How To Make the Most Out of MOOCs?

Rishabh Bhandari
Rishabh Bhandari is the Co-Founder at Yoda Learning, a start-up focused on teaching in-demand technologies using projects to people across the world to make them employable. Prior to this he was part of the Investment Team at an Education-focused fund. Rishabh is an avid traveler and a music enthusiast.

Student life is the spring time of life. It is the phase of development, both in academics and curricular activities. The ones who excel in both of them emerge out as a complete human being, having an all- round developed stature. However the present world is highly competitive and always need something extra from an individual. The recent trend shows that students keep on adding to their curriculum vitae a chunk of academic credentials to rise above their peers. The facts indeed show that students who have higher qualification and academic records are an automatic choice in an industry or an organisation. Beyond any doubt, they always have an upper hand in the selection process.

While most of the students keep on adding to their portfolio just to get employed and have an upper hand than others, many of them interest in studying further just for the sake of passion. This also includes working professionals who are looking for continuous learning for upskilling. However, the study is the common thing to which both the groups adhere to and hence the way of studying is an important thing to discuss about.

We all are familiar of learning in our schools, colleges or universities. Although it is the most common and orthodox way of learning, there is something else out of the track also. This is none other than the wonderful MOOCs.

MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course and is aimed at limitless participation of aspiring candidates over the internet. It bears close resemblance to distance education program, in fact, it is a modification of the concept of distance education and can come handy in a lot of ways. Similar to distance education ideas, they provide course materials or problem sets, but is superior to the erstwhile, since the latter provides interactive forums for the students and teachers. MOOC is a recent trend in the academic field, in the present digital world and is beneficial in a good lot of ways.

The MOOCs began emerging from 2012 and stressed on features like making a successful connection or forums and open licensing of content. Some of the early entrants include Coursera, edX which offer courses backed by university certifications and Udemy which is a marketplace of delivering skills-based courses. It has become booming ever since then because learning took new dimensions with contents stressing on clearing concepts mainly. Having a clear concept is a very big necessity and learners can have a complete knowledge only if their concept is crystal.

The massive online open courses have reached even better heights with the inclusion of graduate and post graduate level courses. Students now have the privilege to take a course offered by an accredited university for free at any time of their liking. This is absolutely a phenomenal idea from the students’ perspective and it is nothing but learning that is enhanced to a great extent.

Online learning is the recent trend on the rise and research analysts have come up with results that show over 20 million postsecondary students enrolled in at least one online course in 2014, against a figure of 1.6 million back in 2002. Educationalists, experts and research analysts find that the recent trend is booming, especially with the MOOCs, since the schedule is flexible and convenient for the students. Hour long lectures or night classes sometime become too boring and hollow, while through online systems one can study at their will, pausing whenever needed. Besides, a MOOC offers a student to effectively log on and avail whatever they need wherever they go. The forums too are wonderful that keeps the learners and teachers connected with ease of access.

Sometimes MOOCs surpass universities and institutes, as certain courses that are hardly available in nearby organisations are available here. Practically, one is available with a good range of option with the MOOCs and enthusiastic learners can take up unorthodox courses effectively. One need not worry at all regarding correct guidance as MOOCs have forums that boasts of wonderful teachers and experts from respective fields. They can be easily accessed and one can be rightly navigated to attain utmost knowledge of the courses they opt for.

With nice features for student enrichment, MOOCs are cost effective too. One need not buy volumes of text book and incur handsome expenses. Moreover, learning from home means no attending traditional classes and hence a little cut down in the expenses against transportation.

Beyond a little doubt MOOCs benefit the students in a great way and provides them with opportunities for convenience. The concepts get cleared effectively and one can learn a lot from teachers and experts in that particular field concerned. Smart students think out of the track and shine. They are up to date in every term and it is desirable they think smartly in their way of learning too. MOOC industries are the correct platform for students to think unorthodox and prosper brightly in their careers. The ones who dare to think beyond traditional learning, simply get in touch with a MOOC industry. Grasp your knowledge from experts to feed your quest to the level best and emerge as perfect individuals when it comes to learning.