My experience with the Digital Marketing MOOC

By Sylvian Jesudoss, Digital Marketing MSc student

As a student of Digital Marketing at the University of Southampton, when Lisa Harris informed me that I could take an online course on basics of digital marketing, I was sceptical. But the first day of the course changed everything.

Massive Open Online Course or MOOC as it is fondly known, is the concept of open course that can have unlimited number of participants and provide a platform to learn any subject from the basics of aviation to archaeology. I think success of any MOOC depends on the participants and sharing that happen through comments. The 3-week Digital Marketing MOOC that I am taking is hosted by the University of Southampton and started last week.

Why I love this course?

1. The biggest takeaways for me came from the comments of fellow participants. The course clocked around 10,000 comments by the middle of this week. Each one gave me a different perspective because the participants are from different countries. Insights actually made me to reflect on the similarities and differences.
2. Most of the online courses on digital marketing are directed towards glorifying the idea, but this course also discusses the challenges and allows space for criticising the concept. Things like privacy and ownership of digital assets are discussed in detail during the course
3. The use of storytelling and case study based approach makes the course compelling. Instead of lengthy monologues, the course is the combination of tiny vignettes of videos, articles and stories. For instance, we had an extensive case study of the National Trust and it was very fascinating.
4. I used my laptop to access the course, but the beauty is that you don’t need to have a computer to access this course. All you must have is a mobile and 3 hours of time every week.

MOOCs are a wonderful opportunity for people who like to know about different subjects but never have the chance to do a formal course. Futurelearn, the MOOC provider also allows you to get a certificate at the end of the course at a nominal price. I am intending to take a course on World War I next…no, maybe forensic science. Still thinking…