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 

Educreations: An App for both Teachers and Students

Educreations

For all you Mac users out there, this app is one that you are missing out on! Most people are unaware of this FREE app for education; in fact, mostly only educators know about it. This app is commonly used by educators in 1:1 technology situations; however, our world is missing out on a huge opportunity for a free education by not downloading Educreations.

The major function of this application is a presentation. Educreations allows the user to create a presentation. Within your presentation you can add graphics and text to prepare the information. Still using just the standard presentation function, Educreations allows the user to begin recording a presentation. This is when the user is sharing the creation with and audience, or presenting it to be shared with an audience. The way Educreations records a presentation is by showing the presentation with mark ups and the overhead voice of the presenter. After the presentation, or flipped classroom presentation, the user is able to share the presentation with the live voice and markup with anyone via email, social media, and more.

This seems like it is still mainly an app for educators and presentations; however, what is commonly unused are the featured presentations pre-stored on this application. Educreations has a nearly innumerable amount of featured presentations available to anyone on this application for free. The teaching demonstrations range in a multitude of subject areas: Computer Technology, Creative Arts, Health and P.E., Language Arts, Mathematics, Professional Development for teachers, Science, Social Students, Special Education, Vocational Studies, World Languages, and for any other presentation that may not fit in those categories, an Other section. The leveling of these classes may be toward a younger crowd, more toward the high school age; yet, this does not mean that they cannot be useful to everyone. The typically eight minute presentations can allow any life-long learner to further their education with as much breadth or depth that they may please. Check out Educreations!

Furthering Education: udemy Style

udemy (https://www.udemy.com/courses/)

Udemy is another example of a MOOC. For those of you who don't follow my blog, a MOOC is a massive open online course. All MOOCs offer a multitude of free courses; however, some MOOCs have a pay to register model as well. Udemy fall into this category. 

Access to these courses have allowed students who cannot afford formal college the opportunity to obtain a higher level of education. The times are changing and with that comes a need to adjust and adapt. These courses have been key advancements in the ability to educate yourself at a cost that is reasonable.

For this I strongly recommend udemy, as well as all other MOOCs I have endorsed previously in my blog.

Enough of my rant... Into the good stuff. 

My Course Picks:

• CalendarBudget's Budgeting Habit Installer.

This course is applicable to everyone. What you're getting from this course is not that of a professional finance class. You aren't learning how to plot large financial decisions of companies, or even how to put your money into stocks. What you are learning is, how to stay organized and plan your financial future so that you can get out of debt and stay out of debt.

• Trigonometry: Trigonometry Functions I

It was hard to choose one specific math course that to include; I mean, they have it all. They even had a course for the GRE, and March madness bracket math. I did choose this class for a reason though. From the website this author has created a level of math classes that build on one another. This is one. Trigonometry may be something you will never have to use in your life, this is true. However, in most upper end jobs a strong grasp of math will come in handy.

• Working with Video in Photoshop CS6

I am including this course because it seems interesting to me. It has less than one hour of course work, and based on comments and my preview, the author seems to explain things very well. (I may even continue to take the whole course after this post.)


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