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By completely leaving Coursera, this is a vouch of confidence for MOOcs in general. sarcasm Horray for worthless online degrees that have an attrition rate past

By completely leaving Coursera, this is a vouch of confidence for MOOcs in general. sarcasm Horray for worthless online degrees that have an attrition rate past 90% of total registered students and a near-zero overall completion rate. I'm sure MOOCs will have a great future henceworth now that the CEO of a very visible MOOC company has left.

towlesda 12y ago
MOOCs are great for people who want to learn on their own (although no different than classes in college, some are more valuable than others). I'm not sure of the value these bring in getting a job, but the learning value makes them very worthwhile.
- bayesianhorse 12y ago
  MOOCs are even better for people who have to learn on their own. Which is almost anyone, most of the time. You usually don't have time or money for degrees in multiple fields, so most "continued learning" if not in very rigid programs, is essentially "learning on your own".
- visarga 12y ago
  > MOOCs are great for people who want to learn on their own MOOC + in person coaching could solve the problem. We don't need professors, we need coaches (experts in education, psychologists) to keep people motivated and not drop off. Also, in large cities study groups could generate the same feeling as going to a real class. What we are missing in MOOCs is the motivational effect of meeting people (in real life) who are serious about learning and seeing them work hard. That is what makes us believe we can do it too.
bayesianhorse 12y ago
The "Mooc" movement is actually going as strong as ever. The goals of these courses is not to have high completion rates, but to give anyone a chance of learning as much as he wants. Sometimes though, moocs are held to standards and goals they never ever set themselves, like replacing universities, which none of them actually want.
vijucat 12y ago
The attrition rate is due to the lack of cost involved in opting out if you find yourself unable to keep up with the course / too many courses. Being able to try and see if you can do a course (despite the other commitments in your life) is actually very attractive because most people cannot assess their goals or time budget that accurately. From the MOOCs' point of view, this is a worthwhile feature because while it does increase the false positive rate tremendously, it also increases the true positive rate : more people sign up for the course because the barrier to entry is low and end up completing it. Also, it does a wonderful job of introducing a new product to the market : I do not know a single friend in my circle who has not tried out Coursera. And guess what, I would happily pay up if they charge a reasonable fees in the future!

towlesda 12y ago

MOOCs are great for people who want to learn on their own (although no different than classes in college, some are more valuable than others). I'm not sure of the value these bring in getting a job, but the learning value makes them very worthwhile.

bayesianhorse 12y ago
MOOCs are even better for people who have to learn on their own. Which is almost anyone, most of the time. You usually don't have time or money for degrees in multiple fields, so most "continued learning" if not in very rigid programs, is essentially "learning on your own".
visarga 12y ago
> MOOCs are great for people who want to learn on their own MOOC + in person coaching could solve the problem. We don't need professors, we need coaches (experts in education, psychologists) to keep people motivated and not drop off. Also, in large cities study groups could generate the same feeling as going to a real class. What we are missing in MOOCs is the motivational effect of meeting people (in real life) who are serious about learning and seeing them work hard. That is what makes us believe we can do it too.

bayesianhorse 12y ago

The "Mooc" movement is actually going as strong as ever. The goals of these courses is not to have high completion rates, but to give anyone a chance of learning as much as he wants. Sometimes though, moocs are held to standards and goals they never ever set themselves, like replacing universities, which none of them actually want.

vijucat 12y ago

The attrition rate is due to the lack of cost involved in opting out if you find yourself unable to keep up with the course / too many courses. Being able to try and see if you can do a course (despite the other commitments in your life) is actually very attractive because most people cannot assess their goals or time budget that accurately. From the MOOCs' point of view, this is a worthwhile feature because while it does increase the false positive rate tremendously, it also increases the true positive rate : more people sign up for the course because the barrier to entry is low and end up completing it. Also, it does a wonderful job of introducing a new product to the market : I do not know a single friend in my circle who has not tried out Coursera. And guess what, I would happily pay up if they charge a reasonable fees in the future!