We Don’ Need No Stinkin’ MOOCS

At FTE we believe our online programs are better and more effective than MOOC offerings. Read below as our Director of Online Curriculum and Instruction, Kathy Ratte, lists five reasons why!

Completion rates for MOOCs hover below 20% with EdX recently announcing that a study by noted providers Harvard and MIT revealed average completion rates of 15% in their highly regarded courses (http://www.katyjordan.com/MOOCproject.html).  A quick Google search pulls up pages of advice on “How to Improve Online Completion Rates” with the goal of reaching an underwhelming 40%.

The bar is much higher at FTE; online completion rates routinely exceed 90%, and 100% isn’t uncommon.  The secret isn’t much of a secret:  Incentives work!  The rewards of interaction in the virtual FTE classroom are apparent from the very first day.

• Class sizes range from 10-25 with a dedicated, fully engaged instructor.
• Lesson content and assignments are created by FTE staff within the guidelines for graduate credit set by the Economic Department of the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, freeing instructors to do what they do best – teach.
• Talented instructors who are still engaged in high school and community college teaching are learning coaches, charged with providing frequent interaction, on-demand support, and timely, individualized feedback.
• Course are paced (Apparently that “get-to-it-whenever-you-like” MOOC model doesn’t work out so well.) and the small size allows for flexible accommodation to unpredictable interruptions that plague the schedules of busy teachers.
• Small group, online interaction offers connection to a community of teachers who share their enthusiasm for learning and for their profession.

Renew your enthusiasm through interaction with other dedicated professionals and take the power of economic reasoning back to your classroom.  Enrollment is open for fall, 2017 FTE Online.  Take the challenge.  We know you’ll succeed; we’ve got your back!

Find out more about our online classes: https://fte.org/teacher-programs/online-programs/