{"id":64561,"date":"2014-03-13T11:30:35","date_gmt":"2014-03-13T16:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=64561"},"modified":"2014-03-13T11:28:15","modified_gmt":"2014-03-13T16:28:15","slug":"making-the-most-of-your-mooc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=64561","title":{"rendered":"Making the Most of your MOOC"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ruth Lincoln, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ DC<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Making the Most of your MOOC<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"ruth.lincoln\"<\/a>Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are everywhere. Offered through platforms such as\u00a0Coursera, Udacity, and EdX, MOOCs are providing thousands of people across the globe with\u00a0access to amazing courses. They\u2019re perfect for librarians and information professionals because\u00a0you can bone up on some missed materials (HMTL, CSS, other programming skills) or push\u00a0your limits and dive into advanced statistics or database design.<\/p>\n

MOOCs are great in that you can virtually take any course that interests you for free. No student\u00a0loans, registration hoops, or transportation issues. You can begin your educational journey from\u00a0the comfort of your couch.<\/p>\n

But while enrollment couldn\u2019t be any easier, getting the work done is another story. Educational\u00a0researcher Katy Jordan<\/a> dived into the data and found that \u201cmost MOOCs have completion rates\u00a0of less than 13%<\/a>\u201d. I\u2019ve successfully completed a few Coursera MOOCs, but for every success,\u00a0I\u2019ve had twice as many flops. They started out promising, but then work, life, school, all got in\u00a0the way. MOOCs are great, but they\u2019re just too easy to drop.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips to make the most of your MOOC:<\/p>\n

Create a Financial Incentive<\/strong>
\nCould you ever imagine quitting an MLS course after you\u2019ve paid tuition? The horror<\/em>. The last\u00a0MOOC I took, I gave my boyfriend $100 at the beginning of the course. If I failed to complete the\u00a0course, he could keep the money. If I finished, I got it back.<\/p>\n

This was relatively low-risk (it was my boyfriend, not Sallie Mae), but even the smallest financial\u00a0incentive can give you the boost you need. Think of the money as a deposit. Squirrel away\u00a0some cash, and if you finish the course, reward yourself with that deposit.<\/p>\n

Enroll with a Friend or Colleague<\/strong>
\nStudying, exercising, any difficult task is much easier with a buddy. If the course relates to your\u00a0job, enroll with a co-worker. You can discuss the course over lunch and create study dates.\u00a0Talk to your boss and see if the MOOC could count toward training hours. Your manager will\u00a0probably appreciate the low cost as much as you do.<\/p>\n

If the course isn\u2019t job-related, find a friend and take it together. Learning something new\u00a0together can deepen your friendship and teach you new things about each other. And knowing\u00a0someone else expects you to show up and participate is a terrific incentive. You don\u2019t want to let\u00a0him\/her down!<\/p>\n

Friends and colleagues offer the face-to-face learning experience that MOOCs and online\u00a0courses often lack. Between email, video lectures, and a virtual roster, it\u2019s easy to get lost in the\u00a0cloud. Experiencing your MOOC with a human being can provide the personalization you need.<\/p>\n

Join the MOOC discussion<\/strong>
\nNearly every MOOC has some forum where students can ask questions for professors, teaching\u00a0assistants, and other students provide helpful tips and answers. You can certainly do well\u00a0studying solo, but the group discussion will create a richer experience.<\/p>\n

Take advantage of the global enrollment. I\u2019ve always found the international draw of MOOCs\u00a0so exciting. Exploring and engaging with the discussion boards can open your eyes to new and\u00a0interesting questions. Realizing you have the same question as a student halfway across the\u00a0globe gives open learning a whole new perspective.<\/p>\n

Make a Schedule – and Stick to It!<\/strong>
\nTime management isn\u2019t easy, and there\u2019s no magic bullet to accomplish everything. Whatever\u00a0techniques you apply in your work, school, personal life can certainly help in your MOOC study.<\/p>\n

Here are a few free apps and websites that can help:<\/p>\n

Evernote<\/a>
\nGoogle Calendar reminders<\/a>
\nLifehack: Top 15 Time Management Apps and Tools<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ruth Lincoln, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ DC Making the Most of your MOOC Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are everywhere. Offered through platforms such as\u00a0Coursera, Udacity, and EdX, MOOCs are providing thousands of people across the globe with\u00a0access to amazing courses. They\u2019re perfect for librarians and information professionals because\u00a0you can bone up on some missed materials…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":58800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,5872,6049,6048,4324,4325,4720],"class_list":["post-64561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-dc","tag-making-the-most-of-your-mooc","tag-massive-open-online-courses","tag-mooc","tag-moocs","tag-ruth-lincoln"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/ruth.lincoln.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-gNj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}