What made you participate in 54 MOOCs?
'There wasn't really a reason. My interests are very diverse and I was curious about MOOCs. It is a relatively new concept, I wanted to know whether it was something worthwhile. I first registered for everything I thought might be fun. Most of the MOOCs I participated in are about subjects in the field of business administration.'
Which was most interesting MOOC?
‘Social and economic networks: models and analysis, of Stanford University, one of my first MOOCs. The course is about a mathematical approach to network theory. There are also MOOCs that strike me as interesting, but not very hard. This one really challenged me.'
How many MOOCs can you reasonably participate in simultaneously?
'My best is ten, but I do think it's a bit much. Six simultaneously should be doable. There are all kinds of tricks to do more. You can play the videos at twice the speed. At first it's a bit odd, but you're used to it after half an hour or so.'
Did you participate in MOOCs to broaden or deepen your knowledge?
'To broaden, I think that's one of the purposes of MOOCs. You can study many subjects simultaneously, without immediately committing for a longer period of time. If you want to continue after a MOOC has ended, you can always head into the deep end.'
How do I know whether a MOOCs suits me before I start?
'It's mostly just trying and seeing whether it suits you. You can usually assess it a little on the basis of the introduction film, but for the most part it is trial and error. I don't really keep track, but it happens quite often that I drop out in week 1 or 2.
There's no harm in that. If you go to an American university where you pay thousands of dollars to attend, you'll feel guilty if you quit after two days. MOOCs are free and you can start another interesting course the next week.'
Curious about Joris' experience with MOOCs? He'll be in the discussion panel of the MOOCs: hype or future? debate on Tuesday 21 October. Other participants are Rector Ed Brinksma, Dean of Educational Reform Ramses Wessel and Timo Kos, who is responsible for MOOCs at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). The debate will start at 19:30 and will take place in the Vrijhof.
