Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Tag Archives: MOOC


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Learning more stuff

Here we go again: end of the year, new lists of MOOCs and online courses get published. So much to learn, so much knowledge availabe. And I realize that, as a product of the 1970s/1980s Italian school system, what I learned, deeply and inescapably, in school, is how to l earn. I like learning stuff.

And so I went through the list of December MOOCs you can find on the OpenCulture website, and after spending half an hour checking the links and weighing the offer, I enrolled in two new courses.

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Learn about art and crimes

Sweetheart-art thiefA quick heads up.
The Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime online course I took two years back is available again, and it might be the sort of thing some of you out there might like.
The course is held by the University of Glasgow through Coursera.
It lasts three weeks, it’s free and it starts on October the first.
I might even take it again – it was very useful for my writing, and the topic is a lot of fun.


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Back to school (once again)

Summer is drawing to a close, and as usual I enrolled in a few courses to increase the number of reasons because of which my CV will be rejected due to overeducation.
But really, screw them.
I like learning new things, I like trying new activities.

So I went and I enrolled in a course by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. The course is called Listen up! How to launch and grow a hit podcast, and it will hopefully help me get back on track with my podcasting experiments.

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The course is fun, the instructors top notch, and I am really happy with what I’ve seen so far. Continue reading →


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Stars & Stones

I’ve just enrolled in an Archaeoastronomy MOOC for the late-winter/early spring term.
I have a number of other MOOCs coming (the first starts tomorrow), but these are strictly professionally-oriented courses1.
The Archaeoastronomy thing is purely leisure oriented – but with an eye to my writing, and one to future Karavansara posts.

The fun thing is, the course is based in Milan, 80 kms from where I am sitting, and I am accessing its contents in English, through an international platform, from my home2.

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Archaeoastronomy, for the uninitiated, is that branch of archaeology that studies the astronomical relations of ancient structures, like Stonehenge, Cheops’ Pyramid or the Nazca lines. Continue reading →


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Life on Mars

As I am seriously thinking about ditching my TV set for good (and thus escape the blood-dripping 120 bucks TV tax our friendly government imposes us), I am once again using the web and MOOCs in particular for my entertainment and edification – and as a break from reading and writing.
And therefore, in October, I will be on Mars, for a short survival course…

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This free online course will introduce the key scientific concepts needed for humans to survive on Mars, where there is no air to breath, no water to drink and no food to eat. The course will also examine interdisciplinary skills and meticulous planning required to sustain human life in such a hostile environment. Case studies and insights from leading experts in the field of Chemistry, Astronomy, Physics and Geology will demonstrate the basic science and problem solving skills you can use in everyday life.

The course is offered by Monash University, through the Futurelearn platform.
It’s free and it will last four weeks.
I think my brother will join me on this one, too.
If you’re interested, see you on Mars next month.


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Learning photography, again!

And so I went and enrolled in a new MOOC.
Fact is, you see, I’ve spent a few days (and nights!) going around carrying my trusty old  camera, and I took lots of photos. And I realized I have lost my touch.
Not that I was ever a star photographer, but I was pretty good, for a self-taught amateur. In the time when cameras still packed a roll of film, I shot in black and white (it was cheaper), and I had lots of fun. I used a Nikkormat EL, back then, and I had studied a lot of photo books and courses and handbooks1. Boy, I loved that camera. An artifact from a more civilized time.

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