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Kyle Pennell
We were curious about this at Udemy (company) so we ran a survey on the site that asked Udemy students this question (What's the hardest part of learning something new online?).
Here are the results:
800+ filled out the survey (some were junk responses). I tagged and grouped them into 27 reasons. The results are fairly intuitive but still interesting.
Here are some quotes and elaboration on the top 8 answers:
1. Time (16%) - Finding time, making time, etc.
The reasons people gave are quite long tail. This top reason only got 16%. This was after I combined many of the related reasons.
We’ve definitely heard the time reason before. In some ways, it’s the catchall answer to this question. We know from past research that it’s not so much lack of time but inability to prioritize the time spent on courses vs. other things. They are very busy and don't see the incentive for making time for their online learning vs. all the other things they can do with their time.
“Finding time between doing paying jobs and really focus on it”
“Finding the time and imposing structure on myself”
“Fitting it into my Work/School/Caregiver routine”
“time to learn all the things!”
“Staying focused throughout the whole class. Generally speaking 10-20 hours isn't long but with work and family sticking it out in a timely fashion is a challenge.”
2. Questions and feedback (14%) - Getting questions answered quickly, getting help when you're stuck, getting feedback on your progress
It was interesting to see this one come up so often but it does make sense. When you’re learning something new, you’re going to have questions come up. In a normal classroom, you can ask these questions. By yourself in front a computer, it’s much harder to get your questions answered and get feedback from an instructor.
“having to wait hours or even days for help or an answer to a question”
“Finding answers when you're stuck!”
“not having a teacher to watch you and make sure you're doing it right”
“Errors that you don't know how to solve”
3. Concentration, staying focused, and avoiding distraction (14%)
It's interesting just how hard concentration, motivation, and discipline, commitment, and related reasons scored so high collectively. This is a major problem for many online learners. Often they are taking the courses as more of a hobby or pipe dream. It's hard to stay motivated and on track if you're not really seeing a real payoff coming from finishing the content. This is probably tied to time.
“Staying focused on it and not stuff around me.”
“You need to be fully concentrated, otherwise, see it, read it again.”
“Keep concentrated in courses with no interactive exercises.”
“distractions (like pop ups, ads, and of course facebook
”
“you have to find time alone to focus on what you're hearing without anyone bothering you”
4. Discipline (7%)
“Having the self-discipline to follow the class on a very regular basis. Also, making the proposed assignments (since there's no real penalty if it's not done).”
“discipline & accountability for practicing & completing the course assignments”
“the hardest part is logging on and being disciplined enough to keep at it amongst the other pressures of daily life”
5. Motivation (7%)
“Getting off your ass to do the work”
“Motivating yourself to actually go trough the entire course, and not skip too many videos, or jump too far ahead. Or even watch them at all.”
“format is easy. Being motivated to continue when there is no external motivation is the tough part”
6. Finding the right content (5%)
“Finding the right course with information you didn't know already”
“Finding a reputable training course that will teach it step by step that is good for both new and experienced students.”
“Knowing what you want to learn”
“Ensuring what the instructor is saying is actually right.”
7. Practicing and applying new skills/concepts (5%)
“not knowing how to apply the knowledge in the real world. “
“Recalling information and using it in real-life applications.”
“incorporating a video into reality”
“not having a lab environment to practice”
8. Not interacting with other people (5%)
“Not having people to discuss / think it through with.”
“no face-to-face contact”
“Not having the value and experience of others in the classroom - I often learn a lot through these discussions that can't be had online!”
“there should be active discussions and assignments as we have in real classes.”
The challenge of learning something new online for many people seems to be around making the time, finding the discipline/motivation, and finding a way to interact with both other students and the instructor. Perhaps these could be condensed down to discipline and interaction. The data is up for interpretation.
These were the reasons Udemy students gave and I'm curious to hear what other people have found in their own studies.
See Questions On Quora
Continue reading...
We were curious about this at Udemy (company) so we ran a survey on the site that asked Udemy students this question (What's the hardest part of learning something new online?).
Here are the results:
800+ filled out the survey (some were junk responses). I tagged and grouped them into 27 reasons. The results are fairly intuitive but still interesting.
Here are some quotes and elaboration on the top 8 answers:
1. Time (16%) - Finding time, making time, etc.
The reasons people gave are quite long tail. This top reason only got 16%. This was after I combined many of the related reasons.
We’ve definitely heard the time reason before. In some ways, it’s the catchall answer to this question. We know from past research that it’s not so much lack of time but inability to prioritize the time spent on courses vs. other things. They are very busy and don't see the incentive for making time for their online learning vs. all the other things they can do with their time.
“Finding time between doing paying jobs and really focus on it”
“Finding the time and imposing structure on myself”
“Fitting it into my Work/School/Caregiver routine”
“time to learn all the things!”
“Staying focused throughout the whole class. Generally speaking 10-20 hours isn't long but with work and family sticking it out in a timely fashion is a challenge.”
2. Questions and feedback (14%) - Getting questions answered quickly, getting help when you're stuck, getting feedback on your progress
It was interesting to see this one come up so often but it does make sense. When you’re learning something new, you’re going to have questions come up. In a normal classroom, you can ask these questions. By yourself in front a computer, it’s much harder to get your questions answered and get feedback from an instructor.
“having to wait hours or even days for help or an answer to a question”
“Finding answers when you're stuck!”
“not having a teacher to watch you and make sure you're doing it right”
“Errors that you don't know how to solve”
3. Concentration, staying focused, and avoiding distraction (14%)
It's interesting just how hard concentration, motivation, and discipline, commitment, and related reasons scored so high collectively. This is a major problem for many online learners. Often they are taking the courses as more of a hobby or pipe dream. It's hard to stay motivated and on track if you're not really seeing a real payoff coming from finishing the content. This is probably tied to time.
“Staying focused on it and not stuff around me.”
“You need to be fully concentrated, otherwise, see it, read it again.”
“Keep concentrated in courses with no interactive exercises.”
“distractions (like pop ups, ads, and of course facebook
”“you have to find time alone to focus on what you're hearing without anyone bothering you”
4. Discipline (7%)
“Having the self-discipline to follow the class on a very regular basis. Also, making the proposed assignments (since there's no real penalty if it's not done).”
“discipline & accountability for practicing & completing the course assignments”
“the hardest part is logging on and being disciplined enough to keep at it amongst the other pressures of daily life”
5. Motivation (7%)
“Getting off your ass to do the work”
“Motivating yourself to actually go trough the entire course, and not skip too many videos, or jump too far ahead. Or even watch them at all.”
“format is easy. Being motivated to continue when there is no external motivation is the tough part”
6. Finding the right content (5%)
“Finding the right course with information you didn't know already”
“Finding a reputable training course that will teach it step by step that is good for both new and experienced students.”
“Knowing what you want to learn”
“Ensuring what the instructor is saying is actually right.”
7. Practicing and applying new skills/concepts (5%)
“not knowing how to apply the knowledge in the real world. “
“Recalling information and using it in real-life applications.”
“incorporating a video into reality”
“not having a lab environment to practice”
8. Not interacting with other people (5%)
“Not having people to discuss / think it through with.”
“no face-to-face contact”
“Not having the value and experience of others in the classroom - I often learn a lot through these discussions that can't be had online!”
“there should be active discussions and assignments as we have in real classes.”
The challenge of learning something new online for many people seems to be around making the time, finding the discipline/motivation, and finding a way to interact with both other students and the instructor. Perhaps these could be condensed down to discipline and interaction. The data is up for interpretation.
These were the reasons Udemy students gave and I'm curious to hear what other people have found in their own studies.
See Questions On Quora
Continue reading...
