Coursera - April 2015

My Coursera workload in March was light because of the Master Naturalist course workload during the month. It will pick up a little in April.

I finished up the video/reading portion of Australian Literature: a rough guide (University of Western Australia) in March. I appreciated the approach of selecting readings to demonstrate contradictory perceptions: coast and center, home and away, justice and injustice…all with the backdrop of Australian landscape and history. I was surprised at how deep the historical context turned out to be in a short course but perhaps any course about a literature fitted into a national boundary has to bring that nation’s history to the fore.

I started one course during March: Maps and the Geospatial Revolution (The Pennsylvania State University) and it will continue though most of April. It has a linkage to the project I am doing for my Master Naturalist certification - involving a map, of course.

Water in the Western United States (University of Colorado Boulder) is the next course to start (today!). In Maryland, our challenge is more often water quality rather than quantity…in the Western US, the challenge is both.

Now that I have successfully ramped down my Coursera activities so that I could focus on the Master Naturalist class - I’m thinking about the way I want to enjoy Coursera offerings going forward. An annual cycle of activity is beginning to emerge for my volunteer and vacation activities - with peaks in the spring and fall. Should I try to make the peaks for Coursera workload in winter and summer? Is it even possible? It is so hard to not sign up for a course that interests me whenever it is offered!

Coursera - March 2015

Finally - I have had enough willpower to cut back on Coursera courses. There is only one on my plate for March and it won’t start until tomorrow: Australian Literature. It will be departure from the science oriented content of previous months and a good contrast from the Master Naturalist class and reading that will be a huge focus for me during March and into April.

The Master Naturalist class is motivating my reduction in Coursera courses. The first two day long classes were intense and there is every indication that the remaining 6 will be similar. The Coursera courses have helped prepare me for the intensity in a number of ways:

• I updated my note taking skills with the online courses. Typically - I would enter my notes directly into the digital chart sets if they were provided or into a MS WORD file (on the same PC I watche the videos on). In the Master Naturalist class I am back to handwritten notes (but I transcribe them into a MS WORD file as soon as possible since my handwriting is not legible to me after a few days).
• The content of the Master Naturalist class is somewhat familiar to me since the Coursera courses have updated what I learned in college over 35 years ago. It is easier to learn the new pieces when I already know some things about the topic.
• I am a better student now because the classes are my choice rather than a required class to get a degree that is required for a career. I spend whatever time I need to learn what I want to learn from the material. Coursera has gotten me used to the idea of enjoying classes for the joy of learning something new…and it is carrying over to the Master Naturalist class.

On the other hand - there are some aspects of Coursera that do not carry over to the Master Naturalist class. I’m a little spoiled.

• I can’t listen to lectures whenever I want. The Master Naturalist class is on Wednesdays and I have to get to the location before the start time….stay all day…drive home. It is the longest structured time of my whole week!
• There is a test at the end that is required to move from a Master Naturalist trainee to a Master Naturalist intern. The Coursera courses have tests too - but I don’t generally take them. At least the Master Naturalist scheme takes into account the aversion to tests: the test is take home and open book!

All in all - I am anticipating that this little break from Coursera course load will be good…I’ll sign up for more courses that begin in May!