hi @flamepower. thanks for the post and update. I am a successful Udemy instructor and I also have courses on my own site. Drop out rates on online courses is very high, but I would disagree with the reasons you are putting forward. Many people drop out because they dont want all of the course anyway, only a piece of the information. Elearning is so affordable, people can do this easily.
The biggest exploitation is the cost to the instructor of hosting with a third party platform. However do the marketing and bring the sales . Will beone do the same?
Also regarding students contacting me, as it is on udemy students can contact me directly, and also on my own site, they dont have to wait on anyone