New Education Resource

As readers of this blog may well know by this time, I am an advocate of self-education, of obtaining as much knowledge as possible. I have recently found some great resources for those wishing to pursue their own education at home, or just to enrich their lives. I find that this education is uplifting, inspiring and in general makes me happier. To paraphrase a quote in the McGuffy Reader series, which was popular in nineteenth century education, "If a day passes where you have not learned or done something useful, it is a day wasted and you ought to be very sorry for it."

So, the list of self education websites:

Yale Open Courses:
I like this resource because they have recorded the lectures in a downloadable format. You can listen to the professor, read the transcript, see the assignments in part, as well as the midterm and the answers in some cases and see which textbooks are used. So far I find the recordings to be clear, which is an advantage over some of the other open courses I've found, but the number of classes is fewer.
http://oyc.yale.edu/

U Moodle: provided by the University of Utah
I have to brag a bit about this site, allow me to plug my Alma Mater! Even though I haven't completed this set of courses, there are a few categories such as teaching and learning that I haven't seen on other open course ware sites.
http://my.courses.utah.edu/course/category.php?id=3

Utah State Open Course Ware:
I have used a few of the Family and Consumer Science courses and I loved them! The topics were interesting and the materials clear. There is a fee, as required, for some of the courses but the vast majority are free. Bonus: There are links on the homepage to other open course ware sites!
http://ocw.usu.edu/

John Hopkins Open Course Ware:
The classes here are, as might be expected, primarily medical in nature, but the topics looked interesting. I haven't checked this one out yet, but I hope to soon.
http://ocw.jhsph.edu/

Notre Dame Open Course Ware:
One of the categories that intrigued me here was a Medieval Studies category. They had some courses in categories I didn't see on other sites, including Catholic Tradition, Africana and Theology.
http://ocw.nd.edu/

Harvard Open Learning Initiative:
This one had very few courses but if you've wanted to sample Harvard, this is a great resource for you!
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/openlearning/

MIT Open Courses:
This was the first site I discovered and it has many courses. You can search courses by department, audio video and more.
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

UC Berkeley Open Courses:
The recordings here tended to be a bit garbled, but the courses are interesting none the less. I especially like how you can search the large number of classes by the term they were offered.
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/

Project Gutenberg:
While not an open course site, I love project Gutenberg for it's reading material. They have great books in classic literature, but also historic homemaking manuals (a favorite of mine!) and even a free CD or DVD download. It's entirely legal and fascinating! Audio book feature is nice for on the go education!
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

And a closing thought on education: "If formal education is not available, do not allow that to prevent you from acquiring all the knowledge you can. Under such circumstances, the best books, in a sense, can become your “university”—a classroom that is always open and admits all who apply. Strive to increase your knowledge of all that is “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.” Seek knowledge “by study and also by faith.” Seek with a humble spirit and contrite heart. As you apply the spiritual dimension of faith to your study—even of temporal things—you can amplify your intellectual capacity, for “if your eye be single to [God’s] glory, your whole [body] shall be filled with light, … and [comprehend] all things.” - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Let's go

I realized today, to an extent, the futility of excuses. I either am or I am not. I either do or I do not. I either learn or I don't. I have the ability to choose, to make the most of my abilities and talents, or not. So I think I will post a list of what I would like to do and to learn.

To learn:

Sewing. I don't have the faintest idea when it comes to sewing. I think it would be a valuable skill to learn.

Physics. I think as an individual, my education in the realm of science and math is seriously lacking.

Calculus and beyond. Math is everywhere. I shouldn't always be trying to avoid it. I am not too stupid to learn it, if anything, what I lack is discipline. So to calculus it is.

Chemistry- see above comment.

Gardening and plant care.

Biology- life is amazing! Yet I know so little about how it works. How does a cell function? What is the roll of DNA or RNA?

Cooking. I am going to have to eat for the rest of my life. I may as well learn to make food that is tasty and nutritious

Spanish- What I know means nothing if I am not able to communicate and apply it. A growing portion of the population of the United States speaks Spanish

Greek- It would be amazing to be able to read the New Testament in Greek

To play the organ- it's the primary instrument for Church music.

Music theory- I love classical music, it would be great to learn how it works. I've tried in the past, but lacked the discipline.

Cleaning- How can I make a space visually appealing? I believe that environment impacts behavior. How can I create spaces that promote the behaviors I seek?

Church History- One of the things we are told to do is remember. How can we remember what we do not know?

To do:
Start getting up at four in the morning. There would be so much more time in the day.

Go to bed at 10:30. Otherwise four in the morning will not go so well.

Be able to run a mile in 10:00- not very fast I know, but I've never been good at running

Be a size 6. I'm not sure anything smaller than that would be good for my 5'9 self.

Serve 100 hours in 1 year.

Go back to school by January 2011

Playing Catch Up

It's been some time since I last posted on this blog. I've relocated to Texas and am taking a break from my formal education until I can pay for it without debt. Meanwhile, I've been volunteering at an elementary school and trying to continue my studies as much as I can, work on my homemaking skills and seeking employment. I'm trying to develop a better sense of discipline and organization, get in shape and become more like the person I imagine I can be. I'll let you know as this happens, and I hope to post more on this process daily.