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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Reflection #7--MOOCs

I have not taken a MOOC but last summer I took my very first online class. While many of my other classes incorporate the internet, this course was my very first where it was all virtual. I really enjoyed the set up of the class, which was entitled Rhetoric and Society and was a communication class, which counted towards my major. Our "modules" included different readings, a quiz, and a mandatory post on our discussion board.
 
            Online courses are good for the convenience. Many of times during my online course I was on vacation with my family, or somewhere with my friends. I could even complete the assignments on my phone, if I needed to. The thing I disliked about an online course was the lack of interaction. Sure, classmates are commenting on your discussion posts, but for me it wasn't enough. I prefer to have a professor lecturing so that if I get confused at any point, I can simply raise my hand and ask a question. From an article titled "4 Lessons We Can Learn from the "Failure" of MOOCs" on the website 'edutopia', mentions a failure of MOOCs is this point exactly; that a student-teacher relationship and a student-student relationship cannot be formed because their is no interaction aside from a computer screen.



            According to the required reading for this blog post, a concern for MOOCs arises, which states that "Online education leaves almost everybody behind except for highly motivated students," which I can totally agree with. Many of times in my online course I realized that if I chose to slack off one week, my grade was reflective of so. Other students also voiced their concerns with low grades in which my professor responded that grades were determined by the work you put in". For this reason alone, MOOCs could certainty be becoming problematic. If their main purpose is for students to learn and be engaged in the material, then students who don't put in the effort fall behind.

2 comments:

  1. I also took an online class and it seems like we had some of the same dislikes and likes about the set up. It definitely is convenient to complete your school work while on vacation or using your phone, but you do lose personal interaction. Is it worth it? I think a combination of online and regular classrooms is essential if we are to continue to use online classrooms, because, like you pointed out, students are getting left behind and not really taking in information but going through the motions.

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  2. I definitely agree with your opinions on MOOCs. I have taken two online classes and I do not think I would have done well in them if I was not a motivated learner. The convenience and lower costs are what make online classes attractive. I wanted to enjoy my summer without being stuck in a classroom while still getting college credit. The lack of human interaction was the biggest downside in my opinion as well.

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