An MOOC – Massive Open Online Course – is a great way to equip yourself with some much-needed skills and knowledge for the job market. They are usually cheap but quite effective. However, unless you manage to do them right, you cannot make effective use of an MOOC program.
So to help you do them effectively, here are three crucial things you should remember when you enroll in MOOCs.
#1 Avoiding Enrolling in Multiple Courses
One of the many advantages of enrolling in MOOC programs is that you can enroll in as many courses as you want. Plus, most of these courses will be self-paced, meaning you can carry on with them for as long as you want. That, however, also poses a problem for many students.
The idea of being able to do so many intriguing courses while sitting at home is quite alluring. And many students end up enrolling in more courses than they can handle. Although they are online courses, the content these programs cover is often quite difficult. They require the same amount of time and attention as would a regular college course. So when you take like four or five of these courses at once, you might not be able to cope with the pressure.
Instead of doing that, you should enroll in a maximum of two to three courses, based on how much time you can spend on each of them. That way, you will not have to put too much pressure on yourself such that you end up leaving them all incomplete.
#2 Go for Something That will Boost Your Resume
When choosing an MOOC program, you will see that there are a plethora of courses available to you. Most of these courses will not be relevant to your field, but will still seem interesting. And while you can work on them as well, it is better to opt for something that can boost your resume.
Doing a course outside your field of interest will surely make you smarter and more knowledgeable regarding that field or topic. Unfortunately, it will add little value to your resume. Instead, when you do something related to your actual field, you can show your work in that course on your resume.
For instance, if you are a computer science major and you do an app development course, you are bound to work on some sort of a project at some point. Then, you can show that project on your portfolio or resume.
Besides field-related courses, you can also do basic software training on applications you might need to use in your job. For example, you can do courses on Microsoft Excel if you are planning to work with finances.
#3 Take Part in Group Discussions
MOOC programs usually have lecturers from all around the world. You might even get to interact with some of them if they ever arrange for live sessions. And even with the regular videos, you will have a lot to learn. Hence, you will miss out on a lot if you just watch them aimlessly without discussing the topics with other attendees or students.
Say for instance you are doing homework on sociology or history, and you are asked to describe a certain scenario using historical lenses. Your peers might be asked to do the same, or they might have to work with economic lenses or political lenses.
You can of course get help with your homework from different online homework assistance websites. They have expert tutors as well as professional teachers to help you out. However, once you are done with your homework, you should be able to discuss it with other students. Such subjects that study society or specific events need to be discussed in groups. You need to share your views with others and see what they have to say.
And not just theoretical subjects, but even with technical courses, you need to discuss your projects. The programs are likely to have discussion forums on the platform, so try to be active over there. You can not only share ideas and discuss, but also make some amazing friends.
Once you can incorporate these simple tips into your learning process, you can make the most out of any MOOC course. No matter what the subject is or how long the course will last, these tips will help you make the most out of them.