5 Strategies to Succeed in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

What is a MOOC?

Massive Open Online Course or MOOC are courses offered online using Open Education Resources and is open to anyone interested in learning. Online learning is now becoming a trend in professional development. Popular sites such as Courseara, Edx and Canvas are offering both free and paid courses for almost all subjects from Accounting to Technology.

If you have not attended a MOOC, read my post on the course offered by American English E-Teacher Program on Content-Based Instruction (CBI).

Participation in MOOCs are voluntary and no monetary exchange is involved. Besides being free, others still fail to successfully complete it. If you are a beginner MOOCer these 5 Strategies will help you succeed in your MOOC journey.

  5 Strategies to Succeed in MOOC

1.Set a regular time Schedule. Keep a regular study time each week as required by the course. This will allow you not to get behind the course schedule. You can be easily distracted by the different activities around and can easily miss deadlines.

2. Treat MOOC as a regular course. Do all what the course requires; reading, watching videos, answering assignments and assessments. This will get you much more out of the course. Use an online or offline calendar to chart your assignments and due dates.

3. Participate in the forum or discussions. More learning occurs during interactions with other participants. Share your experiences and learn from other learner’s experience and take advantage of every opportunity to do so.

4. Ask questions. Every participant is encouraged to ask questions regarding the topics or activities in the course. Instructors want to help and they want students to succeed.  When you ask questions, be clear and concise in your communication.

5. Join a MOOC Camp. MOOC Camps are facilitated discussions around massive open online courses (MOOCs). It is hosted in learning hubs or other areas that take the course offline. Online learning can be just as much of a community as the classroom. MOOC Camps are sure to be found in your area. Interact with your colleagues and participants as much as you can and seek support from fellow learners.

Online learning is rewarding as well as it is challenging. But with a sound strategy for learning, I am sure that you can be successful online.

If you have other tips to share or questions, please share it below in the comments.