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Coursera

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Rowan
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Interest in HF: I love history, but it's boring in school. Historical fiction brings it alive for me.
Preferred HF: Iron-Age Britain, Roman Britain, Medieval Britain
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Coursera

Post by Rowan » Wed September 19th, 2012, 2:23 pm

I listen to NPR on my drive to and from work and a few months ago, I heard a story about this company called Coursera. They partner with universities from around the world to offer free online classes to anyone anywhere in the world. Because the classes are free, you get no college credit, but you do get a wealth of knowledge because the classes are usually packed with students of all ages from around the world. When I first looked into Coursera, there were only four universities offering classes: University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Stanford University. Today, there are 33 universities from around the world offering classes, including École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and University of Edinburgh.

I enrolled immediately in two courses: Internet: History, Technology and Security as well as Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World. Both taught by professors at the University of Michigan. Both of these are wrapping up within the next few days. I have enjoyed them each more than I really thought I would. I certainly feel more well-read after the literature class.

On Monday, my third class began: World History since 1300 taught by a professor at Princeton University.

Future classes I have enrolled in: Archaeology's Dirty Little Secret (best class title so far!!!); Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative; How Things Work 1; and The Modern World: Global History since 1760. I think the two history classes will be the most rewarding as far as the fact that the course is on a global level. I think there are 70,000 enrolled in the current history class.

The class offerings are as broad as any you can imagine and the course description will usually let you know if you need any sort of previous experience before you can understand what will be discussed in the class.

I realise not everyone will have time for something like this, but I thought I'd toss it out there for those who do. The classes are about 2.5 weeks long though some could be shorter or longer. You work at your own pace, though there are some deadlines to work with.

Okay. End of sales speech. LOL Sorry. :rolleyes:

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fljustice
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Post by fljustice » Wed September 19th, 2012, 3:13 pm

There's a small subset on LibraryThing's Ancient History Group that is taking a course together at Coursera and discussing it on line. Looked interesting, but didn't have the time right now. They seem to be really enjoying it. Thanks for the heads up! Here's the link:

https://www.coursera.org/
Faith L. Justice, Author Website
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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Wed September 19th, 2012, 4:44 pm

Something for me to look into when the kids are older.

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Rowan
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Posts: 1462
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I love history, but it's boring in school. Historical fiction brings it alive for me.
Preferred HF: Iron-Age Britain, Roman Britain, Medieval Britain
Location: New Orleans
Contact:

Post by Rowan » Wed September 19th, 2012, 6:29 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]There's a small subset on LibraryThing's Ancient History Group that is taking a course together at Coursera and discussing it on line. Looked interesting, but didn't have the time right now. They seem to be really enjoying it. Thanks for the heads up! Here's the link:

https://www.coursera.org/[/quote]

I wonder what they're taking.

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fljustice
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Post by fljustice » Thu September 20th, 2012, 2:37 pm

[quote=""Rowan""]I wonder what they're taking.[/quote]

Sorry, should have said...the course on Greek Mythology.
Faith L. Justice, Author Website
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