Adventures with a French MOOC

MOOCs have been much in the news recently.  MOOC stands for massive open online course. The El Paso Times of  September 3, 2013, carried the reprint of a humorous article about new expressions in English by Michael Dirda, writing for the Washington Post. He states,  "This phenomenon [MOOCs] is clearly here to stay, but 'I'm taking a MOOC' sounds disgustingly lavatorial."  I'm not even sure how to pronounce the acronym MOOC.   Is the vowel sound the same as in 'foot', 'mood', or another sound?  

At any rate, MOOCS are a current controversial topic with supporters and detractors at each end of the spectrum, while others are taking a wait and see attitude. I wanted to see what all of the brouhaha was about from a student's perspective. The concept of lifelong learning has a certain appeal to me at this stage of my life.   I chose French because my husband and I will be in French-speaking Canada later this year.  I did not want to be an Ugly American, at least language wise, if I could help it.

My spotty background in French stretches all the way back to undergraduate days, continues through graduate school, and even includes a  disastrous semester teaching French I to high school students (if any former students are reading this blog, my sincere apologies).  I just never felt like I had the upper hand with French.

So three months ago I optimistically signed up for a  MOOC in Beginning French from Cornell University. Instructions stated that it is ideally a 15 week course, and I am just now starting Lesson 5 (do the math!) My plans were for this MOOC to be an opportunity to really buckle down and conquer the French language.  I started the first day with notebook, pencil, and French dictionary close by my laptop, remembering my usual modus operandi for a traditional college course.  My notebook is still mostly blank.  Online learning is a new world.

Procrastination!  A very human disorder.  I suffer greatly from it because I always want to do things perfectly and get an A+.  Clearly I had to change my ways or end up as a statistic as a non-MOOCcompleter (a large group, as I understand it).

So beginning with Lesson 5, I'm going to pledge to tackle this MOOC with a new determination and a new attitude.  I will devote the six to eight hours a week recommended by Cornell, and I will reign in my obsessive-compulsive personality and try to have a little fun with the course.

I'll keep you up to date on my progress, and also let you know how my French conversation course at a local university is working out.  I would love to read comments from anyone who has experience with a MOOC or is considering taking one.  À bientôt!