What About the MOOC Dropouts?
MOOC completion rates are usually listed as being around 10% worldwide. It is still early in the MOOC game to know exactly why and assessment is incomplete. Open Culture has been documenting the growth of MOOCs and has published a list of the most common reasons for dropping out.
I want to preface the reasons with my own personal observation. I think we need to rethink how we define completion in this new MOOC world. In courses that I have been in as a student and ones that I have taught there have always been participants that were clearly there to gain knowledge about some of the course material, but had no intention to complete all of the course.
I think that many MOOC participants should be seen more like what we used to call auditors. I might have wanted to sit in on a few class sessions of an art history course to listen to the discussion on the Impressionists. But that was all I wanted. No tests, assignments, tuition or credit. now, I might do it with a MOOC.
The reasons that Open Culture published are:
1) Completing MOOCs takes too much time
2) MOOCs assume students are well informed
3) Some MOOCs were too easy and unchallenging
4) Having to watch boring web-based lectures
5) Course design (sometimes despite ample instructions on how to access course material - Is this is an issue of being ready for online learning?)
6) Lack of constructive interaction (beyond online discussion forums)
7) Trolls and rude students who were unsupervised by teachers or teacher assistants.
Hidden costs, especially costly traditional textbooks. In some courses, it is impossible to access material without textbook access
9) Free access leads to course shopping and browsing. Students sign up for many courses and decide later which ones to actually take.
10) Learning instead of earning. Many students intend to gain knowledge of a subject but without credit are unlikely to take exams or complete assignments.
I want to preface the reasons with my own personal observation. I think we need to rethink how we define completion in this new MOOC world. In courses that I have been in as a student and ones that I have taught there have always been participants that were clearly there to gain knowledge about some of the course material, but had no intention to complete all of the course.
I think that many MOOC participants should be seen more like what we used to call auditors. I might have wanted to sit in on a few class sessions of an art history course to listen to the discussion on the Impressionists. But that was all I wanted. No tests, assignments, tuition or credit. now, I might do it with a MOOC.
The reasons that Open Culture published are:
1) Completing MOOCs takes too much time
2) MOOCs assume students are well informed
3) Some MOOCs were too easy and unchallenging
4) Having to watch boring web-based lectures
5) Course design (sometimes despite ample instructions on how to access course material - Is this is an issue of being ready for online learning?)
6) Lack of constructive interaction (beyond online discussion forums)
7) Trolls and rude students who were unsupervised by teachers or teacher assistants.
Hidden costs, especially costly traditional textbooks. In some courses, it is impossible to access material without textbook access9) Free access leads to course shopping and browsing. Students sign up for many courses and decide later which ones to actually take.
10) Learning instead of earning. Many students intend to gain knowledge of a subject but without credit are unlikely to take exams or complete assignments.
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