Guest Post: From a MOOC Enthusiast

[Ms. Ngozi Oguguah, a researcher in Nigeria who is member of the AuthorAID community, has contributed this guest post on her experience with massive open online courses (MOOCs). Thank you!]

I am a senior research officer with the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Sciences Lagos, Nigeria. I love online courses! To date, I have participated in 9 courses and counting. I actively search for free online courses that relate to my field of research.

Therefore when Ravi in the AuthorAID Online Course in Research Writing: Environmental Health wrote about MOOCs, I quickly keyed into the idea, and the experience has been eventful. I have made friends and gained a lot from interacting with people on various platforms. I’ve found it so interesting that I can be called a self-imposed MOOC ambassador!

I initially signed up for a lot of very interesting courses. However, because of time and Internet connectivity constraints, I had to drop some. I completed 2 of the courses. I got 95% in 1 but did not earn the required 75% in the second one. I am currently enrolled in 2 more courses.

Participation in online courses requires commitment. Of course, there must be access to an Internet-enabled computer. As for me, I download course videos and documents and look at them offline as I do not have sufficient bandwidth-cum-data plan to watch them online. This is most challenging when there is a conference call, Google hangout, or webinar; therefore I seek a recording option. In all, I believe that the future of higher education lies with online courses!