Show Notes – 6/28
No spoilers – but is anyone done with the book? I think we’ll have a great discussion on the 12th!
Curious if anyone has thoughts on a 30min vs. 60min show. Do you think one would work better than another? Taking input.
There will be no show next week for the holiday weekend – everyone have a safe & happy 4th of July!
Share exciting resources I have found for free online opportunities to learn (NOTE: Today’s focus in NON CREDIT learning – on a later show we’ll discuss resources for actually getting back into school and taking courses for credit, but for today’s show, we are talking free, non-credit, continued or life-long learning)
Before I begin, it was interesting when trying to hunt down resources to share. Some I just came upon, but some I really wanted to look for. BUT, it was liking having to ask the Oracle just the right question in order to get the answer I was looking for. That’s because almost every search that resulted from phrases like “mom’s love of learning,” “educational resources for moms,” and “moms think too!” had to do with what I call “means-to-an-end” education – that is, websites that were about teaching mom how to teach her kids, or teaching mom how to take care of her kids, or whatever. Education doesn’t always need to PRODUCE something or be FOR some quanitifiable purpose (ie: degree, then job, etc). Education can just be for education’s sake. I give you permission to think that way, ok? Here we go:
- Academic Earth: Thousands of video lectures from the world’s top scholars; Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Harvard, Berkely; some of the videos are accompanied by text transcripts of the lecture, syllabus for the class, exams, mp3s to download –> these are able to be compiled because many of these schools have their own programs online (ie: Open Yale Courses) where they webcast their lectures or offer them as “open courses.” This site just does a wonderful job compiling them all and putting them into a VERY USER FRIENDLY format, and aesthetically nice and simple. (still, it might behoove you to search out the individual schools’ offerings as well, just to cover all the bases on what you might be looking for.)
- OpenCourseWare Consortium: from their site – The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world creating a broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model. The mission of the OpenCourseWare Consortium is to advance education and empower people worldwide through opencourseware. It is similar to Academic Earth in that it is offering lecture information and notes for free and w/o need to register, but it’s not quite as user-friendly, and many of the lectures do not have accompanying video (and if they do, you might need to find them on YouTube). The lecture information that is available must be downloaded in zip file, so there’s that extra step as well. This is an international endeavor, though, which (for the time being) is the advantage it has over Academic Earth.
- Babbel – online language education, for free. I like Babbel’s interface, though the audio is sometimes tricky. Still, there are fun exercises for whichever language you choose to learn, with quizzes and plenty of opportunities to practice. There is also a community element to this, where you can create a profile, interact, and perhaps even find a language partner to help you learn their native language!
- iTunes U: compiled list of universities
- Newseum – in Washington DC, a museum about the news. Truly fascinating! What’s GREAT is that on their site, you can read today’s front pages from 559 papers in 55 countries. (talk about current events!!) (–>site also has archived/historical front pages…and has a “test your current events IQ quiz)
More traditional – and no less valuable – ways to learn:
- Public library: oftentimes there are classes offered (usually computer classes), but also clubs for knitting or crochet or scrapbooking where you can learn new skills or improve on your own. What I *really* want to share, though, is my love of the Modern Scholar Series that can be found in most public library systems. With search type “Series Keyword” and the phrase “Moder Scholar,” I came up with 108 entries! Everything from Understanding Poetry to The Rise and Fall of Rome or Human Anatomy to The History of Baseball, these are lectures done by prominent professors in their field, usually in a collection of CDs. If you can’t find it through your library’s catalog, definitely ask a librarian!
- Volunteering! Oftentimes when you volunteer with a more professional organization (ie: The Portland Art Museum, tutoring), they will give you some basic training to fulfill your tasks. Plus, you’re then in an environment to learn.
(—>these skills can also translate into work experience when you try to reenter the workforce or enhace your resume) - The idea of a “skill swap” program. (might work with women from church group, kids’ playgroup, etc)
- Community college
- school district
Misc Resources:
- DiplomaGuide.com’s article “Top Audio and Video Resources for Lifelong Learning“
Show Notes – 6/21
Reminder: first book club pick is Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain. Discussion will be during show on 7/12.
Checking in: how is your list of 100 questions going? If you were not here last week or forgot last week’s assignment, let me remind you. From Michael J. Gelb’s book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci -
- in one sitting, write down 100 questions – they can be anything from “How am I going to lose weight?” to “How can I have more fun?” to “What is the meaning of life?” Go quickly, don’t think too hard. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. Don’t judge your questions. Don’t worry about not getting to 100 – let questions spin off from other questions. You will probably end up asking the same questions several times, just in different ways.
- first 20 questions will be off the top of your head; next 30 or 40 will be when themes begin to emerge; final questions will be truly profound and may be unexpected
- when you’re finished, read through questions and highlight any repetitions or themes that begin to show through
This exercise will help you open up to the curiosity within you, help you to look at the things around you in a different light, and help you learn more about yourself as a person.
Question should not be ”What did you learn today?” It should be ”What did you ASK today?”
Question/For Your Consideration: Why be concerned with life-long learning, or moments of everyday genius?
article: The Influence and Teaching of the Educated Mother, a paper presented to the Bristol Conference of Women Workers in 1893/4 by Mrs. Alfred Booth.
parts I quoted:
What, then, is education? Who is the educated mother? What ought her teaching and influence to be?
What is education? We are apt to think we know very well what education is, and when asked this question, give an answer which we hope will satisfy ourselves and others. When, however, we begin to think seriously on the subject, we are surprised to find how dim and hazy our opinions are, and we cannot be satisfied until we try to classify them and arrive at some definite conclusions. Speaking of education, therefore, in reference to women as mothers, I should venture to say its first and prime object ought to be to make women think, and that all education which does not tend to make thinking easy and natural fails of its object and is not education.
The original meaning of the word educate is “to draw forth;” education should therefore aim at drawing forth all the different powers of human beings. True education should train the intellect, establish principles, and regulate the heart. …
The educated mother should have some plain ideas of life as it really is. Reality, not ideality, should be the watchword with which she starts her life-work. No right-minded woman can begin the double life with its intense interests and absorbing duties without the blest vision of an ideal home rising before her; but I would urge her to change the word ideal into real, and lo! she will find the real home is the ideal, for it is only through the actual we can attain to the spiritual.
The educated mother must, however, be much more than a nursery machine and a technical instructress. Realising that the children of to-day will rapidly develop into individuals keen to learn and be taught, she will always be alive to the necessity of cultivating her own mind, and the work of self-education and improvement will go on for her while life lasts. It is absolutely necessary a mother should know how to care for the small bodies, but it is equally important she should understand and satisfy the unfolding intellects of her children. It is a painful spectacle, that of a mother who has allowed her children to outstrip her as thinking beings, and can no longer keep pace with them in their pursuits and interests. The educated mother knows this, and will keep well in touch with all the interests of life. Religion, politics, social and philanthropic problems are all of absorbing interest to her, and she recognises she can keep her children’s confidence, some of whom probably are cleverer then herself, only by habits of thoughtful interest in all which concerns humanity.
(moving on…)
Tonight’s overall discussion: Where to go for great book recommendations?
- Goodreads
- Library Thing
- book blogs (directory – Book Blogger Appreciation Week)
- Bookstore – pamphlets (IndieBound)
- public library (Bookpage)
- friends
