I have just started my fourth MOOC and I love every minute of it. A MOOC is a massive open on-line course. They are free and run by some of the top universities in the world I have just started studying Ancient Greek at Harvard. Before that I did Philosophy and Digital Education with Edinburgh University. I am also half way through Modern and Post Modern at Wesleyan University.
There are a number of places you can find information about MOOCs. For the first two I used Coursera.org and for the most recent I used the Harvard direct link.
The professors are enthusiastic and inspiring.
On my philosophy course there were over 90,000 students in my class. The lectures are on line using video that you can watch when you like. There are course notes and reading lists. Each course is slightly different. For some there are tests at the end of each week, for others you need to submit work for peer review. There is limited contact with the course professor obviously as dealing with such huge classes they can't answer all the question. You can generally get an answer from your peers on the forums.
If you feel you have gaps in your knowledge on any subject the take a MOOC.
oh my goodness, if only there were more hours in the day - I've just looked up coursera - WOW! There are so many on there I would love to do...here's one for James which might be interesting https://www.coursera.org/course/sna (Social Network Analysis).
Thank you for highlighting this amazing resource - I'm going to share this with everyone I know - just amazing!
Kerry, what would you think about setting up an SFN group for this kind of thing so that those of us who want to can learn together and discuss our experiences / topics etc?
WOW! you have really stated something here, we're going to be the best educated ex pats any where! Think I'll try and find a vet course..........................!
Yes, I agree. A certificate is nice and it can force you to apply yourself more as you go through the course.
If you like philosophy there is a series of lectures from Harvard given by Michael Sandel. Find them here. They are also on Youtube. I found them fascinating to listen to, as were the reactions and arguments of the students in the audience.
I posted a note some time ago about Coursera, one of the MOOC providers. I've done three of their courses, or rather started three and completed two. The third, Cryptography, got a little too hard and I didn't have the time to invest.
I have also found that they can be engaging and interesting, and the level of knowledge and application also varies enormously I think. Some are very lightweight, some are tough. It also depends what you want out of it whether you are bothered by achieving the pass at the end or not. In any case the certification doesn't really count for anything though it might demonstrate curiosity or a willingness to learn.
The number of universities keeps growing too, so from their side of the fence they seem to find the idea interesting. Definitely worth a look, I think.