First Time MOOCer

[Karen Mazzocchi]

Hi everyone,

Carol asked if there were any first time MOOCer's and I am new to
this. I am currently taking an independent study course through Carol
at ESC. I have to say that I am technology challenged with accessing
some of things that are associated with MOOC. It's a little
overwhelming becase there's just so much information to absorb. As
with any new thing, I am trying to approach it positively. Hopefully
before the end of the course, I will have this down pat.

Karen

[paul bond]

There's not just so much information to absorb, there's too much
information to absorb. It's sort of like a festival, with so many
things going on at once that you have to pick and choose what to do.
Something for everyone = too much for any one, or, overwhelming by
design. The thing to do is to make it work for you. As David Cormier
said, "Skim and dive."
You have a lot of leeway as to how to make it work for you. Not only
do you not have to read everything, or interact with everyone, but
you're not bound by the schedule. In another MOOC, (It might have been
CCK11) people actually joined after it officially ended, and the
Facebook group still has activity.
I find it challenging too, because I want to read so much of the
material and discussions, and because I'm a little slow to formulate
my thoughts, so discussions tend to move on ahead of me and on to new
topics. And work gets in the way quite a bit. I just try to take from
the MOOCs what I want and contribute what I can.

[Vanessa Vaile]

Hi Karen

I'm not new to moocs (though newer than some) or technology (albeit limited by connectivity issues), but can recommend not trying to take in everything and start using everything at once. Take it one app at a time and don't hesitate to ignore or postpone the ones you think will be less useful to you than others.

Vanessa

--
Vanessa Vaile
Mountainair NM
vaness...@gmail.com

[Ruth Demitroff]

If you've paid tuition to an academic institution and are asking for
an academic credit,towards a degree, then you must meet objective
academic standards. If that is not the case, then you set your own
criteria of what would make this a successful use of your time. Are
you interested in networking (making connections with similarly
interested people), researching, creating (writing a blog, doing a
mindmap, writing a paper, etc.) or in learning how to offer your own
MOOC? Are you equally interested or do you have a hierarchy of
interest in creativity, multiculturalism, communication and learning
how to teach a MOOC?

Think of it like receiving a Christmas catalogue. There's a common
set of offerings but most people pick the few things that they really
and truly want or need out of the catalogue. Each person has their
own,unique wish list. If you are most interested i creativity, you'll
be sharing links, blog posts, discussion posts with those of us not
concentrating as much time thinking, researching or creating on that
aspect of the course. Someone whose deepest interest is in how to run
MOOCs, will be reading, sharing links, writing posts, etc. on creating
free open course texts or getting blog posts and wiki pages recognized
as source materials in doctoral dissertations or discussing other ways
of evaluating and giving recognition for what people have learned or
contributed.

We're really working as a team sharing what we've read, created,
discussed, analyzed, etc which quickly develops a body of online
information on new areas of study. Most MOOCs are on topics that
haven't been studied for decades or centuries. Think about Habitat
for Humanity. It is theoretically possible for one person to build a
house but it's more likely to happen if people with various skills and
levels of proficiency combine their efforts and work as a team giving
help and encouragement along the way. The group effort takes it from
being an oppressive amount of work to being fun.