I have taken quite a few MOOCs since they were originally
started by George Siemens and Steven Downes in 2008. With them I took Connectivism
and Connective Knowledge (2008) and Personal Learning Environments, Networks
and Knowledge (2010)
Now MOOCS are mostly
run by organizations such as Coursera, Edx and Udacity. Through Coursera I took Video Games and
Learning (2013), Understanding Video Games (2014) and am presently taking
Emerging Trends & Technology in the Virtual
k-12 Classroom (2015). Through Edx I
took Design and Development of Educational Technology (2014).
On the basis of these experiences I have come up with some
tips for participating that I plan to employ in all future MOOCS and which may
be useful to others as well.
1. Read through the
syllabus carefully to see what parts are going to be of interest to you. You don't have to do all the
assignments. Be picky and devote time to
those activities that will be a good use of your limited time.
2. Write a detailed introduction in the discussion forums so that
others with similar interests can find you.
You can often make very valuable connections with people in these forums.
3. Read and
contribute to discussions. You learn by putting
your thoughts in written form. You can also learn and grow from the responses
that others write to your posts. In
addition, your own learning or teaching experiences may be really be valuable
to others, so be sure to post some replies to what others post.
On of the best aspects of MOOCS if not taken for credit or certificates of achievement is that you get to choose your own level of participation. So how much you learn is up to you!
