Our assignment this week was to try out an online education platform and write down our observations. Just like 90% of other MOOC-ers, I have yet to complete one course, despite trying out several platforms: Udacity, Coursera, EdX, Codecademy, etc. I made a quick table of notes about these platforms, but even the information here is outdated, as offerings and enhancements are made daily.
After I attempted to fill out my table, I encountered this chart which does a much more complete job.
My preferred learning styles are auditory and kinesthetic. For me, the Udacity course I started was most effective for my learning styles.The videos have an interactive look and feel, giving me the sense that the instructor was learning alongside me while drawing. This feel was similar to Khan Academy, but what I really liked is the formative assessments of learning. For example, Udacity wouldn’t let me go on in the video unless I got the questions right, forcing me to active in my learning. In Khan Academy, I could move on in the video to see the instructor work out the problem for me.
A top reason for non-existent completion is largely due to poor time management on my part. However, I personally find learning a very social act. Call me undisciplined, which I most certainly am, but I need the structure provided when a group of people commit to meet, learn, and congregate with each other to give me that extra push. Without the sense that I let someone down or failed to follow through on a commitment, I tend to prioritize other things for which those considerations are central (you can predict how non-existent my gym life is). In this way, I need to work on developing ownership for my learning….or could we build systems that can help engender this in users?