With Athabasca University’s reputation as the premier online university, it’s surprising that they’re just now joining, or possibly re-joining, the MOOC movement. MOOCs, so-called Massive Open Online Courses, seem to be offered by every university and its frater these days. AU will launch its first purpose-designed MOOC, Learning to Learn Online on March 9. MOOCs… Read more »
I have been studying with AU for several years now, and in those years I have grown and changed. My studies have taken me places which I did not expect. When I began my search for programs it was initially English I was solely interested in. I wanted to learn how to write, how to… Read more »
I need to clean my desk. Everyone needs to clean their desk. Well, not everyone. Not the super-organized neat freaks. I used to be a super-organized neat freak, but then I started doing stuff and it keeps me from doing other stuff, like cleaning my desk. My desk isn’t bad, though. I mean, I’ve seen… Read more »
If I’m being honest, I have to admit that some issues of The Voice Magazine just aren’t as good as others. Sometimes, I find myself looking at the articles going into the magazine on a given week and thinking to myself, is this really going to interest AU students? Not that I think we’ve done… Read more »
A friend died this morning. A kind-hearted woman with a positive outlook and the love of her family. Her only flaw was the insidious tumour in her brain that could not and would not be defeated. I’ll miss her joie de vivre and her ready smile. I feel a deep sense of personal loss. I… Read more »
I was recently watching the movie “Safety Not Guaranteed”, which is about a man who placed an advertisement looking for a partner to travel back in time with. The advertisement told the would-be time travel partner that they must bring their own weapons, and their safety is not guaranteed. As the movie progresses, they discuss… Read more »
Recently, I found an excerpt from a book by AU President Peter MacKinnon in University Affairs. In it, he suggest that the idea of universities being self-governing bodies can easily be undermined by faculty labour unions, as they seek to make changes for their members that push into the governance of the university, an area… Read more »
It may seem a contradiction but, while I prefer paper over e-texts, I prefer online over paper exams. When I clicked the “submit” button on my latest exam, I felt satisfied. Not only was another exam out of the way and another course completed, but I didn’t have to pop a painkiller to ease my… Read more »