CathyAnderson on Education, Technology and Open Education

Curtis Bonk has certainly inspired many to take a good hard look at open course-ware, free education, and open education resources.  He has promoted his vision on the web through his blog,  Travelin Ed Man, you can find him on YouTube, and the site for the book The World is Open How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education.  In the book, Curtis Bonk suggested that open course ware be cataloged and reviewed, given that mission I want to find open courses in writing; technical writing, fiction, non-fiction and poetry.  I took what I felt was a unique approach to this by first reviewing my Poetry and Writing magazine just to see if there were any Master’s, Fine Arts that were advertising as being fully online, as historically these have always had at least some sort of short residential component.  After reviewing a a magazine from 2006 to one printed in 2009 I did not see that much had changed in how these programs were structured.  So I started to scour the web looking for open courses in writing..well it goes without saying that I am not the first one who has gone on that mission!  I will refer to those great sites such as Smashing Magazine’s 50 Free Resources that will improve writing, the Online Education Database of 150 Resources to Help You Write, to the handful of courses offered by Utah State University in open course-ware,  MIT’s open course-ware initiative, a resource of online courses offered by universities in English, and a site that is not affiliated with a university, The Writer’s Village.    In fact Bonk, himself, has compiled a list of the top 100 education sites, which he refers to in his blog.  One of the big personal websites which compiles learning objects and course ware is that of Dumblittle man, this site seems to link back to lists of links as well.   Finally the Freelance writing site directs writers to a variety of sites which will enhance and develop their writing skills.

The Writer’s Village offers courses via an annual $69  membership, as I reviewed their website I did find the information on the site a bit “stale,” with nothing really updated since last spring.  The site boasts of over 250 courses, offers a 2 month trial registration for $29.99.  You can also take a class for free in order to try out the site.  According to the website this course  is “an introduction to the craft of writing fiction and provides a sample of how courses at the Village are run.  A dedicated team of mentors assists students new to the course, and possibly new to the online learning experience, as they go through this six-week course.”  The Writer’s Village is an example of an educational service which the learner can access for informal learning.

The following sites are not open course but the tools, resources and other support that writers need to be successful.  Smashing Magazine is a design, inspiration, graphics, and creative web based magazine, that illustrates the “how to” of the many aspects of graphic design.  The June 28th, 2009 article,  50 Free Resources that will Improve Your Writing, provides the reader with several resources under each category of grammar, punctuation and composition, common mistakes and problems, general writing skills, practical guides to better writing skills, copy writing blogs, tools, and other miscellaneous sites.   Learn-gasm is a blog that provides resources in several related areas such as resources for web workers who write for the web, literature, and a variety of other areas.

With the rise of publishing to the web self-publishing no longer seems to have the stigma that it once did. Lulu was the premier entry into this field.  Lulu provides writers with a variety of publishing packages which include:  support, publishing the book for the writer, Amazon distribution, getting the ISBN assigned to the book, a variety of publishing options, editorial services, and other services.  Services depend upon the level of publishing option selected.  iUniverse is another self-publishing option which offers publishing services, evaluation services for editorial and marketing needs, a variety of book formats, and design services.  There is a web-list of resources helpful to copywriters, which provides the following:

• links to professional copywriters’ associations
• links to major research databases and cite-able sources–where you can pull all types of stats, current studies, numbers, facts, etc.
• free online trusted style guides–get the final word on grammar, sentence structure, definitions for slang terms, how to cite sources in your web-copy, reference for copyright laws and content usage issues
• links to various niche market sources (under continued construction)

Open and free courses are available in writing as I noted earlier.  Of specific interest is the technical writing wiki. This site provides “Level 1 and Level 2 courses in technical writing, plus a workshop on writing system requirement specifications…”   Of interest to those who are pursuing journalism is the News University site which provides open and free courses to  registered users and learners seeking to develop writing skills in that area.

Second life provides opportunities for writers to also pursue their craft. Sites such as the Stormy Mountain Writing Center,which provides:

• Every month, we’ll pick a book whose author is willing to come into Second Life for the discussion.
• To join the discussion, all you need to do is read the book before the meeting.
• At the appointed time, we’ll all gather with the author for an informal round-table discussion. (You’ll be able to ask the author anything you want about the book you just read!)
• Immediately after the discussion, we’ll proceed to the Story Mountain Stage, where the author will give a live reading.

The Stormy Mountain Writing Center appears to be a great site in Second Life, however the website seems to be a bit stale so I hope that enthusiasm for their project continues, I have dropped Alas Zerbino an IM for more information.  Another site for writers in Second Life is the Written Word, (link to their Website), their Second Life site is here. More in world writing related events and activities can be found at the Second Life events calendar and at the following site; Second Life wiki which illustrates the uses of Second Life in Education. I have, in the past, been able to participate in world at writers groups and hope to do so again sometime, there is nothing like that peer feed back to improve your writing skills.  It was also a great opportunity to meet with published writers who were knowledgeable of what it takes to get published.

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