Image CC from Andrew-Hyde on Flickr
The past two weeks I’ve been taking part in a MOOC – Massive Open Online Course – to be more specific a Google MOOC called “Power Searching with Google.” This post is less about what was learned on the course (you will need to sign up for that) but more on my experience of a Google MOOC.
The course used Google course-builder incorporating several Google products such as You Tube, Google Groups and Google+ Hangouts.
After registering I was taken straight to a pre-class assessment which consisted of around fifteen questions where I had to select the answer from multiple choice or type the answer into a text box. It was a good way of finding the base of your knowledge about Google and gave an insight into the types of things that will be learned on the course. For example one of the questions was, select from multiple choice, how does Google rank results? So I guessed at least one lessons would be on Google ranking.
The availability of classes are from the course homepage and are only available after certain times, so you can’t power on ahead and finish the course in one day. The classes are well spaced out giving plenty of time to learn that material and apply it before taking on something else.
Each class had lessons which were short You Tube videos embedded into the course and were usually around 6 minutes long. I liked the presenter, Dan, I liked the tone of voice and pace of each lesson. They weren’t too short that I felt I was missing something but not too long either that I would start to wander off. Each lesson was followed up by an activity giving you a chance to try out a new technique and feedback to Google and other learners via a forum. The forum could be quite useful in that you could share your experience, and common mistakes, with other learners and for some activities which were possibly too simplistic you could get more complicated queries to try out.
Unfortunately I never got the chance to take part in the two live Google Hangouts although was able to watch the recordings after the event. Although I would have liked to have taken part in a Google hangout just to experience it.
After around two weeks, six classes and three assessments I completed the final assessment to complete the course, with a 100% pass mark I might add.
I enjoyed taking part in this MOOC and I feel I picked up several handy tips and tricks when searching with Google but it didn’t feel like an intensive course, it took me around an hour at the end of each day to complete a full class so it was something I could easily manage at the end of a working day. I liked participating in the forum to see what other learners were experiencing and also to get the feeling of being part of something otherwise I could have just watched all the You Tube videos but I get the impression that a MOOC is also a way to connect you with other learners and is a social as well as open course.
I would be interested to hear anyone else’s experience of a MOOC, or if you took part in the Power Searching with Google. Have you developed a MOOC which you currently run? Feel free to get in touch or pop comments/questions in the box below.
