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List of the Most Popular MOOCs

onlinecoursereport.com

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Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#11

Post by andyjohnson0 »

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 did a maths course with Coursera that finished early this year. I've just checked and I can still access the course materials [1]. This is a course that is still running new sessions, and that may not be true for courses that end.

And its worth remembering that Coursera allows videos and pdfs to be downloaded, which I get into the habit of doing as I progress through a course.

[1] My Courses -> Archived -> Course Page -> Select session that I did -> Go To Course.

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#12

Post by andyjohnson0 »

I did #27 "Introduction to Mathematical Thinking" during Feb-April this year. I enjoyed it a lot and found it challenging without being impossible to complete. Finished with a distinction and a feeling of great satisfaction.

I'm now doing Coursera's Interaction Design specialisation [1], which is proving to be very informative and a lot of fun.

If you're considering doing a MOOC then I'd definitely recommend it. Choose a free, short-ish course to start with, make the commitment, and dive in.

[1] https://www.coursera.org/specializations/interaction-design

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#13

Post by agumonkey »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #11
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 did a maths course with Coursera that finished early this year. I've just checked and I can still access the course materials [1]. This is a course that is still running new sessions, and that may not be true for courses that end. And its worth remembering that Coursera allows videos and pdfs to be downloaded, which I get into the habit of doing as I progress through a course. [1] My Courses -> Archived -> Course P…

I remember the same thing, but it may be a case by case option. Many coursera courses had subtle differences (grading rules and process).

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#14

Post by agumonkey »

dagw wrote: post #5
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…

Maybe at one point, considering our era, people reach full independence and can pick a book and a problem, with an ad-hoc study group and/or co-working space and just do it.

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#15

Post by dagw »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #11
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 did a maths course with Coursera that finished early this year. I've just checked and I can still access the course materials [1]. This is a course that is still running new sessions, and that may not be true for courses that end. And its worth remembering that Coursera allows videos and pdfs to be downloaded, which I get into the habit of doing as I progress through a course. [1] My Courses -> Archived -> Course P…

The problem is that this only works if you where signed up for the course when it was active. If you find an interesting course in their archives that has already closed, you often cannot look at the course material.

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#16

Post by devit »

dagw wrote: post #5
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…

Yeah, not sure why completion matters.

All that matters is whether the user found some useful information in it, and just fully watching one video lecture should be enough for that metric.

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#17

Post by jfaucett »

agumonkey wrote: post #13
andyjohnson0 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a maths course with Coursera that finished early this year. I've just checked and I can still access the course materials [1]. This is a course that is still running new sessions, and that may not be true for courses that end. And its worth remembering that Coursera allows videos and pdfs to be downloaded, which I get into the habit of doing as I progress through a course. [1] My Courses -> Archived -> Course P…

I remember the same thing, but it may be a case by case option. Many coursera courses had subtle differences (grading rules and process).

Yes, I think it is a case by case thing. The stanford courses are always available Im pretty sure, I know others fall out though. Also the fact you cant just click and download the whole course as a compressed file (like MIT) is a shame, especially for people with limited or no internet connections like where my family lives. There you really do need to be able to go to a library and download the course which you can then take home for your studies. People in tech forget this but believe it or not over half the world doesnt have internet (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm).

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#18

Post by andyjohnson0 »

dagw wrote: post #15
andyjohnson0 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a maths course with Coursera that finished early this year. I've just checked and I can still access the course materials [1]. This is a course that is still running new sessions, and that may not be true for courses that end. And its worth remembering that Coursera allows videos and pdfs to be downloaded, which I get into the habit of doing as I progress through a course. [1] My Courses -> Archived -> Course P…

The problem is that this only works if you where signed up for the course when it was active. If you find an interesting course in their archives that has already closed, you often cannot look at the course material.

True, I guess. But then again Coursera isn't a library.

As other commenbters have said, course material can often be found on the net if you look in the right places.

Re: List of the Most Popular MOOCs

#19

Post by davidshepherd7 »

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…

Coursera courses don't always close: I've been doing the compilers recently one and I've not come across any restrictions on access even though the last session was a year and a half ago.
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