Various ramblings by the small hobbit

FutureLearn

Italian for Beginners (Part 1)  (Open University)  Continuing with my language learning, and because I'd like to go back to Italy some time - maybe next year?  I'm now taking the six part course, which should keep me going until the end of the summer.  So far it's reminded me of some of the basics.


OpenLearn

Migration
This was an Intermediate course, which, given my previous study of animals I was able to follow.  It looked at the different ways animals migrate and the different reasons for doing so.  I enjoyed it.

Evolutionary Tree of Mammals
While I fully accept that mammals have changed over time, I'm still never entirely convinced by the dogmatic way this is presented based on limited evidence which could, potentially, be interpreted differently.

What can Philosophy tell us about Race
Told me little I wasn't already aware of and ignored certain characteristics of racial origin which may effect the tendency to develop certain illnesses.  Not my sort of course, and I disagreed with some of their conclusions.

An Introduction to Floodplain Meadows
A very interesting course, relevant to where we live and I learnt a lot.  It was also realistic when talking about the benefits of good maintenance but considering other external pressures which will impinge on this.  However, some of the research currently being undertaken by the OU and other organisations sounds quite long-term, when there is immediate needs to maintain what is still available before it's lost to other uses.

Succeed with Maths Part 2
I completed Part 1 in February and enjoyed the need to keep my brain active with the second part.  I obtained my badge.

Everyday Maths 2
A slightly more basic course, I finished Part 1 last month and so, because I'm a completist, I took Part 2.  Another badge!

   

Halve my current list of OpenLearn courses

When I first set, this target, I had 19 courses on my list, this increased to 23 at the end of January, and has now reached 26.

However, I have been making good progress, in January I completed 6 courses, in February I completed a further 6, and now having finished a further course yesterday, I have completed 13 courses this year, and therefore half of 26!  Obviously, some courses are very short, but that is not relevant.

I now have 12 courses left on my list (and before anyone points out 13 + 12 = 25, not 26, this is because one course was well above my level of physics understanding, so although I read through and absorbed some of the information, I didn't 'complete' it.  It can now legitimately be removed from the list.)

My intention was never to clear the whole list - new courses come out, or current courses point to something else, but I'm pleased with how things are looking at present.

FutureLearn

Art and the Environment in South-East Asia (National Gallery Singapore) 
A really interesting short course which looked at the paintings showing the environment in both Singapore and Malaysia and other south-east nations.  While there were a number of recent ones by local artists, the course also highlighted how many of the earlier paintings were propaganda, designed to emphasis the superiority of the colonial powers.


OpenLearn

Studying Mammals: The Social Climbers
Studying Mammals: Food for Thought
The final two courses in the Studying Mammals series, looking at monkeys and then apes, including reference to human structures.  And a reminder that we have a responsibility for the planet we live on.

Surviving the Winter
Having finished the courses on mammals, I'm continuing with a number of courses covering both plants and animals.  This one, which seemed relevant for the current period, looked at the various different ways plants and animals cope with the coldest season.

Getting Started with Spanish 1 and 2
Really just revision, but keeping me in the loop in case I ever need my very limited Spanish in the future.

Unsolved Problems in Cosmology
I still have an interest in the night sky and what's there in 'Space, the final frontier', so I was interested to have a go at this new course.  It was basically above my level of understanding - I can manage Introductory Level but this was Intermediate and there were some areas which were totally beyond me and my science ability.  However, I didn't do badly at the end of course quiz, so I must have learnt something in the process.

OpenLearn courses completed:

English in the World Today
An interesting course which looks at how English developed over the centuries and the place it currently holds.

Studying Mammals: The Opportunists
Studying Mammals: Return to the Water
Studying Mammals: Life in the Trees
Three more courses, taking one to two weeks each and which continue to provide information on different branches of mammals.  I have two left of the series.

Mathematics for Science & Technology
A badged course, so eight weeks with a badge at the end for passing the tests.  I studied maths at uni, but that was a very long time ago and in parts this really required a lot of hard work and use of my brain.  All of which was worth doing, but I certainly wouldn't want to go any further.

Introducing the Psychology of our Relationships with Fictional Villains
I wasn't convinced on all the psychology, but the course had interviews with various crime authors who talked about how they created and wrote their villains and the detectives which was really interesting.  I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys writing as a fascinating insight into the process.  The writers were Val McDermid, Sir Ian Rankin, Gordon Brown, Lin Anderson and Craig Robertson.

Introduction to Music Theory 2: Pitch & Notation
I took part 1 last year, and this was equally interesting, especially as although it majored on Western music, it also included music from Africa and Asia.  I wish, however, that there wasn't such a large gap between the various parts of the course.


Heading into 2025, I have two FutureLearn courses on my wishlist - neither are available at the moment - and seventeen OpenLearn courses, so at least I'll have something to keep my brain working for the next few months!

Nothing from FutureLearn - I did start one course but abandoned it after a few days as, although I would have been very interested in the subject, the presentation did absolutely nothing for me.

OpenLearn

Approaching Language, Literature and Childhood  A new course, looking at children's books and how they have changed, and improved, from the rather a large number of years since my childhood.  No longer are the protagonists white and from relatively well-to-do families, but now the stories are about a much more widely varied group of children and therefore far more relatable to their readers, which has to be a good thing.

Studying Mammals: A Winning Design
Studying Mammals: The Insect Hunters
I'm beginning my Autumn/Winter of mammals.  The series is based on the BBC David Attenborough series The Life of Mammals, made around 2002 and which I can watch on iPlayer and the book of the same name, which I bought cheap on eBay, which means there's plenty of excellent photography to look at.  A Winning Design covers much the same ground as the previous mammal course I took, but served as a good revision point, and the insect hunters means I now know more about shrews, moles, anteaters and bats.

Describing Language  A badged course which looks at the basic building blocks of the English language.  A lot of it I already knew, some of it was new, and much of it was intuitive because it's the language I speak.  There were also occasional references to other languages for comparison which was interesting.

Banning the Bomb: a global history of activism against nuclear weapons  Another new course.  It looks back at the history of the protests, not only in Britain, but also worldwide as well as current efforts.  There is encouragement to get involved, but, while I agree with the cause, I have commitments elsewhere and there's only so much I can do.

Six courses, which almost clears out my wish list.  I started a few which I then decided really weren't for me and realised that I was going to gain nothing by continuing with them.

FutureLearn

Art and the Environment in SE Asia: Environment as Contested Space [National Gallery of Singapore]  I knew nothing about artists from SE Asia and so this course was really interesting, both seeing artists I wouldn't normally come across and looking at how they depicted what was happening in their environment.  Even better, I discovered they have their own online course running for free, so I'm currently taking that.

Early Modern Palaeography [University of Glasgow]  I took this because it provided some background to some of the issues brought up in the course on Stirling and gave the opportunity to look at some of the original documents from the kirk sessions.  It was interesting looking at original handwriting and I found the sessions where Dr Lionel Glassey explained letter formation etc useful, although I have no wish to read old documents.


OpenLearn

The Roman Empire: Introducing some key terms
The Body in Antiquity
The last two courses in my summer of Classical studies.  I doubt I shall do anything more

The Meaning of Crime  This looked at the definition of crime and then the difference between the numbers of crimes and the perception of the increase in crimes.  It also looked at whether there was an explanation as to why certain people turn to crime.  I don't think I really learnt anything knew.  People are complex and our behaviour is generally influenced by more than one area in our lives.

Beginner's German: Place & People  An introductory course just to remind myself of a little German.


I currently have no FutureLearn courses to do - the two on my wish list are unavailable for now.  I'm hopeful that with the autumn about to start there will be something new soon.  In the meantime, following my summer of Classical studies, I'm making the autumn my Italian season, using the OpenLearn courses.  Not that I'm going to Italy in the near future, but it can't hurt to do a bit.  And I'm continuing with the National Gallery of Singapore's understanding art course, which I'm about halfway through.

Six more courses, continuing a broad swathe of subjects:

FutureLearn

Archaeology of Past Nomads on the Mongolian Steppe (National University of Mongolia)  I knew nothing about the subject and wasn't sure how I'd get on, but it was really well presented and fascinating.  There is much less archaeological remains with a nomadic society and yet there are still areas which can be explored.  It was particularly interesting to see how archaeologists are helping to explain how the dynamics of the various groups changed over time.

Pubs: History, Consumers, Management and Protection (University of York)  The early steps, looking at the history of pubs was interesting, but the course quickly moved onto why there are far fewer pubs now than in the past and what should be done about it, without looking at the financial viability of operating a pub.  

OpenLearn

Intermediate French: 14 July  I'm off to France in a couple of weeks time, so it seemed appropriate to do a bit more French.  I understood generally what was being said, but some of the specifics escaped me.  We managed when in Belgium, although many spoke English.  However, the lady in the chocolate shop didn't and yet we still successfully bought a selection of Belgian chocolates.

Exploring Homer's Odyssey; Herodotus and the Invention of History; The Repute and Reality of being a Roman Emperor
Three courses from the Graeco-Roman culture and history collection.  Rather than taking a badged course over the summer, I'm working my way through the collection.  It's not my favourite period of history, but a lot of Western culture builds on it so it's worth looking at.

I've completed eight courses over the last six weeks, but they've all been very short:

Four FutureLearn:

 Introduction to Modern Art (Taipei Medical University)  A subject I know little about and was keen to learn more.  It began explaining art in the pre-modern era and progressed onto the Impressionists, but after that the presentation and the way the course jumped around meant I was little wiser by the end.  From the few comments there were, I was not alone in feeling this.  It's usual for a new course to have interaction from the tutor but there was nothing there either.

The Rise of K-Culture: Discover the Korean Wave (Hanyang University)  Having seen friends interest in K-Pop and K-Drama I was curious to learn more.  This was a very basic introduction but it was good to have a connection with something others enjoy, even if it's not for me.

Come Rain or Shine (University of Reading)  A slightly older science course looking at the reasons why the weather is as it is, especially in the UK, but also more briefly elsewhere.  I found the reading of weather charts particularly interesting and began to get a grasp of what they mean.  It may not help greatly in the future - I shall continue to look out of the window - but the knowledge is always useful.

Unlocking the Secrets of the Chinese Language (Universiti Malaya)  If I'd worked at it I could have learnt some basic vocabulary, but at present I have no use for it.  However, it did show how the Chinese vowels are sounded which is extremely important and gave a better feel for the language even if I wasn't going to understand what was said.

Four OpenLearn:

Empires: power, resistance, legacies  A new course, looking at both sides within an empire, both conqueror and subject.  It looked at a number of empires, including the Spanish and the Ottoman as well as the British Empire.  It was good to see more than just the British in India and the Caribbean.

Tay Bridge Disaster  An engineering course, the complex engineering tasks were beyond me, although I could cope with some of the basic theories.  Having been to Dundee last October and taken the train over the replacement Tay Bridge learning more about it, having seen mention in the museum was really interesting.  It also gave me greater understanding when reading about the recent Baltimore Bridge collapse.

Data analysis: Visualisation in Excel  Another new course.  I took it because I thought it might be helpful in presenting details for our charity, but in the end I didn't learn much that would be useful.  It didn't help that some of the examples were so simplified that the graphs produced made no sense.

Crime fiction in French: le polar francais  My final new course.  Being a great fan of detective fiction I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the French version.  As the course was all in French I did struggle a bit, although I managed to understand the majority of the course, which I was pleased about.  It was definitely worth the effort to take it.

Less courses this time, but I wanted to close the year off.

One FutureLearn course:

Japanese Culture Through Rare Books (Keno University)  This is the third course on this subject which I have done, and I enjoyed building on what I already knew.  It's fascinating seeing how the books changed over the centuries and gives me a greater appreciation of them when I see them and references to them elsewhere.

And three OpenLearn courses:

Beginners' Tamil: a taster course  A very short course but it was interesting to see and hear Tamil and just broadening my mind to include another language from the Indian sub-continent and beyond.

An introduction to exoplanets  My latest badged course, looking at planets which circle other stars, how they can be investigated and how they can be found in the first place.  Quite a bit of maths was involved and I was pleased to see that bit I could cope with.  I passed the two compulsory tests and gained my badge.

Investigating a murder with forensic psychology  Given my interest in reading murder mysteries I thought this might be an interesting course to take.  I'm not sure I gained that much new knowledge, although I was pleased I chose the right suspect.

Exploring the English Language  Looks a bit at how English became the language of all and not just the common people.  Not as interesting as I'd hoped.


Which brings me to the end of my year of courses.  I'm taking one at the moment, a new FutureLearn course which began last week which will go into next year.  

I've now taken a total of 141 FutureLearn courses and have 5 on my wish list.  One I'm taking now, one I'm planning to do in the next month or so, and three are currently unavailable.

I also have 6 on my OpenLearn wish list.  3 of those are badged, which means 8 weeks of 3 hours per week (that's flexible), so my plan is to take one every two months (ish).  The other 3 were all suggestions from their Advent calendar, which I've lined up for next year.

So yes, I've still got plenty to work through and keep the brain active and looking at a variety of subjects.  Because I'm now concentrating more on OpenLearn courses I've changed my tag from 'futurelearn' which is no longer really appropriate to the more obvious 'courses'.

One overriding thing I've learnt is that there are so many fascinating things in the world and beyond that it would be a shame not to find out about some of them.

Four FutureLearn courses over the last couple of months:

Why Do People Migrate: Facts (European University Institute (EUI))  This course looks at the history of migration and then considers specific examples, both of refugees and labour migration. A reminder that one size does not fit all and that the choice to leave one's own country isn't taken lightly.

The History of Protest in Aotearoa New Zealand (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa)  A very interesting new course, looking at a variety of reasons for protest, including Maori land rights, civil rights in general, including women's rights and labour rights, to nuclear protests and various environmental protests.  I particularly appreciated the way an extra week was added to the course simply to allow those taking part more than one week to cover the final week of the course.

Become a Better Presenter: Improve Your Public Speaking Skills (Royal Observatory Greenwich)  I found I knew quite a lot of the content, although I liked the idea of telling a 'story' through the talk, which is something I shall make use of when I'm speaking on behalf of our charity. For me there was too much talk about how to speak and little demonstration of people actually doing this.  Partly this was because it was created during lockdown, but I felt it needed revising.

A History of Tudor Entertainment (Historic Royal Palaces) Very much concentrating on Hampton Court, with a little from the Tower of London. I felt some of the discussion questions were designed for school children, e.g. 'what sports do you like to do'.  This was a new course, plenty of videos but served to emphasis if you were the king/queen at the time you could do what you wanted.

I've taken the opportunity to slim down my wishlist, so I now only have 5 courses on it (3 of which aren't currently running), although I continue to keep an eye out for any new courses which become available.


Intermediate French: Understanding Spoken French (OpenLearn)  The last of my French courses over the summer, which convinced me that this was as far as I wanted to go.  I did use my French when on holiday, although my ability to order food in the evenings was rather limited.  However, I impressed one of my fellow travellers by going into a boulangerie and checking we could eat there - and I managed to buy my lunches without difficulty, so a success overall!

Myths in Law (OpenLearn)  A new course, looking at some of the truths and myths about law courts.  It was a short course, but didn't hurt as a reminder that not everything is as seen on television.

I have selected four OpenLearn badged courses to work my way through until the end of April (which will tie up with one of my goals for this year).  Each course lasts 8 weeks and really requires that amount of time to progress though all the information and make a good attempt at the weekly tests - not to mention to two compulsory tests in order to gain the badges.  I enjoy doing them because it does mean I have to concentrate and think rather than skirt over the subject.