7 Tips On How Not To Fail With MOOC Courses

7 Tips on How Not To Fail with MOOC Courses
Summary: The fact that you are reading this article bears ample testimony to the fact that you are looking for a MOOC which is short for Massive Open Online Course. Your reasons behind opting for a MOOC may range from your desire to learn something new to changing career path without drowning nose deep in student loan. There is no denial that MOOC’s are the best courses for online education however, they only turn out to be good if you know how not to fail with a MOOC. Find out best tips on how to choose the right MOOC course and don't become disappointed.

How Not To Fail with MOOC Courses

Here are few factors which you must consider in order to be able to avoid a failure with MOOC:

1. Look for the following in your MOOC

Tangible portfolio
Go with a portfolio that lets you increase your chances of getting hired in the future by allowing you to create a project in the end that showcases what you learn to your prospective employer.

Course Schedule
There may be a few courses that allow you to join the course anytime that you want to and there may be others that need you to follow the university semester program. Decide wisely between the two types keeping into consideration other commitments that you have.

Read also: 3 Skills to Improve Before Applying for MOOC

2. Do not pay much heed to the certificates

If you are fond of showing off your accomplishments, you may be tempted to join a course that provides you heavy-looking certificates in the end. The fact is that they may not carry any institutional credit at all. If you go after fancy certificates, you are bound to encounter a scam which will leave you with only a worthless certificate and no skill.

3. Don’t judge a course by its videos

There may be a lot of courses that offer graphics rich videos and there may be others which just feature a professor sitting in front of the camera. Regardless of the quality of the video, make sure that you do not accept or reject the course without testing out the classes for a couple of days or weeks. Such exposure to the classes will give you an idea of the commitment and personality of the professor. If there are questions in quizzes that require you to recall the material covered in the video, it is indicative of the fact that the professor does not have any personal interest in teaching. More thought provoking questions reveal that the teacher is really interested.

4. Don’t play it safe when you pick classes

Do not be reluctant to branch out of the course that you are sure of doing well in. It is a wise idea to indulge in your curiosity and delve into a number of subjects from social psychology and behavioral economics to climate study and seismology. With a MOOC, you are at liberty to ask as many dumb questions as you want without anybody coming to know who you are.

5. Don’t assume consistency between classes

It is imperative to know that not all classes are run with the same consistency. When you enrol for a class, make sure you pay adequate attention to its assignment policies. There may be a few classes that do not require any submission until the end of the course while there may be others that will fail you if you miss beyond 30% of the lectures in a week. You must avoid any such course that makes you feel like a guinea pig under an inexperienced professor who keeps changing policies every now and then.

6. Track Your Progress

Even if your MOOC provider offers you a certificate to testify your performance, it is better to take no chances and keep documenting your work at intervals. This will allow you to let your future employers know that you have legitimately been through the course. One of the best tools available currently is “Accredible” which enables you to upload course notes and take screenshots of various parts of the course so that you can subsequently combine them into one online open certificate.

7. Improve the pre-requisite skills

There are two major skills that you must improve before applying for a MOOC viz. touch typing and time management. While you can manage with “hunt and peck” typing, faster touch typing speed will let you complete assignments in time and increase your efficiency too. The importance of time management for any project needs no elaboration.

These 7 tips on how not to fail with MOOC courses will go a long way in letting you make the most of the course. When you go online searching for a MOOC, you will be a better informed student well equipped to make a wise choice.