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I agree with the sentiment, but I wonder if having a low barrier of entry is really the solution, or does having a low barrier of entry average out to a low lev

by tsiki 14y ago

I agree with the sentiment, but I wonder if having a low barrier of entry is really the solution, or does having a low barrier of entry average out to a low level of initial commitment. It'd be interesting to see if an online course for which you pay for would be better at retention. From a business point of view, they could even offer to give you the money back if you finish the course, or use some other retention trick, like have people calling you to create some social pressure if you seem to be falling behind.

ghaff 14y ago
There is something to be said for class participants having some "skin in the game" so to speak. But I think at this stage, the companies/organizations involved are most focused on getting the most people to experience the courses--which having a fee would certainly diminish. As someone else wrote, I expect that these will become more modular over time. It's only natural that they're mimicking traditional product classes to start--but it's hard to believe that's necessarily the optimum chunk size, especially for those doing this as a relatively casual part-time thing.
Paul_D_Santana 14y ago
Hah, I was about to post the same idea, about paying for a course and getting the money back on completion. Maybe even redistribute the funds from prior students who hadn't finished the class to students who complete the class and go back to help others. Get paid for answering questions, kind of like a university TA. Another idea I had was that students who completed a course, and achieved a certain level of proficiency, would get access to a special forum. This forum could be shared by potential employers.
gingerlime 14y ago
I totally agree that commitment is a major part of any educational success, and paying for something drastically increases our commitment and motivation. At kenHub[1], we offer anatomy online training for medical students, physiotherapists etc. Since we are working in a collaboration with the Charité University[2], we offer students at the university the same content other students pay for, completely free. Our statistics shows around a factor of 8x in engagement of paying vs. non-paying students[3]. [1]https://www.kenhub.com https://www.kenhub.com [2]http://www.charite.de/en/charite http://www.charite.de/en/charite [3]http://imgur.com/5eG3teP http://imgur.com/5eG3teP

by tsiki 14y ago

ghaff 14y ago

There is something to be said for class participants having some "skin in the game" so to speak. But I think at this stage, the companies/organizations involved are most focused on getting the most people to experience the courses--which having a fee would certainly diminish. As someone else wrote, I expect that these will become more modular over time. It's only natural that they're mimicking traditional product classes to start--but it's hard to believe that's necessarily the optimum chunk size, especially for those doing this as a relatively casual part-time thing.

Paul_D_Santana 14y ago

Hah, I was about to post the same idea, about paying for a course and getting the money back on completion. Maybe even redistribute the funds from prior students who hadn't finished the class to students who complete the class and go back to help others. Get paid for answering questions, kind of like a university TA. Another idea I had was that students who completed a course, and achieved a certain level of proficiency, would get access to a special forum. This forum could be shared by potential employers.

gingerlime 14y ago

I totally agree that commitment is a major part of any educational success, and paying for something drastically increases our commitment and motivation. At kenHub[1], we offer anatomy online training for medical students, physiotherapists etc. Since we are working in a collaboration with the Charité University[2], we offer students at the university the same content other students pay for, completely free. Our statistics shows around a factor of 8x in engagement of paying vs. non-paying students[3]. [1]https://www.kenhub.com https://www.kenhub.com [2]http://www.charite.de/en/charite http://www.charite.de/en/charite [3]http://imgur.com/5eG3teP http://imgur.com/5eG3teP