As you’ve probably noticed, I am slightly obsessed with educational technology 🙂
I love the idea of taking online courses and earning degrees through online programs (all of my graduate work was completed online). I love the flexibility of online courses, as well as other characteristics of these courses. Since I’m the mother of two beautiful little girls, a wife, and a full time teacher, online classes fit best into my busy and hectic schedule.
Recently, I’ve stumbled upon the world of MOOC, otherwise known as Massive Open Online Courses. Many MOOC platforms are available…some are free, while others charge a pretty penny!
However, when I calculate how much money I spent per class for my Master’s degree (online through Mizzou-over $300/credit hour), the price charged by some of these MOOC’s isn’t quite so bad.
While researching for this post, I came upon multiple MOOC options, but I focused primarily on Udemy and Courera. Both offer courses from reputable institutions and individuals (University of California Irvine, Yale, etc), as well as the opportunity to earn certificates for a variety of subjects (online educator, Microsoft, CISCO, etc).
The courses offered by Coursera and Udemy range from free through $250+.
Udemy even offers users the ability to sign up to be an instructor…and get paid! Online instructors create and upload their own content, and determine the fee to be charged for that course. Udemy pays a specific fee to the instructor based on how the course is marketed.
I’ll be trying out a MOOC this summer, and will probably even teach a course through Udemy!
These are the MOOC sites I reviewed. Check them out and let me know what you think!
Here are some resources about MOOC’s. Enjoy!
I’ll post about my MOOC journey this summer!
Watch for information about using iTunes U in your classroom!
How do you feel about MOOC’s? Comment or tweet your thoughts!
Thanks for reading 🙂
Bethany, I too am an edtech-aholic! I am currently getting my masters at Loyola in EdTech Leadership. I have loved every minute of it. I have talked a little bit about MOOC to my GT students but they weren't very impressed! I am fascinated by the fact that you can learn about things for free. I would love to see how they progress in the future. I imagine, however, that most of the people using MOOCs will be intrinsically motivated to learn.
Good point Heather.