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| Judy at Harvard, 2011. |
At this point, most people and probably all of our readers are familiar with MOOC (massive open online courses), which are offered for free (yes!) by some of the world's best universities. They are offered entirely online and all students can sign up, although a few courses are intended for advanced students in certain fields. We've written about MOOCs before, and we are delighted to see that more and more top universities in countries other than the U.S. are adding courses in other languages. Coursera now offers courses in a total of 12 languages.
A few weeks ago, we decided to take a Spanish-language class from the well-known Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (it starts in February). Even though we attended part of elementary, all of middle school and part of high school in Mexico City, we haven't taken college-level classes in Spanish, so this should be a real treat. We also got our recently retired dad to sign up for the class (Scientific Thinking) with us, so it's a family activity! Coursera and EdX are our favorite MOOC platforms, and we've found many courses that might be a good fit for colleagues with very specific specializations and interest. Here are just a few:
- (In Spanish): Pensamiento científico. Offered by Coursera. --> We have signed up for this class!
- (In Spanish): Correctión y estilo en español. Offered by Coursera. --> We might take this one, too.
- (In German): Einführung in Computer Vision. Offered by Coursera.
- Understanding Europe: Why It Matters and What It Can Offer You. Offered by Coursera.
- Introduction to International Criminal Law. Offered by Coursera.
- English Common Law: Structure and Principles. Offered by Coursera.
- The Age of Sustainable Development. Offered by Coursera.
- Asset Pricing. Offered by Coursera.
- Drugs and the Brain. Offered by Coursera.
- Design and Interpretation of Clinical Trials. Offered by Coursera.
- Energy 101. Offered by Coursera.
- Principles of Written English. Offered by EdX.
- China. Offered by EdX.
- Introduction to Computer Science. Offered by EdX.
- Introduction to Statistics: Inference. Offered by EdX.
- Artificial Intelligence. Offered by EdX.
- The Challenges of Global Poverty. Offered by EdX.
- Terrorism and Counterterrorism. Offered by EdX.
- Electricity & Magnetism. Offered by EdX.
We are very strong believers in professional development, as evidenced by the dozens of conferences and workshops we attend in person every year. However, we've never taken a class at an Ivy League university, so this is quite a treat. Regardless of one's field of specialization or interest, there seems to be a MOOC out there that will deepen and broaden one's knowledge and insight. We can't wait to get started. What about you, dear colleagues? Have you taken a MOOC before? Tell us about your experiences!
17 comments:
I think it's amazing that these courses are offered for free! On the other hand, it's tough to keep up with them - it's a lot of material and it's easy to get behind on the lectures - lots of listening in front of the computer. I guess I still prefer classroom learning, although the convenience (and affordability) of MOCCs is undeniable. I plan to take more of them in the future.
I've already attended (and happily completed) six MOOCs, actually: one in French (Calvin – Histoire et réception d’une Réforme) and the remaining five in English (Child Nutrition and Cooking, Know Thyself, Aboriginal Worldviews and Education, Think Again: How to Reason and Argue, Obesity Economics). I haven't attended any course in my mother tongue, yet, and I feel like I'm definitely exploiting the linguistic opportunity ;)
Alice
EN/FR>IT Freelance Translator
@Annie: Yes, it truly is amazing that universities are essentially donating their time and their professors' time. Quite impressive. You are right: in-person learning is even better, but not sure we would be able to get into Harvard. We do think that this model is groundbreaking, especially when it comes to bringing educational opportunities to those who might otherwise not have access.
@Alice: How fantastic! I don't think we know anyone who has completed as many as you have -- great. They sure are a wonderful way to take classes in other languages indeed!
I'm excited for "Correctión y estilo en español." I hope a similar class in French will be offered eventually.
I took "Drugs and the Brain" last year, and it was absolutely wonderful! I highly recommend it to everyone. The professor is an excellent and enthusiastic teacher, and the course is well-designed. The professor has added content this year, so I will probably take it again (I really loved it that much).
Thanks for pointing out "Design and Interpretation of Clinical Trials." I just signed up!
Dear Judy and Dagmar,
First of all: thanks for your useful insights and tips you post in your blog.
And of course, thanks for the list! Some of the courses are just matching what I'm looking for.
I was also thinking aobut the "Corrección y estilo en español". A few months ago the Madrid based company Cálamo y Cran published "El libro rojo de Cálamo y Cran" (http://blog.calamoycran.com/2013/09/27/el-prontuario-de-calamocran/ and http://www.calamoycran.com/concurso/5-libro-rojo-de-c-c-prontuario-de-manuales-de-estilo) which is a compilation and comparison of the most well know style guide resources for Spanish. I just think the Coursera course, will be a good complement for it.
All the best with the MOOCs you take enjoy them!
Anna Agustí
@Amy: That class sounds fantastic, Amy, and that's high praise indeed! Is it through Coursera? We'd be quite interested in taking it as well.
@Revé: "See" you in class! Yes, fingers crossed that these classes also become available in other languages. Slowly but surely...
@Anna: Thanks for your lovely note and for recommending the book. It looks absolutely fantastic!
Ladies!
Thanks so much for the informative post. I just completed a medical term course on Coursera that is designed more for foreigners going to the U.S. to work in clinical settings. It focused on abbreviations and was a wonderful base. Boy was I wrong to think I'd be the only translator; there were over 20 of us and we are helping the program to develop a multi-lingual version of their glossary. It was wonderful to see everyone working together for a common goal. This is a wonderful new frontier in education, and I believe everyone can find something relevant to them.
@Mary: Thanks so much for reading and for commenting, Mary! How fantastic -- we love hearing about this collaborative effort that came out of the MOOC you took. What a fantastic experience. Thanks for sharing. It's also great to know that so many translators are taking these classes.
I'm really looking forward to the MOOC in corpus linguistics being offered by Lancaster University starting at the end of January. Might see you there?
@Douglas: Oh, that sounds very tempting. We will have to see just how many classes we can handle at the same time! :) Enjoy!
I agree with the previous commenters that MOOCs present a really amazing opportunity if you can make yourself keep up with them. I recently completed a Coursera class on Epidemics: the dynamics of infectious disease (taught by a team from Penn State)and it was truly outstanding. Honestly, I learned more from it than from any in-person science class that I took in college. However, the time commitment was very reasonable; maximum 2 hours a week or so. I agree with Annie that when you already spend your work day in front of the computer, even an extra hour a day can get tiring. But in general, I think MOOCs are an incredible professional development resource.
I love MOOCs. I took some at the OpenHPI Institute, which has been founded by Hasso Plattner, SAP. And I am currently enrolled in "Introduction to forensic science" at Coursera. It is a good opportunity to broaden your horizon, get very interesting input in your area of specialitie and best of all: You decide when and how much you can invest time. Great post!
I attended the "Design and Interpretation of Clinical Trials" (Coursera) course earlier this year and can highly recommend it! ;)
Thanks for posting this list of MOOC courses!
Thanks for collating these interesting MOOCs. I love this way of learning and have done some really interesting courses over the last few years. One of my favourites was AnatomyX: Musculoskeletal Cases, at Harvard via edX. I also enjoyed Introduction to Marketing at Wharton via Coursera. I didn't do the certificate for that one, but it's starting again in late February - so I might give it another go. Hope your upcoming course goes well. :)
Fantastic listing of MOOCs here! I personally like the Learning How to Learn course in Coursera because it really applies to learning languages (my forte).
Two additional free resources I'd like to share for language learners and language teachers if I may:
- Free Learning & Teaching Tools for Spanish
- Tips for learning vocabulary in another language (just disregard the medical Spanish context on this one; it applies to any context).
Cheers,
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