Looking for Some blogs to read? Try these….

BiologyHub – Open access blog network of courses focused on the population biology of bacteria and viruses

Sydney Uni Parralax – Parallax records the experiences of final year students of the B.A.(Media & Communications) degree who have won competitive overseas internships to work in Asian media organisations.

VC Macquarie – Blog of Professor Steven Schwartz, Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University (Sydney).

Cornell wine & research – Cornell University, news and events from the Viticulture and Enology Major

Can i learn to conduct online?

Whilst on holidays I wondered if anybody offered a diploma or certificate course focusing on conducting music ensembles, since I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, and I’m mostly self taught. I did find a few options – including a Masters level program at the Sydney Conservatorium (that the University of Sydney these days), and also a few overseas. I also found a place that offers Certificate level courses, fully online, in a huge range of music topics including arranging, orchestration, composition. And then i began to wonder, could i learn music online? I think of it as a pretty ‘hand’s on’ activity.

Today, as i read Prof. Steven Schwarz’s blog (VC of Macquarie University) posting regarding the disruptive powers of open education – i discovered Udacity – a new online university that has just started offering free courses, with many more planned. They are currently offering a course called “CS373: Programming a Robotic car” On the webpage, you can see a YouTube clip of the teacher riding in his fully robotic car – the thing was driving by itself!!! And he reckons he can teach me how to do the same in 7 weeks. Yes please! I mean, this really got my inner-nerd very excited.

But seriously, if i can learn to program a robotic car online, then i reckon i probably can learn to conduct online. And arrange compositions for orchestras.
Which one should i try first? Has anybody learnt anything fully online lately?

Universities not alone in blogging

I just read an article from the Sydney Morning Herald on the prevalence of blogging in primary and secondary schools in NSW. The blogED scheme seems to really have assisted, not only as a teaching tool but a platform for social development. For the full article see: Stories from a digital space.