INTRODUCTION
Ruchira Kitsiri a graduate in the medical field , had a clinical
practice, then worked across diverse sectors including marketing, sociology,
education, mental health, psychology, and cardiology. His current interest is in genetics and neuroscience, where MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have been very helpful. In his commentary published in “MOOC News
& Reviews” (Kitsiri, 2013), he describes the various groups of people
(listed below) who should take a MOOC.
If you, a friend, or family member belong to one of these groups, please
kindly advise them to consider enrolling in a MOOC. In this posting, a “traditional” school
refers to the pre-MOOC type that has been dominant over the last hundreds of
years, where the main components have been the teacher, the classroom, the
school facilities and resources (mostly physical), and the students.
WHO SHOULD TAKE
A MOOC?
1) Current
Students
All students 13 years old and older taking classes in a traditional
setting (including those being home-schooled) up to undergraduate, graduate, and
post-graduate levels could benefit from a MOOC:
·
Students can use MOOCs to support their work for
the courses they take in their traditional school. MOOCs have Discussion Forums
where students can interact with and exchange information, knowledge and
experiences with other students. These
interactions could provide inspiration and support for all involved;
·
Some teachers in traditional schools now direct
their students to specific MOOCs either to fill in the gaps in the student's’
preparation or to enhance concepts from classes that the teachers are
currently teaching. Even brilliant
students sometimes have a weak spot – perhaps Mathematics or Language – that
could be very easily fixed by appropriate MOOCs;
·
Via MOOCs, students can easily gain access to
courses not taught in their traditional school. For example, a law student interested in a debate regarding whether genes should be
patented or not. The student will find a host of biology and genetics MOOCs that could
provide essential basic biology and genetics principles that wouldn't be taught in law schools.
2) Prospective
Students
MOOC is a great place to take a sneak peek into a subject that a prospective student may want to study. MOOCs can play a vital role in helping
prospective students decide which course or program to take. This applies to:
·
Current students in high school who have to
decide what to study in college or the university;
·
Current students who have to pick one or more
electives with little or no understanding of the contents of the elective
courses;
·
Current students who are finishing their
undergraduate program and have to start thinking of which academic area to
focus on for their graduate/postgraduate program;
·
Mothers who want to go back to school after
their children have left home.
3) Research
Students
Students pursuing advanced studies sometimes need to
refine their focus, identify a specific research topic to work on, select a
potential supervisor, and develop a proposal to get funding for a
graduate/postgraduate scholarship. This
applies to:
·
High school and undergraduate students working
on a student research project;
·
Graduate/postgraduate students working on a
research project/paper;
·
Thesis research by undergraduate and
graduate/postgraduate students.
4) Teachers
Teachers can benefit from a MOOC by brushing up and
updating their knowledge on the subject and to learn new ways of delivering
material to their students. This applies
to:
·
High school or college teachers who have been
forced by circumstances to teach a subject at which they are not particularly
familiar with or for which they don’t have a great passion for;
·
High school teachers, college, or university professors who need to strenghten a critical weakness – e.g., a university professor who was
hired for his excellence in research but with weakness in his ability to
communicate and teach effectively.
5) Parents
Parents can greatly benefit from MOOCs if they are homeschooling
their children or if they are interested in helping out their children – even
if the children are attending traditional schools:
·
There are MOOCs that can easily teach parents
the subject matters that is needed to help their children;
·
MOOCs can help parents to effectively assist
their children's decision on subjects to study.
6) People
Personally Affected By The Issue Covered In A MOOC
People who are interested in or personally affected by an issue
should find out if there is a MOOC on the subject and study the subject if it is available. Examples include:
·
The MOOC on “Genetics and Evolution” could be
useful for those planning to or have obtained genetic services such as: diagnostic
tests, risk assessment tests, or legal services that involve genetics; or for
those with a concern about a diagnosed genetic disorder;
·
Parents considering vaccination for their
children could benefit from one or more of Coursera’s courses dealing with
various aspects of vaccination. For Example, “Vaccines” offered by the University of
Pennsylvania, and “Vaccine Trials: Methods and Best Practices” by John Hopkins
University;
·
Those with aging parents could benefit from
“Understanding Dementia” from the University of Tasmania, and “Growing Old
Around the Globe” from the University of Pennsylvania;
·
People interested in or personally affected by
diabetes could benefit from “Diabetes – A Global Challenge” from the University
of Copenhagen.
7) People
Seeking Personal Enrichment At Different Life Stages
People benefitting from MOOCs include those wanting to
learn subjects about the world around us, as they were not able to study these
things before, due to difficulties with time, money, or access to information. In some cases, this interest developed
recently when people wanted to learn simply for personal satisfaction and
fulfilment. Examples include:
·
A retired psychologist developed an interest in
evolution and was inspired to take MOOCs in genetics and biology;
·
A career nutritionist who has always been
fascinated by robotics could benefit from “Artificial Intelligence for
Robotics,” the MOOC offered on Udacity; and
·
Imagine you want to befriend someone who is
heavily into science fiction , an area in which you have very limited if any
knowledge about. A possible solution is to take “Fantasy and Science Fiction:
The Human Mind, Our Modern World,” the MOOC from the University of Michigan.
8) Professionals
MOOCs could be the answer for those busy professionals
who either want to refresh their subject knowledge or who find themselves
requiring knowledge in a subject area different from their own original
background qualifications. Examples
include:
·
You may be a member of an interdisciplinary team
in evolutionary biology research but you come from a statistic background with
no primary qualification in biology. The
MOOC “Introduction to Genetics and Evolution” would help you get a basic
introduction to the core principles so you can better relate to your colleagues
and to the team’s work;
·
A marketing professional taking up a management
role needs to inform herself about finance and could benefit from one or more
of available MOOCs. These include
“Introduction to Finance” offered on Coursera by University of Michigan, and
“Corporate Finance” also on Coursera by University of Pennsylvania;
·
Consider a practicing lawyer who would like to
specialize in the specific area of Environmental Law. The Coursera MOOC “Introduction to
Environmental Law and Policy” from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill may help give a basic idea of the
content that may have to be learnt;
·
You may be primarily qualified in the humanities
and now work in public health and may want to learn about wider issues that you
come across in your day-to-day work. You
would find many MOOCs helpful, including: “Principles of Public Health” from
University of California, Irvine, and “Introduction to Global Health” from
University of Copenhagen.
9) Institutional
Users
Apart from individuals, institutions can benefit from
MOOCs. Examples include:
·
A small study group from one company that signed up
for a public speaking MOOC and meets weekly to work/study together;
·
Employers can structure the MOOC experience in
a way that the certification is recognized within their organization as a valid
measure of continuous professional development; and
·
A university department can use some MOOCs in
its teaching and training if they do not have the exact expertise on their own
faculty.
10) Other
Miscellaneous Categories Of Lifelong Learners
MOOCs could be the best way to move forward for other learners as
well, particularly those facing challenges.
Examples include those facing financial, physical, psychological, or
social challenges:
·
The poor now have less excuses to receive a good education, as MOOCs offer , high quality courses from top universities at no cost;
·
People with physical disabilities can access
quality education from the comfort of their own homes; and
·
Slow
learners just have to press the “Replay” button.
CONCLUSION
In summary, this posting seems to suggest that practically
anyone 13 years old or older can benefit from a MOOC. As Kitsiri (2013) pointed out, those
who can benefit from a MOOC are limited only by our interest, enthusiasm, and
imagination.
WHAT NEXT
REFERENCE
Posted by: Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi
