Online Classes - August 2015

After a hiatus from Courses for about 6 weeks - I couldn’t resist starting Geodesign: Change your World from PennState. The topic appealed to me and I am enjoying the short introduction videos, guest lectures, readings, and activities. These days knowing something about geodesign comes close to basic literacy because so many of the issues we have  are only understood if integrated spatial relationships are considered. This is far beyond the basic map reading I learned in school 40 years ago and the statistical analyses I specialized in during the 1980s and 1990s. Geodesign thinking is helping everyone cope with the increased complexity in the world.

In a departure from Coursera courses - I also did a Creative Live course while it was recorded (and free): Outdoor Photography Experience with Chris Burkard. They are recorded on the west coast and I am on the east coast so watching it ‘live’ means watching from noon to 7 for two days! My husband and I watched it together….he is interested in everything; I am more interested in composition and locations than equipment. These video courses are different in that they are all video - no embedded quizzes, no readings, no web based activities. I take notes while I watch….still learn something…and they motivate me to learn more about my camera and try new things photographically. In the particular class - the discussion about water housings got me thinking about getting one for my camera…using it when we travel to waterfalls in western New York and in a few months to Hawaii.