Online Learning for Free - a Comparison

In previous years, after school, all you had available for additional, continuing learning was either to go to evening school, university or sometimes learn all on your own in the library or via TV. I'm sure I missed a few other possibilities.

Now, with broadband internet and easy access over personal computers, laptops and mobile phones
learning has stepped up a notch for older learners (like me).

I have tried a few different websites by now. My courses were ranging from social sciences over some theoretical design to computer and website coding (aka programming).

The experience was very good a few years back; now it's more and more just a way to pass the time.
Why? Because when I did my first course on computer coding I really had to code myself to pass the course. Or in the social science one I had to write up some small essays that got peer reviewed and I had to do the same for my fellow students.
Now, all I had to do was answer some quizzes correctly in between the videos or just sit through them to get the certificate for completion / achievement of the course.
I have not tried the paid courses yet, as I don't want to "waste" money only to find out that you get a certificate too just for watching and clicking.

Anyway, the courses I did, in detail:

Udacity: Computer Science 101

This was my first online curse in 2012 to which I have made some blog entries here as well (links to those at bottom of the page):
I had to answer short quizzes during the video lectures, as well as right after them, to check how much attention I have paid to the presented material and do some external exercises.
After the lectures (spaced over some weeks) there was a final test. You had to pass 80% to get your certificate of accomplishment,
It was really learning and hard work to get there, not all of the students passed.
Here my certificate, of which I am a bit proud (but lots of what I have learned there I have not used later and thus basically forgotten how to use it).

Coursera: Social Psychology
Toward the end of 2013 I was getting bored at the computer so I signed up for some more online courses, this time with Coursera. Someone on G+ advertised a course in Irrational Behavior. Although the topic seemed interesting the presentation was more a sales show for the instructor's books, so I dropped out without even finishing the course. It is still available in my course portfolio though. So if I feel inclined I can still take that course.
A week later I signed up for Social Psychology. In this course we again had some small quizzes
during the videos and afterwards, but we also had to write some short essays, resumes or something similar, implementing what we had learned in that week. This then got peer reviewed and we had to do at least 5 reviews of our fellow students. The results of that was our % to move on.
While the course ran for the first time slight changes got made during the duration of it; the last essay was put into a contest as well. This way you could get 110%; but it was not compulsory to enter the contest.
Overall you had to reach 75%; which I think was quite fair to reach if you really learned and did your "homework" of writing and reviewing.
So this too is a certificate I can say I truly feel I have achieved.

Udacity: Tales of the Genome

Just as the Coursera course was done I signed up for this course with Udacity again. I got about half way through when life got it the way and I had to take a break. I still got my certificate though, as I had reached the required 50% of the course.
her we had very short video lectures with a advancing line on top that showed which parts you had seen and which were still not done - including where there were quizzes and test. I have reached the first exam part (of three and that was done half way - enough to pass it seems.
But maybe it was this way too as Udacity shortly after i had started the course changed from free to to free trail versions for most of their course.
To proof to myself that I do have earned his certificate i will finish this course as long as it is still available to me when I'm ready for that.

Cousera: Clinical Psychology
This Autumn I signed up for this course to continue from the social psychology. Mainly theory, this course had different lecturers in the videos that also were responsible for the quizzes at the end of the unit. Thus the difficulty of the quizzes were quite a wide range; from easy (with 3 attempts for solving it) over medium (with 20 attempts) to standard difficulty with a laughingly 99 attempts for 10 questions in 4 answers multiple choice questions. Anyone who failed that last one doesn't know about how to solve quizzes.
Nonetheless, if you paid attention and read the questions carefully 2 attempts would be enough to pass this course with 100% (only 70% were needed). The way the theories were presented was ok, sometimes filming outside did give sound problems and the transcript was not included but an extra download.
Overall, an easily achieved certificate.

Just as this course was done (and I had not yet received the certificate) I was asked to try out a similar course by a different provider for free online courses:

Open2Study: Early Childhood Education

My time for having little children up to school age is over, unless I get grandchildren. Still, this course interested me as it covered part of the previous course I had taken.
Here, the videos were short, with interactive transcription of what was being said. The given examples made it very easy to then answer the 10 questions following each weeks lessons. Lasting 4 weeks, I managed to do each week in a few hours including the quiz, which I always passed 100% on the first attempt.
Overall this was too easy for me; but I recommend this course to all parents-to-be. It does clearly show what it take to truly help a child to grow up.

Since learning seems easy for me, I wanted to learn more about web design and/or programming to maybe make a better website for myself with what I have learned.
So, I searched for free courses that teach that (and my first computer programming course showed me I can learn stuff like that too).

Udacity does not offer those for free anymore, only for a 14-day free trial (about half way through the course), so I did not choose any courses there.

Coursera does have free courses, but they are all already half way though the course. Maybe next time around, when they start again.

Open2Study offers only one starting on 20th October ("Writing for the Web"). I will see then how that one is like.

So I searched for other sites with free courses.

Found one on Alison. The videos though are embedded (if you want them for free) in lots of advertising. I found it hard to follow; and thus it only presented the rudimentary basics I already know in a very dry way. I did not finish this course so far; might look into it at some alter point as there is no time limit on when you finish. ;)

And then there is Udemy:
Some free courses for programming and related to website writing .
I took one for Introduction for Graphic Design, hoping it would tell me something about how to organize images on websites. It did, but only in theory. And, worst of all, to pass you only had to sit through the 45 minutes of videos to get the certificate:

I feel disappointed that there was no way to check if I had learned anything at all. 

I tried another course; this time about web development.

Again, only videos, no quizzes. But it had a "lab exercise" at the end of each unit to implement what you have learned. Solutions are given in the download section to each lecture (which I didn't find at first. That sure could use a little make-over.)

The last lab exercise is to write your own form through which you can get your certificate.  

Here it is; with the form to make it, for which we had to copy-paste the html into our editor adding a few missing things like CSS styles and JavaScript to make the output as it is. 

When I first tried it, it was missing was the signature image. I found it in the downloads to the lecture under solutions. So actually, all you had to do was copy-paste this whole thing to get your certificate. Well, as this course is online for already over a year, I guess that's the only way to help students that don't manage to fill in the few missing things by themselves. 

Additionally (and that's a minus point  for this course), they give you a certificate anyway after sitting through the videos:

This course has helped me understand some of the things, I had been doing, in a different way. New to me was the CSS and JavaScript inside the html code. Not a thing for having many similar pages, or? There must be a better way to style your pages (and I am using a external style sheet on my website).

Might look into some more of the more specific courses there about CSS, Javascript and PHP.

And finally the links to my earlier blog posts about the very first online course I took:

http://michafire.blogspot.com/2012/03/learning-computer-coding.html

http://michafire.blogspot.com/2012/03/learning-computer-coding-update.html

http://michafire.blogspot.com/2012/04/learning-computer-coding-final.html

http://michafire.blogspot.com/2012/04/learning-computer-coding-result.html

I bet there a lot other places for free online learning, but I'm not going through all of them. 

And then there are those sites were you can learn other languages online for free too................. got to go on with those that I started some time back. :P

I guess, I have enough places now to keep me occupied and learning (and not just playing silly online flash games to pass the time). 

=)) Have a great time learning...................

Operating System (OS) Crash - Undone, Part 2

I was happy with new new set-up "clean" and nearly empty system on my fast computer.

Bookmarks were all saved by Chrome/Google browser. No need to hunt them down again (although I did in the first few days just to see how many of them I could find and /or recall). Attaching and booting the slow and small HDD to copy the needed files to a USB stick was easy too; just unplug and re-plug and back to the old "new" HDD.

Then I remembered that I had some unpublished photos on that other computer that I have not yet backuped (neither on USB stick nor the cloud). So, back to the old computer and switch it on. 

Too bad that I had forgotten to plug the monitor in after I had moved it back to it's resting place. Quickly, I made a shutdown, and turned all electricity off. You never know with Win XP what happens if you just plug the monitor in as it is running.

Only that this time the OS wasn't running yet, being an old slow system and me being used to that fast booting one. So, instead of a normal shut down, it was shut down half loaded. Which is not a good thing.

After I had the monitor attached I re-started the computer - only to end up in a black screen of options.

And no matter what option I chose I ended up in that same screen:

Windows can't boot correctly.

From my last experience with a non-booting computer, and not being able to describe in words to my helpful friends what actually went wrong, I took a video of that "loop" booting:

And then the batteries of the camera were empty.  Luckily I had a spare set, so I could just continue with the next boot "loop":

What to do now? I had this boot CD. So, after checking the CMOS/BIOS settings were correct for booting from CD: 

But nothing happened. 0.0 

I did have a floppy disk that said "boot" on it. I inserted that, only to find out that it had drivers for CD drives on it, but no other programs like chkdsk etc. And those drivers didn't work for my CD drive. 

Not because of the age difference or different system the boot floppy was made for. It also said windows 95/98 on the cover.

No, it was loose cables that stopped the CD drive from being read . headdesk

IT had taken me a week and a few talks with online friends to find that out. Now, with the cables reattached, I had no problem running that boot CD with all the checking programs. It had a min win XP on it - a nice visual for file checking. Albeit, very slow as it was using the Ram drive to run. 

This is what I found: 

Nothing on C:

Using a different program for file checking I saw this:

Something on C:

So, something was still on C: ; but it could not be read. I assumed it, as it kept wanting to boot with Win XP, thus it must have some files of that left on the HDD and in the "boot" sector. 

I was about to give up when I recalled my old computer times using DOS to run a computer. And I knew there was a DOS program on the boot CD. 

I found it and - wow- it had a nice mouse steered colored screen to navigate. No need to remember all those codes and orders to execute the programs. I chose the surface test.

Taken after the test just to show what I used as it stared too fast to take a before shot.

And it came up with 18 errors.

Those numbers don't tell me anything, but those are the errors. 

And when it found them, correct them automatically. More than deleting what was already "gone" could not happen anyway.

The repair in action. 

Doing one more test before "finished" - successfully. 

When it was finished I was surprised the file manager loaded so fast. It took me a while to realize that the old Win XP was all back, all files unharmed., nothing lost. I couldn't believe it, took the boot CD out and re-booted the system.

And yes, =))

It booted totally normal. I could get my few photos and now had a second system fixed and (after I delete some never used programs) will even have a rather fast computer again for backup should my "beloved" fast computer go crazy on me again. Or, I might even install a small LINUX system on that old computer. 

And if that all is not enough to feel happy about - I actually found the WLAN stick for that old computer again. and re-installed it too. Now, I do not have to go to that cold place with this computer just to get online with it over the router. 

Am I now a computer geek? Well, not an expert but also no beginner or "just user" too. 

For those interested in what boot CD I used:

Hiren Boot CD

A big THANK YOU to all the wonderful people on the internet out there that advised me and encouraged me over and over again this last month so I could "repair" this old computer without spending one cent; just a little time and patience.

Operating System (OS) Crash - Undone, Part 1

I haven't posted much in here for some time. I just didn't have anything to write about. It can happen; the world still keeps on turning.

Then last month I had two computers crashes. The operating systems (OS) just wouldn't load anymore.

One was the "new" (just three years old) Win 7 system (and will be described here in part 1):

On booting it again, it wouldn't even get to the "enter password" image.
The "winlogon.exe" is damaged was all the system could tell.

I asked my partner what he did last on this computer (we both use them): "It had been idle for some time and then I simply shut it down regularly."

There was no way for me to check what else was wrong, but let the Win 7 in-built checking programs run on boot. Like "chkdsk" (an old DOS program). That ran well - deleting files from bad sectors after copying them into some other places. Or so the screen kept telling. And then, more or less finally, the system told me:

System volume on data device is damaged. Error code 0x0 test successful, repair successful.

0.0

But I still could not boot the system.

I guessed all that equaled to this is nothing that the system can repair of it's own. But, we still have files on the computer (the HDD) that we had not backuped and that are important. A complete fresh install of any OS (or the WIN 7 again; if I had the original CD, which I don't as it came pre-installed) was out of question.

If I had made a recovery CD for that system I would have used that. But, alas, being me, I thought this would never happen and that the backup system files on the computer would be enough to restore it, should we accidentally delete an important file. In theory this would have worked.

At that time I was also enrolled in an online course that was time limited. So, I had no time to play around with this computer. I recalled a school friend that was into computers and he was still fixing them - now as a small business. With a big sigh I brought ours to him. He would look into it - and fix it, if possible.

I could use my older computer for the online lectures: over 10 years old, Win XP, and LAN connection to the router. It even still has a floppy drive. It worked fine, but it sure was cold where I had the router connection for this one. So, for email checking and surfing the basic pages in the internet I was allowed to use the laptop we own. But not install any new browser (that laptop was still using IE6 0.0 ) that would let me watch my online lectures. Sigh.

I did mange however to ask my friends online about what could have been wrong with my other computer. And thus was given the hint to use a Boot CD (or Live CD) to check and eventually repair the system; especially if the damage was only in the software.

Long talk short. After two weeks I had my fast computer back, but with new HDD and fresh installed OS (Win 7, but the 64bit version). The files though were on another HDD (slow and half the size) just copied over; it would boot but not connect to the internet wireless. That part was lost totally. (Still don't know exactly what is wrong with that system - but I might find out when I have enough time and then have a spare HDD).

Anyway, I could finish my online course in the set time and even pass the exam (different blog post maybe for that later on).

The only thing that still did not work as it should was the web camera. The new 64bit system kept telling me that it the camera needs a driver to run. I couldn't find the installation CD that came with it. So, again, I asked my friends online what to do and they found me a driver for the web camera type I had shown them in a link - searched for the image of the camera as I couldn't find a name imprinted onto it. (Was in the base that had ripped off ages ago.) All that didn't help though at all. Not even Google+ Hangouts would recognized the attached camera (it had the green "on" light running all the time). 

A week later I did find the original installation CD, and, after installing everything, the camera still had the same error. Incidentally I also noticed that my files and the ones from the friends were the same. 

Eventually, I had to realize that I would have to get a new camera. At the hardware store the sales persons went big eyed by all those questions I asked. One said that I seem to know more about computer hardware than he does - I should just go and search and find the one I think suits my system. Which I did:

a driver-less web camera. It even has additional LED lights to lighten up the spots it's aimed at (well, at web camera distance).

Went home, plugged it in and it worked fine. With no installation at all - only the short message that the newly attached device is now ready to use. =)

So far, I only used it once - the hangouts i had wanted it for were already over. There'll be new ones coming up. Or I might use it for web camera Wednesday - a photo theme on G+. Who knows, I'm prepared. 

During all this time I also downloaded and burnt a boot CD, so, should this computer fail again, I would have some other checking devices ready and not have to pay lots of money just for checking. Who know that I would need them so soon. 

to be continued in Part 2.......................

Older photo from my computer workplace.
Hasn't changed much, I guess, just the contents of the screen. 

virtual life vs. real life

I have written about this topic in a few forums before. It's a topic I come across more and more often. People, including me, use the media "internet", computer, play stations and such devices so much more than they did just a few years ago. It's part of their daily lives. It can become addictive.

Let's start with a simple thing as a mobile phone:

Can you remember a time when all you had was the stationary phone at home? Connected with a cord that got tangled up ever so often? Remember the times that you missed a call and it was still not too late when you called back as soon as you came home? I do!! 

When it first came out, people loved their mobiles. To be able to call whenever they wanted to - no need to search for a public phone or get home to do so. And to receive a call anytime. Not only in cases of emergency! But also to do business away from office. Faster and more instant than before. What a great invention!!!

And then the possibility to write short text messages!!! Another great invention. Now, if you were not able to talk (i.e. because you were in a crowded, noisy place or did not want others to eavesdrop) you could still communicate. Prices for the mobile devices and services went lower with time too, so more and more people could afford this. 

By now though, I can observe schoolchildren texting their friends (or even phoning them) as soon as they leave the school building - with their friends walking right next to them!!!! And when asked why they answer: "I can write them (or talk on the phone with them) better than directly."  

Now this is a development that I find odd. "Virtual" communication better than "real life"?! It makes me think. Are they afraid of direct communication? Have they forgotten how to do it? Or is there something else going on? A kind of separation between people through devices that are supposed to help them stay in "touch"?? Or is there an additional communication going on??? Communicating on more than one level at the same time?? Enriching their communications, not diminishing them. 

I don't know - I'm not using my mobile this way. I'm one of those that can turn it off for days and not miss it!!

Next thing is the computer:

First used to help organize and get things done faster (i.e. making, keeping and evaluating statistics) - computer as calculating machine. Then to write on it and be able to correct without it being noticed or having to retype all of what you have written before - the computer as typewriter. It did not take long and small games were programmed as intermezzo to the often boring office work.

But as those little games distracted from the work AND people wanted to play them at home too, and not only at work where they had the computer, the first "only game" computers were built (I remember the Commodore 64 as such a game computer, although I never had one myself). Now, there is a whole market for those game devices and games. And people spending most of their free time on those games. Even children. Not going outside to play in nature. So game devices to make people move again were invented (i.e. Wii); still inside but not stationary anymore. Most of these games though are "single person" games. No second person needed to play them - only you and the device. Sure, there are team games; but you can have fun alone too!! All you need another person for is to compare your scores. Actually, there are complete competitions run with computer games. And then it's not on how fast you can run or how high you can jump, but how fast you can click, or how fast your computer can calculate your input into output.

Closely connected to the computer as such is the internet:

First invented as Intranet for one office to communicate nearly instantly with the other office within an organization (or university). The Internet followed very fast - and that not only for corporations but for anyone that had a personal computer at home. In the beginning used mostly to send emails - instead of mail  which usually was: write something on a piece of paper and send it off through a delivery service. This took some time. Email was instant compared to this (you still have to wait though if the recipient of your message actually reads and answers it as before). It did not take long and firms had their own websites for marketing - and private ones followed fast. A whole new profession developed. 

[There is a whole market too for all types connected with sex. Because the first contact can be so more anonymous than in real live. It does touch my topic. But I do not want to elaborate on it here.]

But not only websites as such flourished. There were also networks established that connected people not only within their work but in their private lives too. Websites on which people could interact with one another without having to actually be in the same place at the same time. Guestbooks to websites were people can leave public comments, forums were discussions take place. Games went online - to be played still by one alone but also as a team. And soon social networks followed (G+ being one of them - although not the first). All of what had been done in real, daily life can now be done virtually too. 

And now comes this "virtual life vs. real life" into play:

There are people that use the media "internet" and all it's different ways so intensive that they do not seem to have a real life anymore. All they live for is their virtual life. The person they are online. They identify with the online personality they show in the games they play, the social networks they communicate in. Here they can be what they can't be in their real, physical life. "Online" they can be a hero, brave and strong. Or the vamp they do not dare to be for real. Or the wise person with deep insight they fear to utter to the people they meet every day. Or the bad guy. The possibilities are as vast in the online worlds as in the offline one. 

As long as you can distinguish between the virtual one and the real one all is fine, I'd say. The problems come when you start identifying yourself so much with your virtual self that you had created that you actually get lost in it. And if someone does not react the way they thought they would (the way they should react as to the image they had built up "online") they are so surprised and shocked as if they had been attacked in a real, physical way and not only virtual. 

To name an example is "Second Life" - an online virtual world. Now, I never have played this. I know people that have, and have read public comments on social networks and news articles about this game. And all the problems with this addictive way of playing the game. And one of my first comments to this game was: what if our real life was only a virtual game like "Second Life"? All we are and do is such a part of a game, you a character in a game played by someone else that you don't even know or ever have seen or heard from - but that directs everything you do. No free will, no own decisions, all pre-programmed reactions. A game within a game (within a game within a game maybe even). At this point many couldn't "follow" my line of thought anymore.

They got lost. It's hard enough to cope with one online life and the physical one. But more of them layered and intertwined?? That's too much. OK, I'll leave it at online vs. offline.

Today I read on my favorite online gaming site Neopets :

In reality, you can play a game much like "Kacheek Seek", although it involves YOU hiding and physically having to move. This can be a scary concept, as reality is in 3D and provides endless possibilities for your foes to hide. Also, it is not the social norm for them to give you money if you end up finding them.

 lilshadowdweller, Tips for Surviving the Neopocalypse

This takes up what I have been observing. The real physical life as a scary thing. Why? Because you already have identified yourself so much with your virtual self that anything else is so new and different that it can scare you? Or because you have to be brave to face the physical real world - with all it's problems and difficulties and you do NOT have the pre-programmed reactions and solutions to problems easy accessible? It involves a quite different way of communicating and thinking. And it involves moving more of your body than just the hand and fingers to move the mouse or to type in something quick at the keyboard. 

And you can't not re-do it over and over again most of the time until you are successful or can "level up" to the next stage of the game. A mistake in the physical world can be the last mistake you make! In the virtual world, well, you can easily start over again if you have lost a life by your mistake. Sure, it will not be the exact same virtual you anymore, but that does not really matter as long as you "live".

And again I get "lost" in the thought that maybe our physical "offline" life is not that much different than an virtual "online" one. In both you can win or you can fail. It just depends on how you perceive this. You can be an expert in the online life and fail badly in the offline one. Or the other way around. Or be good in both. To know if you can still master the physical life, simply turn off the internet (and all your other technological gimmicks) for a few days and depend on yourself and the people around you. And be ready for a few surprises!!

So as a conclusion, I would say that for me it's not a "Virtual vs. Physical", but a "Virtual + Physical". I can learn from both ways of living. Use and improve my talents, share my thoughts, train my mind (and body - yes, with devices like the Wii mentioned above this is virtually possible too), communicate with others, discover new things and ways of thinking every day and enjoy life as such fully.

It is my responsibility how I balance both "lifes" and which one I give the priotity. And it depends on my own decision and free will. I am responsible for all of my actions - both physical (real) and virtual (real).

I am the master of my life. 

Or not ;).