Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Learning Piano With David Sides: A PlayGround Session Review

Learning a musical instrument is very much like learning another language. You practice at it, and sometimes you get it but it still just doesn't sound right. I have played the piano since I was a six year old boy. It didn't always come easy to me; and in fact, after years of not playing I had to reteach myself. I ended up teaching myself how to play piano after seeing a Pianist David Sides play on YouTube. No joke, it was inspiring. Shortly after watching, I had bought myself a portable keyboard and had begun relearning everything I once knew about piano. I have a link of David Sides playing for your Viewing Pleasure. Around 1:40 my mind was blown.


This is where I go back to the point. Years after I had first been inspired by David Sides, it came to my attention that he had created a platform to teach people how to play piano.  This Platform was called Playground Sessions.

Playground sessions to me seemed like a game. Almost like a professional guitar hero for piano. You can play through the songs, with varying difficulty, until you have mastered a technique. Meanwhile you have learned how to play songs that you can now showcase. Like many people I enjoy getting recognition for my achievements; with playground session, this was reality. When hitting a milestone in Playground sessions, you will receive a badge that shows your accomplishments, and can be shown off to the community of pianists surrounding the platform.

For convenience reasons, Playground sessions is downloaded onto your Computer, and can be run on both Mac and PC operating systems.

Unfortunately unlike most things that I have previously talked about in my blog, Playground sessions is not free. Playground Sessions gives you access to its full teaching studios, for either an annual or quarterly fee. Songs are sold seperatly, this however is not a surprise, and sheet music is one of the more expensive components of learning to play an instrument. 

When it comes down to it, and you think about it this is not a bad deal. You get access to countless hours of teaching materials, and video tutorials. For the price of a few weeks of piano lessons.  These tutorials will cover learning techniques including how to play by ear.

Playground sessions is a good platform for anyone who likes modern music, and has an interest in playing piano. 

Thursday, July 10, 2014

FutureLearn: A.Hidden MOOK Gem

Today I was stumbling around the internet (like I usually do).  When I stumbled across another MOOK that I would like to share. This MOOK is fairly small compared to others that I have shown, but after playing with the website, it's been decided that I like it.

Future Learn

Future Learn has only 55 courses to chose from, making it the smallest MOOK that we have examined. However, there are redeeming qualities that make up for the lack of depth. Most of the teachings that come from Future Learn originate in UK, and other international schools. This makes sense seeing as how it is the UK's First MOOK. With Future Learn you have the ability to access materials on both your computing device, or smart tablet, making it easy to access information from anywhere.

Future Learn intends to compete with other MOOK platforms such as edX and Coursera, through the use of sociability. Future Learn has set up their site, as a form of social media. When you sign up for Future Learn you are given a home page. This page is for you, like so other people have been given a page as well. You are free to follow people and be followed by people who take courses, at the same time or even after you. By doing this it has turned a standardized method of taking courses into a more social, more group based activity. I personally love the idea. Like I have mentioned so many times before, my first online learning experience with CS50x was only so helpful because of the community surrounding it. Future Learning strives to give off a community, even trialing with ideas such as peer editing, and peer grading, so that you can get reviews of your work from others.

Future Learn may still be developing, But I would check it out, and watch it grow.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

MOOK Wednesday: 7/9/14

MOOK Wednesday: 7/9/14

It's Wednesday again which means it is time to review some courses .For those of you who missed the first MOOK Wednesday, please feel free to go back and check that outhere. Today we have a few picks from some of our favorite MOOK platforms. Once again all courses will be open and available close to the posting date.

Introduction to Photoshop 12(Udemy)
This free course offered by Udemy goes over all of the basics that go into operating, and being functional in Adobe Photoshop 12. That being said to take this course you will need to have already previously purchased Adobe Photoshop so that you can follow along. This course is created to give you software training so that you can operate Photoshop, use workspaces, organize photos, and more! This course is perfect for anyone who enjoys to take photographs or considers it a hobby. Introduction to Photoshop is a beginner class and is broken down easily into 23 different mini lectures. A perfect course for anyone who wants the basics.

Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative(Coursera)
Vanderbilt teamed up with Coursera for this class, for new gamers and old ones alike.This course goes through the central media that comes along with what, happens in Video Games. What that means? This course is created to be an English class; however with this course you will find no books as your learning objectives. The structured analysis of video games will show how literature combines with film, for the ultimate story telling experience.

Management for a Competitive Edge(Open2Study)
Management is one of the Key components of running a business. If you ever plan to work for yourself or move up in a company, management is necessary.  In this course multiple topic will be covered that enhance ones ability to manage. These topics range from, what defines successful management, to how to develop sustainable competitive advantages. If you have a further interest in advancing your education click one of the links on the bottom of the course and check out their open source MBA certification.

Make sure to come back next week for another MOOK Wednesday!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

World Mentoring Academy Review

World Mentoring Academy

World Mentoring Academy(WMA) is a great place for supplemental learning, for the grades k-12, as well as many college curriculum. 

Likes 

  • This site is broken down very easily. I mean it; it may have the best and most organized feel to it out of any of the MOOKs that we have explored thus far. It goes by what grade level that you want to learn at, and then is broken down by what category that you would wish to pursue. This makes it very easy to decide what you would like to learn and what may be helpful for you.
  • Top of the line instructors. This may be the case for many of the MOOKs, but this site does not drop the ball. It has a very impressive line up, coming from MIT, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and many more. If this lineup does not seem impressive to you, I don't know what will.

Dislikes.

  • My first dislike comes in the log in process. This may seem picky, but I just don't like having to give so much information if I do not plan on receiving certification for a course.
  • WMA compared to many of the other MOOKs that we have examined seems to have A smaller selection. To be fair though numbers is not always as important as quality, so you need to pick and choose.
I think it would only be fair for you to give WMA a look and decide for yourself, if it can compete with more know sites. 

More and more MOOKs: Open2Study

Open2Study

Here we are, with yet another website to get your daily fill of MOOKs. Today we will be talking about a site that I am new too; Open2Study. It seems to have the same feel as some of the other previous sites that we have explored, but lets take a look.

First off Open2Study seems to have the free to learn setup that so many of our previous MOOKs have upheld. For me this is necessity. With so many other free to learn sites out there, I try my hardest to avoid spending my money when and where I can. This ins't always the case but I try to keep it this way as much as  I can. Usually money may have to leave my pocket if I want the course to actually be for credit. This does not seem to be the case with Open2Study. Just click the accredited portion of the website, and there you have it; a list of all of the courses that you can take for credit. You can even receive hard copy certificates.

But we all know why we look at a MOOK... The classes.

 Open2Study has a wide range of classes. From Chinese Language and Culture, to Concepts in Game Devlopement; Open2Study has a very wide course-load, coming from a range of professors, in top universities across the globe. 

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Course list: Wednsdays Weekly Picks 1

For the followers of my blog, you are no stranger to MOOKs.  By now, you may even be on your way to getting certified in one of many various online courses. Today will mark the first, of many, weekly picks. All courses that I choose will be starting soon, or available year round. So without further adieu, my choices


1.*!Introduction to Linux(edX)

Linux may be the least familiar OS to the vast majority of computer users; however Linux is the main foundation for large business operations.This course takes you through all of the tricks and tools to become an experience Linux user. By taking this course, you will be throw into many topics that can be found necessary to obtain a systems administrator position.

2.*Financing and Investing in Infrastructure(Coursera)

This course is a good addition to anyone who has a dream to run and operate a business. The giant need for infrastructure investments is in the trillions, learn how to shave costs, and finance your investments with this course. 

3. *Nutrition and Physical Activity for Health(Coursera)

This class touches on subjects, related to physical wellness. With  nearly 50% of the American populous being considered overweight; it is never a bad idea to learn about health and the implications of living an unhealthy life. This class is designed to develop sustainable healthy habits; from eating right to exercising.

These are my picks for this week, make sure to check back next Wednesday for another course list.

* - Available for Course Credit
! - Available Year Round
$ - Class has a Fee 


Chitika