The future of online learning is going to be cohort-based courses.
What is a “MOOC” you ask? Massive Open Online Course. i.e. Udemy, Coursera, Codecademy.
What is a “cohort-based course” or CBC? That’s what we’re going to focus on in this article.
The history of MOOCs dates back to the early 2010s, maybe even sooner, but the 2010 decade is when these style courses made their way into the spotlight of venture capital and the brains of learners. They were the new and improved way of accessing education for low cost, spanning across an array of topics, subjects, and career tracks.
The era of MOOCs has brought us mergers (EdX+2U), acquisitions (CorpU->Udemy), and IPOs (Coursera). It’s been history in the making for edtech considering this sector has the lowest barrier to entry, highest churn, and lowest investor attention. The odds have been stacked against edtech platforms from the getgo. But that hasn’t stopped companies from reaching profound success.
That is with the exception of one major problem. Completion rates.
On the same platforms leading the MOOC sector, there is an average completion rate of 3–5%. That’s it. Over 95% of courses started, applied for, or taken, are not finished. How much learning is being left…
