dewy

For those of you who have taken online classes (MOOCs, at college, etc.), what have been the things that made the best classes stand out? (Or conversely, what made the bad ones bad?)

Why I'm asking: I teach a college data science 101 class with at least 1 section online every semester (and will now be switching to all online for at least the next month - thanks, coronavirus...). At the same time, I'm in the process of redesigning the course, and making new teaching materials and assignments.

I've taken completed several amazing MOOCs in the past (e.g. Princeton's Algorithms I & II, Stanford's Machine Learning), as well as abandoned many more that were simply terrible, so I am no stranger to the online student experience, and I know the things that made certain courses amazing for me personally (e.g. great videos, and well integrated assignments with automated feedback). However, every learner is different, and I would love to hear different perspectives so that I can better redesign my own course.

Was it something about the videos? The assignments? The structure? The instructor? Or something else? Thanks!