The Reading Challenge Group discussion
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Is anyone enrolled into MOOCs?
I tried to do Fantasy and science fiction but couldn't keep up with the course work. Had to turn a critical essay on a literature every week!So just sticking to 'try and finish some of the readings and make notes' scenario which in itself has been worthwhile.
It probably has more sessions planned for future. Look it up.
Thanks Shreya, it's on my watchlist :-)
I've signed up for one but have not started. It's business related for personal career development though. I'd love to do a casual fun one though like reading but I feel like I wouldn't want to turn in assignments for something that's supposed to be fun.
I just looked into a MOOC titled Designing A New Learning Environment, on Class Central. I did most of my MLIS Graduate work online, but it was considerably more expensive than free. haha I am hoping to take as many as possible in the next year. I understand that MIT has a great schedule of MOOC courses.
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Chase, MOOCs are great for career development, some are better than others in terms of the quality of content. Some are only introductions to the subject, but fun nonetheless if you want to branch out to something you haven't explored before. I have done a mobile app development course earlier in the year, "just because" and that was great fun.
I hear you about the assignments, they can become a chore. Quizzes are better if you just want to confirm that you have mastered the topic. They fit well into the sciences where the process of counting the "right" answers can be automated.
For humanities (like history) it is a bit trickier to plan quizzes, and assignments are a better fit if you need to argue your ideas for instance.
The problem then becomes assignment review and grading, and due to the high number of students, peer review is usually a necessity, with the associated issues.
Joseph, eh eh, free is definitively better isn't it? MIT has great courses as well as Harvard and other great universities. Great to hear you are planning to enrol in many.
Renee, go for it, I'm sure you'll love them.
Yes, I'm worried that some of the ones I've signed up for will be too basic for where I'm at, but worst case scenario, I can always just not do it.
Are MOOC courses live? Are there any that are self-paced? I'd hate to commit to something that I might have to miss on occassion.
Iasa, that's my problem at the moment, I have made a rule of not enrolling in more than 2 courses running at the same time, I don't want to commit to something that I can't finish. Some providers (like coursera) allow you to put a course "on watch", so you get notified the next time the course runs, so you can plan your courses within your calendar of other commitments.Michael, some courses are "live" in the sense that they run for a set number of weeks, the prof. usually post videos of lessons for that week, followed by some practice exercise (quiz or assignment).
Normally there are forums where you get to know other fellow students who enrolled in the course, so you can discuss any issues, questions, problems that come up during the lessons. Some courses also offer "live" sessions where the prof is on line and you get to interact with her/him and their team.
Other courses are self paced, and there is no fixed timeframe to complete the course, in this case though there may be limited options for discussion with other students.
The best MOOCS offer an introduction video (so you get a feel for what the course is about and whether you like the presenter ;-), any prerequisites for the course (prior knowledge or interest on the subject), class schedule: an outline of the course and the material covered, any books or other resources you will need, a description of the type of assessments (if any) and importantly an indication of the time commitment required each week (be warned though that some of these are widely out).
Kiwi wrote: "Iasa, that's my problem at the moment, I have made a rule of not enrolling in more than 2 courses running at the same time, I don't want to commit to something that I can't finish. Some providers (..."thank you
I have added a few courses on my list. I'm trying to resist enrolling to them all at the same time. Thanks for talking about MOOCs, I didn't know they existed!
No problem Camille and Sandy. Let me know your courses are. I have enrolled in another coursera course called "Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects". The first lesson is about how our brains learn and recall, seems quite interesting so far.
There's quite a few of the English literature courses I have actually studied at university, having done English studies, like the American Gothic novel or Romantic Poetry. It was quite funny to see them on the list!I want to do the Victorian Novel course, as well as the one on Medieval Women Writers. Those are self-paced, though, so I'll just do them in between other courses.
I'm starting one on Aboriginal studies in August, a Writing Course in October as well as a course on Laura Ingalls Wilder's writings.
Sandy wrote: "Camille wrote: "There's quite a few of the English literature courses I have actually studied at university, having done English studies, like the American Gothic novel or Romantic Poetry. It was q..."Sandy, it starts on the 11th. It's a 4-week course, so a small, nice course.
Here is the link:
https://www.open2study.com/courses/in...
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Oh,when does the course start? I'm enrolled in one too, it's probably the same.
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What about you!?
No, mine is Start Writing Fiction by the Open University. It starts on October 27th. I'll have a look at your course, though!
Go Go Renee! and good luck to you too Camille.
Good luck Renee and Camille! Let us know you get on with your courses.
Thanks Kiwi for discussing MOOCs, I have never heard of them before! I am a student midwife and have just signed up for a course on the Coursera website called Childbirth: A global perspective which sounds interesting and I'm hoping it might be of benefit to my future career.
I'm signed up for American and Modern Poetry this fall. For personal interests, as well as education orientated. It'll be my first time doing this. I'm looking forward to try it out :)
That's great, the more the merrier, good luck with your courses Sophie and Irene! don't forget to update your progress. I dropped a photography course from Open2study, I didn't like the format. All videos were released at the same time which does not promote focused discussion as people are at different levels as they progress through the course at their own pace.The only support offered was through peer review. The course format was confusing (especially at the beginning with people asked to share on Google+, a platform unfamiliar to many people), there was a scramble to set up groups and find course partner. I think this was the worst organised course I have encountered, Open2learn is quite a new in the MOOC arena and unfortunately it showed.
On the other end, I started a self paced photography couse at all-versity which I like more.
If literature is your thing, there is a new course starting on September 1st through Coursera called
The Fiction of Relationship, which people can audit at no cost. It has good reviews from past students.
I'm looking forward to hearing about other people progress and thoughts. If you finished a course that you liked (or didn't) it would be great to share.
Oh! I just found this: Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World https://www.coursera.org/course/fanta...I'll try and do that, even though it collides a bit with my poetry one.
@Kiwi - Thanks! :)
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You're welcome Irene, BTW I'm enrolled in that course too :-)I have a few courses overlapping (I even have a Gantt diagram to organise them *blush*), but if you are not interested in gaining credits but only are interested in gaining knowledge on the subject, you can spend less time on them (e.g. I complete only some of the assignments or do only the quizzes or skip some of the less interesting lectures) so I can fit more courses in the same time frame.
Some of the courses are repeated periodically, so if I really like one course but I have not enough time to dedicate to it in that particular period I earmark it (in Coursera you can put them on watchilst) so that I can enrol next time and fully participate in all the activities.
Irene wrote: "Oh! I just found this: Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World https://www.coursera.org/course/fanta...I'll try and do that, even though it collides a bit with my poetry on..."
This looks so interesting! I am very tempted to join. It's been a long time since I did anything in a non-technical field so I feel woefully under qualified to think about writing about books, even though SFF is my favorite genre.
I'm lecturing 4 courses this term including one that is being offered for the first time. Plus I have a thesis to finish by December. I really should not add anything but this looks like such a great course. Oh the dilemma!
Have fun with your writing courses, Renee and Camille!
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I might not be able to keep up with all the assignments, but I'll try.
Oh dang. Renee too? I feel myself caving...
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That course looks very interesting Sandy, and it looks self paced, so you could complete the units in your own time, it doesn't say much about the format of the final exam though.Re the Fantasy and SciFi course, as Shreya wrote at the beginning of the thread, even doing the readings, watching the videos and completing the unit quizzes (as opposed to submitting all the assignments) should be worthwhile.
Plus, I learned a lot in the discussions with other students in the students' forums in previous courses, I'm sure this one will generate lots of interesting discussions too.
Renee, you need to complete all the assignments plus the peer reviews of other four fellow students only if you want a grade.
I will probably watch the lesson unit videos, do the quizzes and participate in the discussions and perhaps submit some of the assignments (if I have time). I'm interested in the learning not the grading for this course, but if you've got the time and stamina for the assignments go for gold!
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I know how you feel Renee, but it's not like school, there is no pressure here, however it's good to start slow (1 or 2 courses) to get the feel of them. I'm so excited I can take a MOOC with my friends! *happy dance*
Well...I caved and joined the Fantasy and Science Fiction course.Nervous about the essays, I must admit. Still, I'm looking forward to some interesting reading and hopefully some new insight.
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While I was there... I started to think that some of the reading might lend itself to a BuddyRead. Well, there's probably a discussion forum for that. But, if not, we should 'Buddy' for some of it.
Also, I found Librivox versions of everything on the list except: The Martian Chronicles, The Left Hand of Darkness, Little Brother. Actually, I've read nearly everything on the list already but sooo long ago that I'm gonna need to refresh.
Sandy wrote: " I had the impression that it is potentially a non-credit course with no requirement to do assignments and exams. This would be my intention. I don't need the stress. ..."I agree, Sandy :-)
yes, I think Renee was speaking about the Coursera MOOC, the idea of using audiobooks is great.
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I just finished a course on Indigenous Studies in Australia and New Zealand, which I found quite interesting. The negative: they cram a lot in 4 weeks!
The good: it's only 4 weeks, there is an assessment each week but it's a 10 question quiz on what has been studied thus week and it's very interesting.
The course starts again on September 15th if anyone is interested.
http://www.mooc-list.com/course/indig...
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Renee, is it the first version you are listening to?
I just finished a course of the Victorian Novel today.Here is the link to the course: http://www.saylor.org/courses/engl410/
It is self-paced, so you can take your time doing it, which is good as there is a lot of information covered. It aims at giving you a historical, cultural and political background to the Victorian Novel and exemplifies all that with extracts from novels or even whole novels. Some of the texts can be difficult to read for those who are maybe not used to studying such topics, as it can go into abstract things, but if you like a challenge, I'd definitely recommend the course!
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So sorry I didn't get back to you on versions. I just saw your post. And... I'm not sure. It was a solo version but I'll have to check the website for the version number.
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Thanks for the version update Renee, I'll check it out!A MOOC update from me, I finished "Learning to how learn" at Coursera, I found it quite interesting. The self paced basic photography course at Allversity and a more advanced one at Udemy were also quite good as well as "Emerging Trends & Technologies in the Virtual K-12 Classroom (for which I only followed the lectures as the assignments were targeted at teachers and I am not).
I'm currently following The Fiction of Relationship course and I am enjoying it very much, the video lessons on Jane Eyre were brilliant! Too bad I'm also enrolled in other 2 courses which will start this week, so I won't have the time to do any written assignments. I will probably take again the course next year (many people enrolled this year are repeat students too).
I'm wondering if anyone else is into them, and if so would they share their experiences ? if they like them or not, what they think of peer reviews, any course they would recommend?