Happy June, everybody!
I have written about my passion for MOOCs and online learning before. Since then I dig deeper into the world of MOOCs, and later I would like to share my experiences here.
Not so long ago I read somewhere that someone was describing learning as climbing high peaks or any other extreme sports: we do it, so we know we can do it. I found this description very well-said, as I myself consider learning a hobby at this point of my life. I am learning, because I have to make sure I am still able to! The facts that I am earning a certificate and all those foreign university classes look good in my resume are just added bonuses.
The occasion of this post is that today I am starting two new courses on Coursera. I know, two at a time is a rarity even for me, but when I learned about the second one, which could be really useful for me right now, I was already enrolled in the first, which is a topic I am genuinely interested in.
Anyway, these are the courses I am starting today:
The Changing Global Order by University of Leiden on Coursera
What the course is about:
International relations, peace and security, conflict resolution, international organizations. By the looks of it, it is about the basics of international relations.
What I hope to gain:
As I am familiar with many of the topics offered, I am mostly looking forward to familiarizing with current practices in teaching this subject, learning about current issues and current trends, views of experts and practicioners.
I also hope to meet many like minded people through the discussion forums.
Enhance Your Career and Employability Skills! by University of London on Coursera
What the course is about:
The title pretty much sums it up I guess, it is about skills related to career enhancement. It offers to improve your decision making regarding your career and your understanding of certain career choices.
What I hope to gain:
I have roughly seven years of career behind me. At this point I am quite familiar with all the different methods of job seeking, so right now I am more interested in conscious career planning and decision making than learning how to write a CV or how to interview. I hope to learn about smart ways of thinking about career enhancement.
Previous courses I have taken:
As I have finished six online courses so far, I would also like to give you a description of those and how they worked for me. And of course later on the above two will be added.
Besides recommending six really great courses, this will hopefully give you an idea about the working of MOOCs in general through the lense of my experiences.
I will post them one by one, so stay tuned in the coming days for my detailed report about the following courses:
- Justice by Harvard University on edX
- International Criminal Law by Case Western University on Coursera
- The Law of the European Union: An Introduction by Europa Institute at Leiden Law School on Coursera
- The Global Student’s Introduction to US Law by Levin College of Law, University of Florida on Coursera
- Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects by University of California, San Diego on Coursera
- From Trust to Promise to Contract by Harvard University on edX
You see the two biggest ones – edX and Coursera – are the only platforms I have tried so far, so I can only share my experiences of those.
And you see, I haven’t ever wondered too far away from my profession, I have only tried legal courses and one skills development course.
Again, if you have any experience to share about these or other MOOCs, or you are enrolled in one of the courses I am starting now (which means we’re gonna be classmates, yay!), please comment below or message me, I would really like to learn about your opinions!
