Video Games and Learning: My First MOOC Experience

Way back in the springtime I signed up for a Coursera offering on video games and learning.  I had no idea when the course would actually be offered, and forgot about it until they finally, around the end of September, announced that the course would be beginning shortly.  Right in the middle of my first term of full-time teaching.  A term in which I have 700 students.  Talk about timing!

Despite the possibility that I couldn't give this course as much attention as I'd like, I decided to give it a try anyway.  It's an area I'm interested on a personal and research level, and if nothing else, I figured the videos should be interesting.

So far, so good in that regard.  I was excited to see so many familiar faces in the lectures and concept videos.  They aren't people I know personally, but whose work I've been following for some time.  The topics have been interesting, and I really enjoyed seeing the Games Learning Society lab space (totally a place I could see myself working).

I've consistently been about a week behind the lecture and assignment schedule, so I often miss out on the more timely discussion in the forums.   I'm not sure it matters much in my case, though, since I don't have a huge amount of time to dedicate to interacting with other students anyway.

One question that's fair to ask is whether I've actually learned anything from the course so far.  Honestly... I'm not sure.  Because it's an area I've been watching for a while now, I probably know most of the basics already.  I also can't remember many of the specifics of what was covered in the lecture-style videos (they are very, very hard to focus on, unlike the animation-supported concept videos).  That said, it is nice to have the review and to think about new things via the assignments.

My experience with this, my first MOOC, has been good enough that I signed up for another one that's more directly related to my thesis project: The Future of Storytelling.