Part 1: Free Online Courses
Comfy, elastic-waisted clothing
Stacks of quality reading material
A plethora of online streaming services
Snacks
and...??
If you're feeling like something is missing from your shelter-in-place lifestyle or if, like me, your summer teacher education plans are likely kaput, consider exploring free, self-paced, online courses.
There are hundreds of webinars out there, especially now, but for a deeper dive (and a lot fewer live discussion boards), try a full course. There are many ways to access free classes, but my two favorite platforms are Coursera and edX.
Over the last few years I've taken over a dozen courses in topics like behavioral economics, transmedia storytelling, human physiology, music history, and math education. One of the most involved classes I took was about medieval manuscripts. We had a series of hands-on projects that centered around creating our own manuscripts.
The course inspired me to do a similar project with one of my history classes two years ago, which in turn led to my plan to roll out a bigger version with my classes this year (shout out to my Donor's Choose supporters!). Alas, a global pandemic thwarted those plans.
While perusing Coursera and edX the other day, a few classes caught my eye:
Fashion as Design from the Museum of Modern Art
Women Making Objects: Ten Objects, Many Stories from the Stanford of the East (a.k.a. Harvard)
Global History Lab from Princeton.
Though the classes themselves are free, you may have to pay if you'd like professional development credit or if you'd like to enroll in a certification program. If you're looking for more structure, taking a course with set due dates might be more your thing. For me, the self-paced option fits in better with my schedule. Most classes range from four to six weeks with two to four hours of work per week.
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