Too Many Clicks on the Courseware

When I began this blog I started taking these free online classes for the first time. As I learn in the individual courses I am also learning what I can reasonably accomplish given all the other constraints of my life.

I have an avaricious appetite to learn about everything, completely. It is pretty common that as you learn, you realize your finite capabilities and the tremendous amount of things you will never know; doesn't mean you can't try real hard.

I signed up for too many classes and am having to drop them as I adjust my expectations. This is what is great about these classes though. They cost nothing and are completely available to whatever extent you want to pursue them. I am having to drop some classes are give up on certification but I can examine the course material and learn from parts of the whole.

In taking too many classes I am presented with more options and given a more firm grasps on the holes in my knowledge. I am really interested in cosmology so I signed up for the galaxies and cosmology class, as it turns out I am woefully behind on my math and physics to comprehend and process much of the particulars. I can understand concepts but to get at the depth of the topic and some real understanding I now know I need to work on that side of my brain.

I also had to dismiss a fundamentals of nutrition class that I really wanted to take because there was simply too much work given what I was already committed to. In the process though I discovered a great free open textbook on nutrition that I can now read at my leisure.

Another great problem of too many classes is getting a better idea of what I enjoy learning about versus what I want to know about. For example I really want to know about history and programming. What I am discovering is that I am up to date on the videos and assignments of the history class a day after they are released while the programming classes I put off for longer. This helps to discover what I am really interested in and where I may perhaps be able to find expertise or where I need to put more effort.

It is truly wonderful and astounding to have so much great information at my disposal. What makes this experience so great is the form; the videos, assignments, discussion boards, peer reviews and all the supplemental material made available from all over the web.

Turning to the form I have found myself working mostly with those courses that are on a timeline in which everyone is doing the same course work in the same time frame  For me it is just much easier to continue when you have weekly material and assignments versus just having everything available. Constraints in this case make it much easier to keep with the material and stay on task regularly.

I have been primarily on Coursera, as they have the most classes available from a whole bunch of great topics. I have found the Stanford MOOC site to be easy to navigate and well developed. I would like to see their video elements come to the other sites as well. When you watch a video on the Stanford site the slides that are used are shown just under the video with a time stamp on the slide so if you want to go back to a specific slide it is very easy. You find the slide with the relevant information and clicking on that slide brings the video to that time. The biggest problem I have with Coursera  which is small, is navigating the videos after watching them to find particular information. The Stanford site solves this problem very well.

I am having a great time with these classes so far and I doubt there will be very large gaps in the rest of my life in which I am not taking some sort of MOOC. I am enjoying Coursera immensely and am looking forward to taking classes when they start here shortly at edX and Canvas.

class2go.stanford.edu - Stanford site

https://www.canvas.net/

https://www.edx.org

https://www.coursera.org/

Aint No Thang

Emotion in poker is bad. Emotion hinders any situation where you are trying to use limited information to make an informed decision. When I first started playing I would find myself making bad decisions and immediately scolding myself. You often year someone claiming they're beat, they call and throw up their hands like see, I knew it!  If you knew it why'd you call? At times it might be worth calling when you know you're beat to get information. More often you call because you imagine how great it would be to win. Or you rationalize your terrible hand and convince yourself they're bluffing. You call and your terrible hand loses. As the saying goes when you stop yourself from losing chips it's like you won those chips.

Emotion clouds judgement and makes situations harder to decipher. The previous example is true but there is another kind of emotion one must keep at bay; feeling bad about your play. Whenever you make a mistake you can sulk and think about all your rotten luck for ages to no end. Bad beats are tough to but it means your doing something right, it means you will win that hand most the time and if you continue to put yourself in those situations you will do well.

The point I am trying to make is that by getting too upset about losing and not focusing on doing better next time the game becomes dull and emotionally exhausting. To get better and stay consistent you have to learn from mistakes, fill your bag of tricks with experiences and every time you screw up you will get better. Learn to release yourself when you fail.

Massive Open Online Courses

In an effort to learn I am overdoing the free online class thing. I have signed up for several classes at several different websites and will write about them here.

I am enrolled in the following websites and classes.

Coursera.org
Introduction to Genetics and Evolution
Galaxies and Cosmology
The Modern World: Global History since 1760
Image and video processing: From Mars to Hollywood with a stop at the hospital
Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World
E-learning and Digital Cultures
Nutrition for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

edx.org
CB22x The Ancient Greek Hero
ER22x Justice
6.00x Introduction to Computer Science and Programming

Canvas.net
Investigating Film Noir
Writing History
Gender Through Comic Books

Udacity.com
Introduction to Physics: Landmarks in Physics (PH100)
Introduction to Computer Science: Building a Search Engine (CS101)

KhanAcademy.org
Math Practice
Art History

I will focus on Coursera, Canvas and edX because they are on a particular schedule, with specific deadlines. The Udacity and Khan Academy are less time specific so I will use those as supplemental and support at the moment. The introduction to physics at Udacity will be very beneficial to the Coursera class on galaxies and cosmology.

I will be focusing on these five at the moment but will shortly delve into others such as academicearth.org and cosmolearning.com

Learn Slow

There are a lot of times when you can over think things. When you are actively trying to get better you seem to stumble first as you get familiar with doing something different. Change is awkward.

I entered a poker tournament today and did not play well initially because I was trying to be really good right away. I have been playing poker with varying vigor and enthusiasm for almost ten years now and changing how anyone does anything after ten years takes time. I was trying to think about and implement too many new strategies and ideas too soon.

I have come to a couple conclusions about poker recently. Everyone thinks they're good, which is mostly true, and I'm not that good. I am completely decent. I don't have any glaring tells, I can evaluate situations and execute the right decision most of the time. If I don't get cards I can't do much, if I get great cards I can win.

In overwhelming myself today trying to do too much too quickly I lost my bearing. I wasn't playing my game but a new one I had never played before. It was uncomfortable. After I forgot about everything I was trying to do and just played my game I got much more comfortable and started having fun, which is the first requirement to success.

In recording my attempts at improving my poker skill I will first try to identify those things I do well and those things I do poorly, understand them and try to change or continue certain habits. While I do that I will read books, watch videos, study and implement one new aspect at a time or try to remove one bad habit at a time.

Ohio State Reading Room

http://www.reddit.com/r/CityPorn/comments/hf2g7/reading_room_ohio_state_university_columbus_ohio/

To Think is to Smile

This blog I do here dedicate to the pastime; inescapable to not endure while you live: learning!

I have always enjoyed learning and here is where I will record a log on the web of how I go about actively discovering new information that I hope to transform into knowledge. I have no goal here, other than to learn more.

I am writing this for two reasons. One is to help others learn more through my recorded efforts and the other is to learn more myself. In thinking about what to write and then writing: I learn.

As I begin I have a few regular topics in mind.

Free Online Classes. I will take many online classes as I try to find the most effective options available and report here.

Health and Fitness. This deserves its own bold space because to learn, one must live and if you're going to be alive you might as well live long and well.

Mastery. This is more general. Of all the things I do, I will continually try to do them better. I will always be learning and seeking to know more in order to better master that which I do.

Here is a list of things that I have been doing for a little while but am always trying to improve and will cover here.

 poker, starcraft II, poetry, writing, gardening, painting, drawing, running, cooking, photography, photoshop, science, film making, math.

And here is a list of things that I hope to learn more about.

programming, baking, home renovation, vehicle maintenance, bicycle repair, animation, radio production etc.