exist in 2015 makes me sad everytime I think about it.

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#8

Post by baldfat »

jfaucett wrote: post #7

Im Noticing a lot of these courses are coursera, and one of the most frustrating things about the plattform is the fact that most courses close and access to course materials/videos etc. is revoked after the course is over, this destroys the whole point of a mooc for me, and this choice seems arbitrary. Why cant education materials just be open and remain open to everyone, journals and textbooks included? There are e…

I know I have had my eye on a few courses just to do the class.

I usually can find the course material online in a tar or zip file which has the home work and answers. Youtube usually has the videos. Still prefer to just open up the Coursera classes.

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#9

Post by mdevere »

I'm a big fan of uDacity, which only appears once in that list.

For a novice, their 'Intro to Computer Science' course is fantastic, as is the follow-on 'Web Development' course, led by Steve Huffman.

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