College: a place where you are required to pick a major that will direct the rest of your life. Higher education is a blessing for those who have an idea of where they want their lives to go. But for those who are less sure, college can be the worst. What about those of us who are interested in a range of different areas of study? Enter MOOCs.
I know that MOOC almost sounds like a derogatory term, but for those who are interested in higher education (regardless of whether or not you are currently pursuing it via a college education), this is a godsend. The name is an acronym for Massive Open Online Course, which essentially means free (or next to free) classes online.
This might not sound all that great at first, but once you start browsing through the classes, your inner scholar will come running at full speed. Just about any course you could imagine is offered. From music theory to foreign languages to job interview skills, the range of content is staggering.
One of the best parts of these online classes is that many of them let you go at your own pace. Granted some have specific start dates, but a large number allow users to study as fast or as slow as they wish.
MOOCs are not just popular among college students. Many high school students are taking advantage of this goldmine of free information in order to prepare for college. Although they’ve been around since 2008, MOOCs became extremely popular in 2012. But why aren’t we hearing more about these in mainstream media?
Last year, both the New York Times and Forbes put out articles discussing the flaws of MOOCs and why they are essentially destined to fail. The overall consensus was that there was a high dropout rate among the courses offered. University of Pennsylvania research showed an average of four percent of enrollees actually completing the courses.
Does this speak to the quality of the courses, or to the motivation of the students? Of course people get busy, and taking an online finance course sometimes becomes less important. But for those of us who like learning for the sake of learning and have the drive to stay on task, these MOOCs are everything we’ve ever dreamed of and more.
