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Completed a MOOC


I finally managed to complete a MOOC. This is the second one I had signed up for – from Coursera. The first one I could not complete. So, what made the difference?

Amidst both the MOOC’s, something happened that I fell behind by a week. But in the first instance, the deadline was a hard deadline (much before the end of the course) with no leeway. And having fallen behind once, I lost the enthusiasm to try.

In the second instance, all the deadlines were a common deadline towards the end of the course – so having slipped back, it was a matter of completing 2 modules in the space of one. So, I was able to claw back in, just in the nick of time.

Some more questions:
  • Was the course good? Both the MOOC’s were good. The first one, I thought was a little more intense than the second one – and I really wish I was able to complete it.
  • How was the content?  Both had really practical content.
  • How much time did I have to spend? In the first one, I had to spend nearly an hour each week – and about half that in the second one. Perhaps that made a difference as well.
  • What makes an MOOC different from reading up similar material? One it is the interactivity of the content – with videos. Second, it is broken up into chunks, so you are going through it chunk by chunk. Third, there are practical examples that make you think and actually work on what you have learnt.

Looking for some more MOOC’s now.
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