The lure of online study
Online learning seems so convenient!
The popular notion is that online study allows you to ‘study at your own pace’, that you have the advantage of revisiting course material, re-writing tests until mastery sets in, and that you can learn virtually anywhere, and certainly at any time. And to top it all, some portals provide free access to the material and curricula of a number of the world’s best universities, in the form of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), where you only pay for the taking the exam and for the official certificate.
Even now that Coursera and other online course providers are increasingly switching to courses with entry criteria and fees, these fees are mostly low. And in Project Management, online ‘exam cram’ courses are getting cheaper and cheaper.
It seems like a no-brainer: with bargains like this already out there, who needs #feesmustfall? All we need is computers and bandwidth!
Who actually finishes, though?
There is a sombre reality around online courses: they have a dismal completion rate. Some put the completion rate of MOOCs as low as 2-3%.
Why is this, though? Could the low completion rate could be ascribed to academic inexperience on the part of the students? Or is it because MOOCs allow everyone and anyone to sign up?
No. More than one-third of of MOOC students already have a 4-year degree, and 30% already have a Masters degree before signing up for a MOOC! Many institutions offering MOOCs actually limit the number of MOOC students. These people are obviously not new to studying.
Then why do so many of them drop out? Read the next article to find out more.
