Retention is not a goal. For example, if you are just trying to make money, then you don't really care if all your content is consumed as long as people still pay their subscriptions or whatever.
Of course, the reason completion rates are so bad with MOOCs is free access. If you force people to filter themselves out unless they are willing to pay a lot, you will see more normal "completion rates" expressed as a percentage of those who paid a lot.
It would be perverse to argue, however, that MOOCs should be pay-only for this reason. It's a confusion about the meaning of completion rate as a performance metric for MOOCs.
There are plenty of free in-person classes in the world (I'm sure you can sign up for a dance class, for example), and an in-person class that had a 5% completion rate would be a disaster.
"We were on the front pages of newspapers and magazines, and at the same time, I was realizing, we don't educate people as others wished, or as I wished. We have a lousy product,"
You think people are learning well from MOOCs in their current form?
Yes. I am, for example.
Online classes aren't physical classes. Physical classes don't have 5% retention rates because people have to show up for them, so they're more likely to go next time. Being in a group makes people want to continue being in it. But with online classes, there's no such hook, and so people skip out.
Also, it seems mistaken for stats on retention rates to include everyone who originally signed up. They should measure the retention rate for people who made it halfway through the course. I'd bet that they'll see a much higher rate, because if someone hasn't left halfway through the course, they're unlikely to leave just because they suddenly feel like it. And if that's true, then it's evidence that people in that situation take MOOCs as seriously as their normal classes.
Of course, the reason completion rates are so bad with MOOCs is free access. If you force people to filter themselves out unless they are willing to pay a lot, you will see more normal "completion rates" expressed as a percentage of those who paid a lot.
It would be perverse to argue, however, that MOOCs should be pay-only for this reason. It's a confusion about the meaning of completion rate as a performance metric for MOOCs.