Home Micro Community Courses: A New Learning Model in Online Learning
Micro Community Courses: A New Learning Model in Online Learning
Introducing Micro Community Courses. Learn how it works and how it differs from popular learning models such as MOOCs and CBCs.
It's quite fascinating how fast education has evolved over the last decades.
In 2000, we could barely hear the term Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. Fast forward to 2021, almost every student has taken an online course.
According to Class Central, MOOCs have reached 220 million students in 2021 accounting for the Big Four course providers globally.
Initially, MOOCs promised accessible and affordable education to millions but often left students feeling disconnected and disengaged. However, a new paradigm is emerging.
This one prioritizes impact, engagement, and community. It's called Micro-Community Courses (MiCCs). A revolutionary approach to online learning that is reshaping the landscape of digital education.
Today, we'll deep dive into:
A term coined by d.MBA, Micro-Community Courses, or MiCCs, represent a departure from the traditional MOOC model. They are focused on creating impact as a goal and are designed to engage and create intimate connections among students.
If we dissect the term micro community courses, it means:
According to d.MBA, MiCCs are composed of three building blocks: community, culture, and content.
Each building block has levers:
These seven levers are the guided principles on how to design a micro-community course. These came up from the key metrics that d.MBA follows: student ratings, completion rates, and alumni stories.
So, by the time you design your course in a MiCC approach, don't forget to consider these levers as primary guidelines.
a. High Completion Rates: MiCCs consistently boast completion rates exceeding 90%, ensuring that the majority of enrolled students finish the course.
b. Engaged Learning: The intimate communities and structured format of MiCCs foster engagement, interaction, and peer learning.
c. Constructive Feedback: It prioritizes feedback, allowing students to grow and improve their skills throughout the course.
d. Real-World Application: It creates a safe space for practical application, bridging the gap between theory and real-world skills.
e. Motivated Students: The rigorous application process ensures that students are motivated and committed to the program.
For those course creators, instructors, and edupreneurs who have heard of the cohort-based model, you might think this is just the same with CBC. So let's dive in and compare the three: MOOCs, MiCCs, and Cohort-based Courses:
The reason MOOCs are failing online education is because of their low completion rates. A study was shown by MIT where researchers documented "low retention rates and enrollment declines". What does it mean? The rate of completion of courses by students plummeted from 56% in 2016 to 3.13% in 2018.
MOOCs emphasize scalability, reaching millions of students around the world. Due to the quantity as a core, it often limits students to interact with each other, give and receive feedback, and engage during the course. In short, the aspect of community is invisible.
Despite this fact, MOOCs and micro-credentials are still popular in academic institutions. Apparently, higher education is using MOOCs and micro-credentials to modernize its degree programs.
On another note, MiCCs focus on quality, impact, and motivating every student who is part of the cohort. These courses build a culture of safe space and high-intensity support from peers. It's intimate, with a maximum number of 50 students per cohort.
MiCCs, like cohort-based courses, have solved the number 1 problem of MOOCs—as they have high completion rates often exceeding 90%.
Meanwhile, Bootcamps are using more often the modern learning approach in online education—the Cohort-based Courses (CBCs). Similar to MiCCs, cohort-based courses have also solved the low completion rates of MOOCs. CBCs have been an efficient learning model for bootcamps, accelerator programs, online MBAs, and other online courses.
But, what is the difference between MiCCs and CBCs? Which one is better?
After analyzing the two learning models, they have one major difference: the cohort size. The cohort-based learning model can have a small cohort size of about 20 students to a larger size of 200 students. It depends on how you will design your cohort.
Actually, Teachfloor, the leading social learning platform came up with a scalable cohort-based model called the hybrid cohort-based approach.
What is the difference between cohort-based vs. micro-community courses? Cohort-based courses can be larger than 50 students and have a small emphasis on the community. Meanwhile, MiCCs are more intimate cohorts of fewer than 50 students and have a strong community focus and extensive peer learning feedback.
Now that we have identified the similarities and differences of these three pedagogies, let's answer the question, which one is better?
Because education has no one-size-fits-all model, there is no better structure than the other. It highly depends on how you define your course objectives and course design. Each learning model has their usage and advantages. and disadvantages.
As technology evolves, learning evolves too. Therefore, you should maximize the power of tech by using a learning platform.
Teachfloor is thoughtfully designed to help course creators, instructors, and edupreneurs make the best courses and educational programs for their learners.
In fact, it is one of the forerunner LMSs that has transformed and impacted the lives of many through education technology. With Teachfloor's cutting-edge technology, learning organizations of all sizes have executed their learning community, educational programs, and online courses seamlessly.
Here are some of the notable features of Teachfloor that can make you successfully launch your micro-community courses:
Sign up at Teachfloor today! 💙
How to build your online academy using Teachfloor
Choosing a learning platform is crucial in building your online academy. Make sure you choose the best in the cohort-based model. Try Teachfloor!
Discussion Forum: The Perfect Tool to Build Your Student Community
The idea of human beings learning from others via observation and interaction isn’t a new one. In fact, it is an age-old known fact. Although, the concept was aptly put into words by the psychologist Albert Bandura. More commonly, we know this...
5 Guidelines to Build a Sustainable Learning Community
Learning communities are where online academies thrive & flourish. Here are five helpful guidelines to build your learning community
Online Blended Learning in the Cohort-Based Courses Era
In this day and age, when online learning is in trend, many have become familiar with online blended learning. Whether you know it or not, chances are, you have come across this learning method. After all, it is impossible not to in the digital age...
What is Cohort-Based Learning? Spark Engagement and Empower Your Learners
Discover cohort-based learning, a revolutionary approach to education! This guide explores how cohort-based learning, structured curriculum, and instructor guidance unlock deeper engagement, higher completion rates, and superior learning outcomes compared to traditional courses.
Cohort Based Course: the complete guide 2024
What is an Online Cohort Based Course? An Online Cohort Based Course is a collaborative-focused learning method: a cohort is a group of students moving simultaneously through a given curriculum. For Online Cohort Based Course we mean lessons that...