Something New (No 6)

[smallhobbit]

This month's something new was actually begun last month and came as quite a surprise.  Because I'm registered for Parliament Week activities for Brownies I receive a regular email.  One of those emails mentioned a free online course organised by Royal Holloway College called "Beyond The Ballot" about the campaign for UK women's right to vote.  It looked interesting, and so I signed up.

This course is run under the auspices of Future Learn who run a large number of courses.  I had a glance through what else was available and found a two week course called WW! Heroism: Through Art & Film, run by Leeds University.  The subject matter was interesting, so I signed up for that too, since the original course I was interested in isn't being run until next month.  It was a fascinating course and I learnt various things.  It touched on areas I already knew something about, and including considering a modern representation of the war on televsion or film, with one of the suggestions being Blackadder.

Having completed that course I looked around to see what else I could do, and have completed both Empire: Controversies of British Imperialism (Exeter University) and England in the Time of Richard III (Leicester University).  I didn't enjoy the first - wasn't keen on the way they presented the material and didn't feel I learnt very much - I had lots of questions and maybe I needed a more specific course; but the second course I found fascinating.  I already knew a certain amount about Richard III, and this course introduced a lot of information about normal life at the time which I really enjoyed.

I've now got 13 courses on my 'Wishlist' and hopefully some of them will be running next spring which is when I shall probably be looking to do some more.

I believe the courses are available to people anywhere in the world.  They are free, although there is the option to upgrade, which give the option to take a test to be awarded a certificate and the material then belongs to the reader.  Otherwise the material is only available for a limited time.  I'd definitely recommend it for anyone like me who wants an easy way to learn a bit more about a subject which interests them.

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Sounds great! I am glad you're getting a lot out of it.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you - I wasn't looking for it, and yet it's been really interesting and I'm delighted I fell over it.

[adafrog]

Cool.

[smallhobbit]

It's very interesting.

[talkingtothesky]

Oh! I had a look at FutureLearn a few years ago and then forgot all about it. Thanks for reminding me it exists.

[smallhobbit]

Delighted to be of service :)

[pushkin666]

I have had a look at Futurelearn. It looks really good and I'll definitely sign up for the Richard III course. Thanks for the heads up

[smallhobbit]

It's free, so there's nothing to lose - even if you decide to stop following a course part way through. Do watch the availability timewise, but I was covering the courses faster than advertised - it depends how much depth you want to go into. The Richard III course was well worth it.

[vix_spes]

That sounds absolutely fantastic - what a find! Glad you're enjoying yourself!

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much.