This free online course is starting on 18th April. It looks like a great opportunity to learn about the works of Shakespeare in an interesting and engaging way. According to FutureLearn the course will provide unprecedented access to the Trust’s fascinating historical collections of museum, library and archive items.
Participating in a course such as this enables participants to become part of a like minded community made up of people from all over the world.
I am leaving for Providence the day after Writing 101 starts – so I should have loads of inspiration while travelling through the US. Hopefully I will have time to complete the tasks.
Who’s joining me in Writing 101? (Suzanne, Laura…?)
If you’ve taken Writing 101 before: yes, these will be the same prompts and twists. Blogging U. courses always repeat unless we specifically indicate that a course is new.
Writing 101: Building a Blogging Habit is a write-every-day challenge designed to help you create a writing habit and push you as a writer. Read on, or jump right to registration.
Who else is really building their writing habit?… I wake up multiple times each night to check the time and see if it’s time to get up and write because I’m so excited. I’ve never felt this way before! I think I’m in lurve.
Molly, Knocked Up Knocked Over
Writing 101 is a four-week course that runs from Monday, April 6, to Friday, May 1, 2015. Each weekday, you’ll get an assignment that includes a writing prompt and an optional “twist”; prompts are your topic inspiration…
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Writing for the Web is about learning to write specifically for an online audience. It’s different to writing an article for a magazine for instance. Online readers are busy, have a great deal of information presented to them and as a writer you need to grab their attention…and quickly…otherwise they’ll click on something else. Another aspect to online writing is to include key words in your writing for search engine optimisation…this will help your writing appear when your audience searches for content.
Learning how to learn is a course offered by Coursera. This course is designed to give you powerful mental tools to help you through your subjects. It covers memory techniques, dealing with procrastination and gives test-taking tips. A useful course for anyone who wishes to learn and retain information – that’s all of us – isn’t it?
Songwriting is offered through Coursera by the Berklee College of Music. I’ve included this under the “Writing” and “Music” topics because even if you’re not a musician it is a great way to efficiently learn to express your ideas and emotions in a less conventional way. According to the course information the content is about writing, not performing.
According to the information “most important, you’ll have a lot of fun”…
Writing What You Know & Start Writing Fiction are two courses offered by OpenLearn run by Open Universities (UK) and are free.
You do not even have to register to access the course materials. Just click on the links and away you go…
One of my favourite subjects: the intersection of creativity, art and technology. Art, Technology & Media: Digital Imaging is about manipulating digital images use Adobe Photoshop. The course is offered by Canvas Network and has already started…but it’s not too late to join in. Most courses stay open for a while even after the completion date. Never be discouraged by missing the start date…be brave…jump in!
Start Writing Fiction from Future Learn will help you to develop characters through a practical course. It’s an opportunity to learn to write fiction and have the benefit of reviewing and commenting on your fellow students work. You will also receive peer feedback. It is important to learn how to receive and respond to feedback from peers.
Go to the page and ‘Join the conversation on Social Media’ using Twitter. The key to successful writing to get out there and do it…
Don’t forget to remind yourself of the tips for online learning which suggests keeping a journal or learning portfolio. This course also emphasises the importance of keeping a journal…enjoy the journey
Introduction to Journalism offered by Future Learn. This course takes you through a fictitious case-study throughout the 6 week course starting on 29 Sep 14. It’s a great way to learn about the principles of journalism while enacting the role of a journalist in the context of an escalating story.
If this post was helpful…let me know.
The theme for this September is on “Writing”
Discover Your Value by Bellevue University and provided through Canvas Network. I love the idea of this course!
The course will show anyone that they have worthwhile skills which they may not have even known they had. You will learn how to create an “experiential learning portfolio”. I’ve written a little about this on my “Tips for Online Learning” page. As lifelong learners it’s essential to keep track of our learning whether for professional purposes or purely for pleasure.
Certificates and qualifications are an important part of education but remember MOOCs are different to a certain extent. Firstly they are free and available to anyone with a computer and internet connection. Most provide high quality lectures, instruction and course materials absolutely free. Assessment is often by peer review and by computerised marking of multiple choice quizzes. Finally there is no formal requirement to provide proof of identification. With no formal assessment and identification process the value of certificates can be questioned. All this is changing of course as providers of MOOCs continue to review their business model. Udacity is phasing out certificates of free courseware completion and more can be read about it in their blog.
Statements of Completion would be great for every course. My recommendation is to follow these tips . This way at a job interview you can lay out your portfolio of work ( all beautifully and professionally presented) pointing out relevant parts of the course and how they relate to your new employer. This is the best proof that you have not only completed the course but actually learned and absorbed the course content.
It’s on again!
Do something to change the world. The DO School Start-Up Lab the Do School’s Venture Lab and Iversity.
Get an idea and then make a change – love to see some ideas shared here
This is for you Adam!
Coursera is offering “Introduction to Guitar” from the Berklee College of Music.
Enjoy!
The Future of Storytelling provided by Iversity teaches you how to analyse and tell stories and narratives using current media.
Yes the course started and finished in 2013 but if you’re interested have a look at the lectures on YouTube and join the conversation on Facebook. There’s still a lot happening on the Facebook page. From my experience students like you and me are so enthusiastic after completing the course that the conversations just go on and on …. and there’s always room for one more person to join in!
From the California Institute of the Arts through Coursera. This course really addresses the creative side of my interests while it will continue to develop technological skills. There’s a facebook page already set up with a list of eager students awaiting the start date.
Check out the course page Live!: A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers | Coursera. Don’t worry if you miss the start date you can usually start late
This course is offered through Coursera and is similar to my previous post about “The DO Start Up Lab”. It appears to me that both these courses would complement each other.
I’d love to hear from anyone interested in completing either of these courses…
Click here to go to the course page “How to Change the World” if you’ve missed the start date you can usually start late and connect with other people doing the course.
This is a great place to begin your journey of MOOCs
Take an issue that’s important to you and learn how to act on it – do something about it. Join others online to change the world!
The course gives everyone a chance to choose a particular issue that they would like to address…get your friends together and make a change.
Check out the Iversity course page here The DO Start Up Lab (Social Entrepreneurship Course) and don’t worry if you’ve missed the start date you can usually start late.
MOOCs are Massive Open Online Courses. These courses are open to anyone to join and are completely free. More and more universities and educational institutions are providing MOOCs with high quality course materials. It is easy to enroll and get started…and…don’t worry if you’ve missed the ‘start date’ you can usually still enroll or catch up with the lectures on YouTube…need more info? Ask a question in the ‘comments’ at the bottom of the page.
Through this blog I will be exploring MOOCs and talking about the different courses and course providers. From time to time I’ll be focusing on a particular theme to explore and discuss.
Hope you’ll join me on a journey of lifelong learning and share your experiences – please leave a comment…
Lifelong Learning 