top 50 MOOCS -- I've taken six of them

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ClassCentral has published a list of the top 50 MOOCs (Massive Open Online Classes) of all time, "based on thousands of reviews written by Class Central users."


I've completed five of them:

Model Thinking

Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects

Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology

The Science of Everyday Thinking

Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance


The rules have changed in the MOOC game.  MOOCs used to be totally free.  In the last few years, they've been moving toward "monetizing," which means "restricting what you are allowed access to if you don't pay for a certificate."  You can still hear all the lectures, and read all of the readings, but in  many classes you can no longer take the quizzes or do the assignments unless you pay. 

I've been exposed to all of the info presented in one more class, but chose not to pay to "complete" the class.

Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential


I recommend all of the above classes.  I found Model Thinking to be very tough.  It turns out that though I remember enough French from jr. high and high school to be able to get by, I do NOT remember a comparable amount of algebra, and Model Thinking requires a lot of algebra.  None of the other classes require algebra.  :-)

All of these classes were free when I took them, and I believe all of the lectures and reading assignments are still free.  I expect it is necessary to pay to take quizzes and/or do assignments in most of them, now, but maybe not all.


I do think "just listening" is very worthwhile.  And remember -- for free.  So if the subject doesn't grab you, or the instructor is boring (or a jerk, or both!), you can just walk away, nothing lost.

If you want to learn interesting things, in the privacy and comfort of your own home (or coffee-shop!), you can't beat a MOOC.


DIGRESSION:  I signed up for one other class on the Top 50 list, but quit following it because I thought the teacher was abusive to students.  He had a tableful of students getting filmed with him, and I felt his interactions with them were inappropriate.  (Telling one student that her comment "was the only possible wrong answer"????????  I mean, any teacher telling any student that, under any circumstances?????  And in front of tens, or hundreds! of thousands of viewers??????  Really?????????????????????)  END OF DIGRESSION


So I've completed 10% of this Top 50, have exposed myself to all of the lectures for one more, and rejected yet another.  I'm surprised to have taken so many of the "top 50", considering how computer-science-centric MOOCs tend to be.  On the other hand, computer-science classes almost certainly don't attract as wide an audience as "Learning How to Learn"................

(As someone who programmed computers professionally for nearly 30 years, I have signed up for quite a few programming MOOCs, as something I *ought* to be interested in, but not one grabbed my attention.  I failed to complete any of them.  I think that's a message.  "Been there, done that.".........)


I note that Mountains 101 (from the U of Alberta, which taught Dino 101) is on the top 50 list.  With all the contemplation of geology I did this summer, I'm thinking I'll sign up for Mountains 101 next.

We've been gone so much this summer that keeping up with classes has been a non-starter.  But now there is nothing on the travel schedule for the rest of the year, and a nice interesting class sounds like a plan!

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