That'll Learn Ya!
I was grumbling on the New Bern Computer User’s Group email distribution list about the cost of the new Windows Vista operating system, and how I really wanted to learn more about Linux, the open source (free) operating system. I’d experimented with nearly a dozen different Linux distributions but needed some help understanding how to do things in Linux that I could do without even thinking in Windows. “I wish someone offered a course on Linux”, I said. And one of our members wrote back and said that just such a course was offered through Craven Community College. Well that’s fine and dandy, I said, but I work all day and don’t have the time or energy to truck on over to the college at night. No problem, I was told, the course is offered online. Hmmm. Now my interest was piqued.
Way back when I went to school, there were no personal computers, let alone online classes. My son, on the other hand, got his Master’s degree not long ago from Regis University, an accredited online college. I can remember, decades ago, sitting in a hot summer school Philosophy class, listening to the professor explain that he no more wanted to be there than we did, but it beat selling vacuum cleaners over the summer recess. Well now apparently no one needs to really attend class, students or professors. It’s all done with computers and broadband connections and internet accounts.
So I went online to www.ed2go.com as I was directed and checked out the offerings. I learned that Ed2Go partners with our local Craven Community College. I called over to the college and was told that while one could register online, it was best to come in and sign up, and they could give you a little handholding so you understood how to sign on to courses. It was at the office of Rick McCormac, Coordinator of Continuing Education (252-638-7361), that I got my first pleasant surprise. Whereas Ed2Go advertises the course offerings at a cost of $119 (which for a twelve lesson course was already a bargain), Craven CC only charges $55. And had I been 65 years or older, the course would have been totally free! You can’t beat that with a stick!
My “classes” are released for viewing and printing twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon. I just go online to www.ed2go.com/cravencc and click on ‘classroom’, where I enter my login and password. I download about 14 pages of material, print it out, read it, and file it in a binder. After I’ve read the material, I take a short five question multiple choice online quiz which is immediately graded. If I get any answers wrong, I just correct the wrong answer and resubmit. Needless to say, at my house, all quizzes are open book affairs. If you have a question, you can post it in a discussion forum, and the professor will respond. After classes are released, you have several days to read the material and take the quiz, so if you’re traveling or busy, it’s not like you’re locked into attending a class at a specified time. This really is super-convenient, and you’re doing it from the comfort and privacy of your own home.
Space does not permit a listing of all the available courses, but just in the computer area alone there are dozens of courses in several broad categories, including: Basic Computer Literacy (including introductions to Windows XP and Vista), Computer Applications, The Internet, Web Graphics and Multimedia, and PC Trouble Shooting, Networking, and Security. There are introductory courses for just about every major Microsoft Office application, including Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, Outlook Express, and PowerPoint. Introductory courses are also offered for QuickBooks, Microsoft Publisher, and Visio, among others. You can learn to create web pages or use graphics programs like PhotoShop, CorelDraw, and Adobe Illustrator. There’s even a course on “Learn to Buy and Sell on eBay”. Now that one could be dangerous.
Being the guy who writes the monthly computer articles for the Taberna Tribune, I get numerous calls from people with computer questions or problems. It is quite common for folks to start off their introductions by saying something along the lines of “I’m a complete computer dunce”, or, “I know just enough to get my email and download viruses”. Well folks, if you really want to lose that dunce cap, you’ve just run out of excuses. With Ed2Go and Craven CC, and the flexibility of course scheduling, not to mention the price, there’s something for everyone. And if your next excuse is that if you knew how to take an online course, you wouldn’t need it, remember that the folks at Craven CC are there to help get you started. So…what are you waiting for?