Debates on the pros and cons of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) often overlook how these online sessions fundamentally change the dynamic of learning. I’ve been writing about the emergence of MOOCs in businesses like SAP as a flexible, fast option to teach developers about the latest technologies. While online surveys have yielded a significant amount of student feedback, I decided it was time to hear first-hand from some developers who have participated in recent SAP MOOCs, including Introduction Software Development on SAP HANA and Introduction to Mobile Software Development for the Enterprise.
Brenton O’Callaghan, a United Kingdom-based consultant at Bluefin who attended the introductory SAP HANA MOOC, was struck by the richness of the shared experience that spilled over to other communities.
“People were taking the conversation to the SAP Community Network (SCN), posing course scenarios and asking questions that I knew were from the MOOC. On Twitter, they were sharing feedback about the modules, and the instructors were posting course updates. I ended up encountering people in different communities, and realizing they had been in the course too. I thought that was good because it means that anybody doing the course on their own in the future would be able to search for this information and find it in the SAP developer community.”
Steven De Saeger has also participated in the SAP HANA and mobile MOOCs as a convenient way to stay updated on SAP’s latest innovations. Through his Belgium-based consultancy, Sedacrivity, De Saeger has 18 years of experience working within SAP landscapes for multi-nationals in a variety of
industries. Here’s how he summed up his rationale for signing up.
“I need to keep up-to-date as much as possible, and it’s hard to make time for official courses during the day. I made a decision to find out more about HANA and mobile and when I received information about the MOOCs, I thought, that’s perfect. For a busy professional like myself with a day job the format is ideal. You can participate when you have the time, downloading materials and reviewing them at your convenience. It’s free, and I’m very glad to have access to an opportunity to learn like this from SAP.”
All of these participants had high praise for instructor thomas.jung
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