Homeschooling and MOOCs

Homeschooling can be called a less formal way of educating one’s child. We can say that the term homeschooling means to teach your child right from the home and not send them to a school or college from the beginning. Majority of the kids are homeschooled by the parents themselves because such parents don’t feel comfortable in sending their child away from home to a place where they are taught something by a totally unfamiliar face. That is why they choose to teach them by themselves at home.

With that, there is another kind of parents who prefer to homeschool their child by hiring a tutor who can come to their house and teach their child right in front of their eyes. Either way, homeschooling lets a child get education right from their homes.

Is MOOC an option for Homeschooling Students?

As we know that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are the best way for a learner to gain education online where the majority of the courses are free. So why not a learner who is homeschooled take benefit from such MOOCs? So it turns out, MOOCs are a great option for homeschooled students to upgrade their education level as well. As there are a number of college-level MOOCs available at a number of platforms, so parents or the learners themselves can choose the right MOOC.

What are the best platforms for MOOCs?

There are many trustworthy and high-quality MOOCs platforms from where a number of online courses can be taken like Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, udemy etc.

Parents or students themselves can visit any of the above-mentioned websites and can find a number if MOOCs that are related to their interest. But before choosing a MOOC, there are a few things that must be kept in mind because the caliber of a learner who has always learned from a school is different than a learner who has been homeschooled from the beginning.

We are not implying here that homeschooled students are any less than the ones who have always learned from an educational institute, but still, there have to be some things kept in mind before choosing a MOOC.

• Majority of the MOOCs are of college-level, so a student or a parent has to make sure that the child is capable of actually understanding and being able to learn something from the MOOC.
• Most of the MOOCs have a deadline to complete it, that is like, 6-8 weeks. This may become a problem for the child so it is best to choose such MOOCs which are self-paced so that the child has no burden or tension of completing the MOOC within the given time frame.
• Most of the classes will not be counted as dual credit classes but some so do your research to its best before choosing.
• Before taking any MOOC, clear your mind whether the learner needs it or not or whether it is related to his field.

We can say that MOOCs can turn out to be a helpful source for even homeschooled students. But it only depends on the caliber, pace and the understanding level of the student. So if your child is homeschooled and you need to upgrade his learning then register your child in a related MOOC now.