What’s missing from all these online courses is a sense of community. The forums are ok but they’re not very vibrant.
For an example of a vibrant community, I’d look toward what video games, such as Rocket League, have created.
Players have a specific ranking based on competition stats. They level up when they when a sufficient number of games within their ranking. Progression through the game doesn’t have to be a solo endeavor because players can look to the community for how to improve.
The community not on my celebrates wins and gives advice on losses, they offer free coaching that can result in paid tutoring [1].
Not only that, but on average the community members are positive and light-hearted.
I think other skill-based activities could learn a lot from how and why these communities function and incorporate those aspects into their platforms to help students succeed.
No doubt that the community around courses could be improved, but I think it's also a matter of enthusiasm. People are probably a lot more enthusiastic about Rocket League than about some online degree. (Whether that's how it should be is a different issue...) Anyway, that naturally leads to higher participation in communities etc. So I don't know if online course makers even have that much influence over community building in the first place.
For sure but then the question I would have is can we take cues from enthusiasm around Rocket League and bring those into the community?
The real time ranking system I think is the root of a lot of this. It allows people to know where they stand and they can look to the community on how to improve their game.
I think gamification is a misunderstanding of why communities are built around games and people encouraged to improve their skills to rank up.
Instead why not organize a catch-all chat for people to talk, like a Discord. Let people talk off-topic and organize to play games and such as a class if they want.
I think a real time ranking system for students at a university that is visible by all is just going to be targeted for greedy or ambitious people looking to convert it into jobs or money.
If I am in the top 10 percent of the rankings in Rocket League sure I can make a few grand streaming, but if I am in the top 10 percent of rankings at a school I can get a better job than the rest. What are the bottom 90 percent's motivation for helping people improve at that point?
With very few exceptions, everyone who plays Rocket League is playing it because they find it intrinsically rewarding. When I taught intro stats I'd guess less than 2% of my students were studying stats because they found it intrinsically rewarding. Even when you get into upper level classes, even among graduate students, the percentage who are taking a class for the intrinsic reward rarely approaches 100%.
Trying to make education more like Rocket League, ignoring the wildly divergent motivations of the people involved, is a fool's errand.
For an example of a vibrant community, I’d look toward what video games, such as Rocket League, have created.
Players have a specific ranking based on competition stats. They level up when they when a sufficient number of games within their ranking. Progression through the game doesn’t have to be a solo endeavor because players can look to the community for how to improve.
The community not on my celebrates wins and gives advice on losses, they offer free coaching that can result in paid tutoring [1].
Not only that, but on average the community members are positive and light-hearted.
I think other skill-based activities could learn a lot from how and why these communities function and incorporate those aspects into their platforms to help students succeed.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/RocketLeague/comments/hv2vus/coachi...