Well, that was a long holiday break from this blog. Truth be told, not only were we busy with some great projects, but I was having trouble finding an inspiring topic. While this topic may not be all that inspiring, I’d like to take some time to acknowledge some great work being done in the field of ‘open education.’
I believe the correct terminology is, Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOC for short. There’s a plethora out there to choose from. Here’s a listing that I found interesting:
Plus, there’s much, much more. One point of caution: There’s only about a 10% completion rate. It seems that most folks intend to explore rather than actually complete the tasks associated with a course. And, it’s no surprise that those that pay the fee for various ‘certificates’, have a higher probability of completion. It has also been found that more interpersonal discussions with faculty, fellow students and teaching assistants also increase completion rates (Fowler, Geoffrey A. (2013-10-08). "An early report card on MOOCs". Wall Street Journal). Still, this is really cool stuff, especially for a life-long learner.