Enriching and Expanding Your Intellectual Horizons with Massive Open Online Courses

One of my favorite hobbies since completing my formal education is participating in MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and similar free online learning tools. Kaplan and Haenlein define a MOOC as an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. Depending on your relationship with technology that definition may either sound enormously exciting or terrifying. For me, MOOCs have provided me with intellectual freedom and access to perspectives in ways very difficult to facilitate on a brick-and-mortar college campus.

Over the past year I have engaged with courses from three sources: edX, Coursera, and Carnegie Mellon University’s Open Learning Initiative (OLI). The former two platforms provide numerous courses that are offered in real time (they have a fixed start and end data) and a few that are self-paced. Courses on these platforms use varying multimedia to teach concepts and discussion boards and peer reviewed assignments to stimulate interaction between participants. Carnegie Mellon’s OLI is solely self-paced at the moment and material is presented in the form of an interactive textbook. This format also has options for the material to be led by an instructor. Of those three platforms, edX is my favorite. I feel it has great quality courses, maximizes interactivity, and has the most material available at no cost. Conversely, Coursera is my least favorite because the courses on that platform I tried provided complete access to learning materials but to get access to all assignments students had to pay for the course (admittedly, the cost was less than $100 per course).

MOOCs and other free online learning opportunities provide independent, self-motivated learners with opportunities to broaden their intellectual horizons. Despite having a very firm academic background in transportation, I have enjoyed digging into topics like Anatomy and Physiology (OLI), Sociology (edX), and Cybersecurity (Coursera). Also important is that there is very low risk to participate in these courses. I think these resources could be valuable for motivated high school students trying to narrow down their desired college major (the sooner you know, the easier it is to get out in four years!). I think MOOCs also provide opportunities to bright homeschooled students, individuals unable to afford or physically access higher education, and those seeking to keep their skills sharp.

There are some circumstances in which I think free online learning is not (at least not yet) a substitute for an education from an accredited brick-and-mortal institution of higher education. First, to get the most from a MOOC you must understand how you learn best, be able to motivate yourself, and understand how to best organize what you learn. This is a skill that I am still working on, but was not proficient at until after I earned my bachelor’s degree. This does not mean more junior students should not try, but that the guidance of being in a classroom milieu can speed the process of developing those critical skills. Many MOOCs do have staff available to help answer questions and clarify concepts, but the MOOC is not generally their top priority. I found many answers to be cookie-cutter or vague. When I’m teaching on campus at West Virginia University, my students know they have my undivided attention and that we can sit and talk out any questions they might have.

There are numerous websites that offer MOOCs or other free online courses. The three that I have the most experience with are:

• Carnegie Mellon University’s Open Learning Initiative
• Coursera
• edX

If any of you have had good experience with other platforms or offerings from other universities, let me know and I can add to this list!

MOOCs are a great opportunity for individuals to expand their intellectual horizons. I recently completed an introductory sociology class offered on edX by a faculty member from the University of Texas-Permian Basin. The material was not challenging, but the discussion boards were enriching. Students from the United States, Canada, Denmark, Nigeria, India, and others shared their perspectives and, especially given the subject matter of the course, it did more to open my mind than the most ethnically diverse course I ever took at a brick-and-mortar university (I’m pretty sure it was STAT 503, Design of Experiments, at Penn State, where about 10 countries were represented in that class of about 35). However, they are not a direct substitute for formal education in the setting of an accredited, brick-and-mortar institution because of the comparatively limited faculty interaction and the lack of direct contact with your learning community. If you’re curious, I strongly urge you to try one out!

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2016). Higher education and the digital revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, social media, and the Cookie Monster. Business Horizons,59(4), 441-450.