Get Educated!

I suppose things have changed a little since I went to school 20 years ago – notebooks have given way to netbooks, and agendas have given way to the BlackBerry. Still, I like to peruse the aisles at Staples every now and then, just to remind myself that there was something enjoyable about the education process.

School on the other hand was always a horror. In the week leading up to the first day back, my guts would cramp up with fear and tension. I wouldn’t sleep. I would beg, plead and try to cut deals with everyone from my parents to god to the devil just to avoid having to go back.

Things changed when high school was over (in my case it ended rather abruptly with an expulsion at 15 and a GED exam at 16). It was finally in my power to choose my educational path. No longer would I be at the mercy of some state-mandated curriculum, in a class full of people I loathed.

I began to enjoy learning, and I chose to continue. Not with a structured post-secondary curriculum, but on my own. French, history, accounting for small businesses (strongly recommended for everyone), political science, Arabic. Islamic history. Military history. Religion. I never stopped learning. Some courses were structured, others online. Some were one-on-one lessons with experts. I bought and borrowed thousands of books.

Here are some new media-related courses you might enjoy. They vary in length, set-up and price.

MediaBistro: New Media 6-session self-paced course $179

IttyBiz: Online Business School $397

BBC: Intro to Video Production and Microphones for Sound & Radio FREE

Blogs, Wikis and New Media: Full online new media & social networking course FREE

As always, I strongly recommend Ali Hale’s products products – I’m nearly finished combing through The Bloggers Guide to Effective Writing – and Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.

These are both great e-courses you can take at your own pace.