Category Archives: Choosing a MOOC

Extinctions Past and Present: a Review of the Course

Dinosaurs perished in the last mass extinction

Regular readers may already know that I have an interest in the natural world and how living things interact with each other ecologically, both now and in the past. Because of this, I was keen to join the Extinctions: Past and Present course offered through FutureLearn. The next run of this course will start on April 30, 2018. Continue reading →

Do You Want to Become a Better Writer?

Notes about writing techniques

Do you want to become a better writer? Try an online course.

Just as there are many forms and styles of writing, there are also many courses on different aspects of language and writing: fiction for adults and children, writing for the internet, script making for films, academic writing plus more. Continue reading →

Make the Most of Learning Later in Life

Learning Later in Life

When I retired from paid work in 2012, I thought I would be doing plenty of gardening, some handcrafts and reading. I also had visions of my house sparkling and tidy.

Five years on, most of the garden is again a wilderness and craft time is limited to crochet in front of the television in the evenings. As for that clean and tidy house, the less said, the better. Instead, I have spent many retirement hours completing 90 MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and setting up my own blog. Continue reading →

12 of My Favourite Courses

My Favourite Courses

Thank you to those who have already responded to the survey announced last week.

The survey is open until January 31 and I would love to hear your thoughts about Online Learning Success. Please remember to include your name and email if you wish to be in the draw for a set of four hand-crochet bookmarks. Click here to enter the survey.

One survey respondent asked for a list of my favourite courses. Continue reading →

Ignite Your Everyday Creativity: a Review of the Course

Creativity in Action: a Pencil Holder

By Pat Bowden, published October 17, 2017.

“This looks interesting: a Coursera six week MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on Creativity. I’m a fairly creative person, this should be a cinch.”

These were my thoughts when I decided to enrol in “Ignite Your Everyday Creativity” presented by Dr Cindi Burnett and Dr John F Cabra at The State University of New York. Continue reading →