Goal: Never Miss Another Course Deadline Solution: Using Wunderlist to Track Assignments

Missing a course deadline is one of the biggest reasons students give for not completing a MOOC according to a recent article on Coursera's MOOC Talk, and I admit, after I have missed a deadline I will consider whether or not I should continue the course. Since MOOCs typically have very few graded assignments or quizzes, often times missing a single deadline in a MOOC can result in an unsuccessful attempt to achieve a certificate of achievement. This in mind I decided it was about time that I get a handle on my own MOOC assignments, and figure out some efficient way to keep track of it all.

Even so, with so many productivity apps available, it is easy to get side tracked from your actual tasks with just browsing the app store. I, personally, have found several apps which help me fight procrastination, track time, track costs, and even a website that will not only with assisting in documenting my learning path, but also acts as a means of additional verification of my participation.

Before realizing my need to use a some type of planner, I had tried the integrated Coursera  "upcoming deadlines" calendar feature. This feature syncs the calendars for a particular course with either iCal or Google Calendar. And yet, not all Coursera instructors use the "upcoming deadlines" feature and it definitely would not help me keep track of my assignments in one of my self-pace courses outside of the Coursera system.

I have tried a couple of other 3rd party planner options, but so far, nothing has really seemed to click for me. I needed a simple way to track my assignments from different learning management systems and within a learning management system without spending hours on setting up and learning a new app interface. Then I stumbled on Wunderlist. To be fair, I have used this app for various purposes over the last few years, but I never truly integrated the app into my day to day life. Nevertheless, I have decided it would be a good idea to give Wunderlist a new look. The simplicity of the app and the easy syncing seems to be a good fit for keeping track of school assignments, and the share features are an added bonus.

I will keep you updated with my progress using Wunderlist to track my assignments. In the meantime, I would love to hear if you have a productivity app you would like to share. If you would like to learn more about Wunderlist here is a link to their webpage: About Wunderlist.

Please add your suggestions to the comments below.