eKourier July 2017

TRAINING

To MOOC Or Not To MOOC

W hat’s a MOOC I hear you ask? A MOOC is an acronym for Massive Online Open Courses which are an opportunity for one to take responsibility and seek to educate ones self. Imagine going to Harvard for free! Being in control of getting your own results, providing others with the feedback on courses you have enjoyed and maybe achieving more or better structures for yourself.

topic and learn. They are developed by credible institutions including Harvard, MIT, Curtin University and TAFE among many others. The subject range is varied. “OPEN 2 STUDY” or ex.org is another that shows a diverse offering ranging from Strategic Management, Negotiation and Conflict Management for a competitive edge and Human resources to Concepts in Game Development, Astronomy: discovering the Universe plus much more.

you to measure your understanding on your way to achieving completion. Typical enrolment sizes appear to be about 25,000 with completion rates now appearing around 17% which is steadily increasing each year. Likely reasons for a relatively low completion rate would include interest only in a specific element or topic of the course and time commitment, students might do this next to their regular job or educational programme. With the internet contributing to the way we learn every day (who hasn’t looked up a recipe, searched a map, read reviews of service providers, watched a YouTube clip to learn a task etc) this is an opportunity for those that like education, without the formalities, to continue to learn. Think about trying one, you have nothing to lose. You could share your success with others on Yammer. There is no pressure except for what you place on yourself. Why not go and get yourself MOOC’ed. Bill McClean Training & Development Manager

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They are not new, they have been around for seven to eight years and enrolments are growing, i.e. popularity is steadily increasing. Best of all if you take some time looking around the site you can find some courses for free. These courses will not leave you with a qualification however they do provide the opportunity to prove interest in a ‘ These courses will not leave you with a qualifi- cation however they do provide the opportunity to prove interest in a topic and learn. It’s important to remember this is just one provider, but the great opportunity here is there are many providers with great reputations and so easy to access on the net. The courses mentioned above are video sessions which include quizzes providing feedback for yourself enabling

15 Kennards Kourier July 2017