Carleton University is moo-ving into the future with $75,000 in new government funding for a Massive Open Online Course, commonly referred to as a MOOC.
MOOCs are free to enrol in and take place entirely online–some see them as the future of university courses.
Bruce Tsuji, a professor of psychology at the university, helped develop the free online Intro to Psychology course being offered at Carleton.
While some just take it for fun, Tsuji’s course offers the option mid-way through to formally enrol and start paying tuition in order to receive a university credit. It’s one of a kind in the province and completely online.
“You can fit it in almost anywhere. Waiting for a bus? Watch a module. Waiting at Starbucks? Watch a module,” he said. “Even if you’re just interested in the strange things people do, now you can take intro psych.”
Tsuji teaches psychology courses both in the classroom, where his students are mostly 17 and 18-year olds fresh out of high school, and online, where he’s found a wider variety of students.
“For lots of us university courses are no big deal, but that’s the traditional university student,” said Tsuji.
His said his course opens up university to people who have “complicated lives” that include full-time jobs, children and other commitments that prevent taking courses in-person.
One of his first students to complete the course for credit is an Ottawa mom who works a full-time job at the hospital while raising her three kids. Intro to Psych was her first university credit.
She registered for the course on Dec. 23 and was able to pick her own exam times, two things that wouldn’t have been possible at the brick and mortar institution.
“That sort of flexibility is something that’s long been missing from universities,” said Tsuji.
Instead of marathon three-hour lectures, the course is divided up into instructional videos that are two to 15 minutes long. At the end of each section, students take a short quiz.
In the free “just-for-fun” version, there’s no time limit and no exam. In the version for registered students who want a credit at the end, there are three exams.
“For somebody who has never taken a university course, or maybe they did 30 years ago, it’s tough to go back onto a campus. It’s scary. Taking something like this is a way to get back on that track,” he said.