The Blog

Bates, T. (2014).  Are you broadcasting or networking when teaching online  [blog post] ?  Online Learning and Distance Education Resources.  https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/12/15/are-you-broadcasting-or-networking-when-teaching-online/ Berklee College of Music. (n.d.)  Guitar for Beginners . Coursera.  https://www.coursera.org/learn/guitar/home/info Berklee College of Music. (n.d.)  Guitar for Beginners: Course Resources  [Webpage]. Coursera.  https://www.coursera.org/learn/guitar/supplement/dfrHs/course-resources Berklee College of Music. (n.d.)  Guitar for Beginners: Comparing Major and Minor Chords  [Discussion]. Coursera.  https://www.coursera.org/learn/guitar/lecture/pjaUg/essential-accessories-for-acoustic-guitar Berklee College of Music. (n.d.)  Guitar for Beginners: Essential Accessories for Acoustic Guitar  [Mid-Video Quiz]. Coursera.  https://www.coursera.org/learn/guitar/lecture/pjaUg/essential-ac...

It looks like my hand has been forced and it's now time for a review of Coursera's Guitar for Beginners (Berklee College of Music, n.d.a). Why did I use Coursera? Quite simple - their marketing worked! I started this course back at the end of March when I first found out about this assignment. The end of March was when the COVID-19 panic was fresh and Coursera (n.d.) was marketing free classes to help spend the time. At first, I signed up for a course on success and leadership. I completed a week of activities before reading the full details of Assignment 2 and realized that I would have no clear progress to show for it. That's when I went back to the course selection list and found something else I wanted to learn. I had a lonely guitar sitting in the corner of my office so I decided to tackle Guitar for Beginners by Berklee College of Music (n.d.a).  What did I hope to learn? I started the course hoping to learn how to read music and fingerpick chords and melodies...

Remember when I said "Wow thank you so much for resetting my deadlines Coursera!" back in post 4? Well, I clicked on that button (Figure 1) and it brought me right back to Week 1! Figure 1 Reset my deadlines (Berklee College of Music, n.d.) I'm feeling extremely frustrated with the setback as I have to go through all the teaching activities, quizzes, discussions, and exams to get back to the week that I was on. Excuse me while I just slam through all the previous materials again (Figure 2)... Figure 2 Spinning clock while I jump ahead (Bootgum, n.d.).  Well, I made a huge mistake! It looks like when I reset my deadlines it closed all the quizzes and discussions until they are released which won't be until June 15th, 2020. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of this method honestly, I much prefer self-paced learning where I can control over when I take the practice quizzes - especially for a MOOC. Closing off a course so that lessons and quizzes are rel...

Here's a short video of me finally fingerpicking my first chords! Woohoo!!

It looks like I may have missed a few of my practice sessions. I’m still deep in week 2 (Berklee College of Music, n.d.). Reset my Deadlines While going through this course I've been prompted several times to reset my deadlines (Figure 1). This is an interesting feature. I can imagine that it would affect analytics and student engagement. I'm diving back into this course after several weeks so I clicked it and now Coursera is spinning. I'll give it a few minutes and come back tomorrow! Figure 1 Reset my deadlines (Berklee College of Music, n.d.) References: Berklee College of Music. (n.d.)  Guitar for Beginners . Coursera.  https://www.coursera.org/learn/guitar/home/info

Welcome back to another learning adventure! Today I’m back with a quick summary of what I did today. Nothing too special just failed a practice exam and learned how to tune... so let’s get into it! Week 2 I opened up Coursera and jumped right into week 2 (Berklee College of Music, n.d.a). String Names and Numbers The first module in the week was: String Names and Numbers. There was only one teaching video in this module followed by a quiz. The transition between learning the strings and being quizzed on them was too short for me. I failed it - and received no explanation why, or any review of what I’d gotten wrong. I can see some needs for improvement here. Without an explanation of why I got something wrong, I had no direction on how to improve or learn the necessary knowledge. Admittedly, I took a long break after this and may not have returned had this not been an official assignment. Tuning Your Guitar The teaching videos in this module were significant. The instructor d...

Alrighty well, today we completed the first week of the course! Yay! My fingers are already sore and I only learned how to play two chords so that's good... Mobile Learning and Coursera I'm fascinated by Coursera's apps. (n.d.) The app is really easy to use and convenient. I can flip it open and access my course at any time! The app is available on my phone but also on my iPad. Another feature that I discovered was that when I left the Coursera app the video I was watching appeared in the corner so that I could keep learning while I was surfing the internet. This is a wonderful example of mobile learning done right! Course Organization I'm also really interested in the way they have organized their classes. They all seem to be a combination of teaching activities, practice quizzes, and a final summative assessment. It even makes use of the discussion boards (although I haven't participated yet!). In Guitar for Beginners (Berklee College of Music, n.d.a), t...

Choosing a Course Today I have decided to embark on a journey to learn the guitar! In March 2020, I discovered that Coursera (Coursera, n.d.) provides free courses. These courses range from Music to Management. I was over-ambitious and enrolled in over 50 classes. After I started working through one course I realized that the commitment was too big and I scaled back. I was trying to decide which course to take and I eventually chose something that was both familiar and unfamiliar: Guitar for Beginners. I have a Bachelor of Music in Composition so it would suffice to say that I have a strong understanding of music. However, throughout my whole degree, I could never figure out how to write for guitar or why it was so popular. It is high time I learn how to play - campfire marshmallows here I come!!  Click on the following link to access the course:  https://www.coursera.org/learn/guitar/home/welcome  (Berklee College of Music, n.d.). My Guitar My father was...