tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40777683383445515862024-03-21T13:22:33.576+00:00Ways 2 InterfaceA personal journal of Mass Communications and Media Studies 2.0Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-66285826859734496342016-01-30T13:22:00.000+00:002016-02-05T13:39:48.864+00:00The Brand New Positive News!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first issue of the revamped and rebranded <i><a href="http://www.positive.news/" target="_blank">Positive News</a></i> arrived in the post today. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the same way that I keep saying film and media studies would greatly be enhanced by adopting a more constructive approach, <i>Positive News</i> has innovated and utilises the related emerging field of <a href="http://constructivejournalism.org/" target="_blank">Constructive Journalism</a>, which is precisely why I purchased some shares in <i>Positive News</i> last year, as part of the <a href="http://www.ownthemedia.org/" target="_blank">#OwnTheMedia</a> crowdfunding campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Positive News is now owned by 1,526 readers, journalists and supporters from 33 countries following a successful crowdfunding campaign. With the aims of raising investment to grow and become financially sustainable, while also creating an inspiring ownership structure, our 30-day #OwnTheMedia campaign enabled people to buy 'community shares' in Positive News. The campaign ran from 8 June to 8 July and raised £263,422, surpassing our initial goal of £200,000. Using the online crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder.co.uk, people worldwide invested - from Mexico to New Zealand - ranging in age from 18 to 89."</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <i>Postive News</i>, Issue 84:7</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I even found my name on the list of shareholders on the back cover (that was a nice touch)...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When you consider that the research has shown you are 40% more likely to have a negative outlook and sense of hopelessness about the world when you consume traditional 'scaremongering' news outlets (everything from the BBC to Fox News), something like <i><a href="http://www.positive.news/" target="_blank">Positive News</a></i> becomes all the more prevalent.</span></div>
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-22548720398807667252016-01-29T13:14:00.000+00:002016-02-05T13:15:43.351+00:00Lateral Thinking and the Extensions of Man<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have invested in two new books on Ebay, <i>The Use of Lateral Thinking</i> by Edward de Bono and <i>Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man</i> by Marshall McLuhuan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am not one for glorifying film and media theorists, because as soon as you start glorifying them you usually end up becoming a disciple to their ways of thinking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">However, that being said, I make an exception for Marshall McLuhan who quite literally wrote the book on understanding all of media and film AND much of which is still applicable to the technological and sociological developments of today...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Art as anti-environment becomes more than ever a means of training perception and judgement. Art offered as a consumer commodity rather than as a means of training perception is as ludicrous and snobbish as always... The power of the arts to anticipate future social and technological developments, by a generation and more, has long been recognized. In this [the 20th] century Ezra Pound called the artist "the antennae of the race." Art as radar as "an early alarm system," as it were, enabling us to discover social and psychic targets in lots of time to prepare to cope with them."</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">- Marshall McLuhan, <i>Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man</i>, 1966:ix-xi</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Equally, lateral thinking is something that I am very big on and it is something that I am incorporating into the format of the <i>Breaking Cinema</i> podcast. I saw de Bono's book going cheap on Ebay, so I though, why not?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Since Aristotle, logical thinking has been exalted as the one effective way in which to use the mind. Yet the very elusiveness of new ideas indicates that they do not necessarily come about as a result of logical thought processes. Some people are aware of another sort of thinking which is most easily recognised when it leads to those simple ideas that are obvious only after they have been thought of. This book is an attempt to look at this sort of thinking and to show that it is quite distinct from logic and often more useful in generating new ideas. For the sake of convenience, the term 'lateral thinking' has been coined to describe this other sort of thinking; 'vertical thinking' is used to denote the conventional logical process."</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">- Edward de Bono, 'The Use of Lateral Thinking', 1967:5</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have already got stuck into both of these and I suspect that <i>Understanding Media</i> will greatly assist with the Mass Communications major of my MTA; likewise, <i>The Use of Later al Thinking</i> should assist with the development of <i>Breaking Cinema</i>.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-24082288641965958432016-01-22T06:25:00.000+00:002016-01-22T06:25:46.456+00:00Ways of Being - the primary progenitor for Ways 2 Interface<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: white;"><b><i>Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle</i></b></span></span> is my award-winning graduate theoretical dissertation, that is itself the culmination of a seven month research project. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As the name suggests, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Ways of Being</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is the </span></span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">primary </span></span></span>progenitor and the prelude for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Ways 2 Interface.</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The paper is devoted to <a href="http://douglastrumbull.com/">Douglas Trumbull</a><span style="color: #073763;">, for his innovating efforts, inspiring persistence and words of wisdom</span>. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"The
mark of 85 is an exceptional mark, rarely awarded, and only to work of
exceptional quality. I am pleased to say that both examiners agreed that
this was the case with your work."</span></span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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- <span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://applications.bathspa.ac.uk/staff-profiles/profile.asp?user=academic%5Cghos1">Dr Suman Ghosh</a>, guiding tutor and primary marker.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuyEXV6yB_GgWMXb5tp9XhAYkBW8LH1JM9hlhDvbUmltSLCVd2CJ7z9D8ipSmRqACplbAYtR4kUBBJUXeZUxjvcw3u5gLxQl4eUJSi54xQHEj7quiggJQ1KGRVr6OFKnwLecSuWQ8DAVu/s1600/IMG_3622-003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuyEXV6yB_GgWMXb5tp9XhAYkBW8LH1JM9hlhDvbUmltSLCVd2CJ7z9D8ipSmRqACplbAYtR4kUBBJUXeZUxjvcw3u5gLxQl4eUJSi54xQHEj7quiggJQ1KGRVr6OFKnwLecSuWQ8DAVu/s1600/IMG_3622-003.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The masters length paper was praised for its boldness, progressive thinking and received the highest mark that has ever been awarded to a Film and Screen Studies dissertation at Bath Spa University; as well as being awarded the Media Futures Research Award for Excellence in Film and Screen Studies research.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"This is certainly one of the best FL dissertations I have read for many a year."</span></span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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-<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://applications.bathspa.ac.uk/staff-profiles/profile.asp?user=academic\rodt1">Dr Terence Rodgers</a>, </span></span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Head of Department and second marker</span></span>.</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>The paper is a consideration of the epistemological, ontological and metaphysical downfalls of film theory’s understandings of the spectator and the spectacle; with particular emphasis directed towards the <span class="GINGER_SOFATWARE_correct" ginger_sofatware_markguid="be94406e-ef39-4ec7-bfd1-db79530ef67c" ginger_sofatware_uiphraseguid="bbf97a70-a95a-44aa-9688-cabd1ee2ee28" grcontextid="neurobiological:0">neurobiological</span> implications of the spectator’s body. </i></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The thesis argues that these shortcomings are representative of wider ranging issues of complacency engulfing the film industry and film exhibition as a whole. Furthermore, the fundamental disruptions of the digital upgrade of cinema, and the expanding means through which film content can be experienced, are explored in relation to the pressing need for film theory to reassess itself. </span></i></span></b><br />
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</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Drawing on a plethora of empirical and non-empirical research, the dissertation is a highly progressive expression of how film experience has always been about transcendence and, as a result of its digital re-birth and diversifications, it is now becoming even more so.</b> </span></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Other materials pertaining to this project can be viewed in <a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B03T9xrsoj0aR3E1b0JpRUIyNzQ&usp=sharing">this Google Drive folder</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On top of my other final year projects, getting the paper up to the standard I wanted was a tall and </span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">exhausting order, but it was worth it!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"This is a well researched, conceptually sound and cogently argued dissertation which is striking in its originality of argumentation and in its nuanced reading of a wide range of film and critical material.</span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It draws on a plethora of examples from traditions of visual culture from prehistoric cave art to contemporary film, the IMAX experience and future practices of audio‐visual consumption in order to examine traditional and contemporary theories of spectatorship and the spectator’s relation with the spectacle.</span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The introduction clearly sets out the structure and methodology of the dissertation and provides a useful overview of the technological shifts which have resulted in a reconfiguration of the relationship between the viewer and the viewed.</span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is clearly an ambitious project.</span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It makes a passionate case for the revival of grand theory in studies of Spectatorship in particular and Film Studies in general and sustains this case through argumentation of an exceedingly high order.</span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It acknowledges the need to expand the scope of such studies beyond film, in its reference to a wide range of media texts as much as to critical literature, all of which are directed towards an understanding of spectatorship from points of view as diverse as the sensory, experiential, philosophical, spiritual, metaphysical and neurological." </span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">- Dr Suman Ghosh, Senior Lecturer in Film and Screen Studies. </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As a result of my enthusiasm for the project, I unearthed so much data that the first draft I assembled warranted a request for a larger word count submission. As such, the primary content I eventually submitted totalled just fewer than 15,000 words, with the Appendix and other supplementary material bringing the overall word count to over 30,000 words! Furthermore, I still had additional ideas and data that would have allowed me to write more - hence my reasoning for orchestrating <i>Ways 2 Interface</i>.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoA4SZgHqI8DWbaNgbpohyphenhyphen-0lOEUWfXKRZ9TcRbFeJfFjEb4BwSgMUw8Ln1qs9VUw9h2J0M-rIJjtjk6BpSxUF5y2MzeHRVRNtCeCdAuCU6qUUA05xyCCJTDjgrQnuf3vfAXj-e6SZjVoQ/s1600/IMG_2105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoA4SZgHqI8DWbaNgbpohyphenhyphen-0lOEUWfXKRZ9TcRbFeJfFjEb4BwSgMUw8Ln1qs9VUw9h2J0M-rIJjtjk6BpSxUF5y2MzeHRVRNtCeCdAuCU6qUUA05xyCCJTDjgrQnuf3vfAXj-e6SZjVoQ/s640/IMG_2105.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: -webkit-left;">One of two hard copies I submitted on 6th June 2013.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The copy of </span><i style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ways of Being</i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> that is included here is a refined draft that I produced between July and September 2013. As it became apparent that the research project had attained a longevity greater than the paper itself, I decided that I would produce a polished draft to exhibit online; both with the aim of including it as an additional component of this website, but also as a dissertation example that other students could scrutinise. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The research content and argumentation has not been altered or added to in anyway; rather, the refined draft includes additional polishing, proofing and initial page material. Key among this new initial page material is the marking feedback I received and a new Foreword section in which I reflect on and deconstruct my process of assembling the paper. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you would like to view the original submitted paper, then you can do so <a href="http://www.academia.edu/4122157/Ways_of_Being_The_Spectator_and_the_Spectacle_Submission_Draft_">here</a>.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iU-fi_iCo_4/Ui-kukSWRSI/AAAAAAAASLs/CuAQlRLWgiE/s1600/EYES+of+a+Storyteller+-+NEW+banner+-+10-08-2013+-+v3-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="455" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iU-fi_iCo_4/Ui-kukSWRSI/AAAAAAAASLs/CuAQlRLWgiE/s640/EYES+of+a+Storyteller+-+NEW+banner+-+10-08-2013+-+v3-001.jpg" width="628" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The study of looking is a recurrent interest for me.Why? <a href="http://eyesofastoryteller.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/eyes-pilot-episode-one-search-me.html">Search me</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null">... </a></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Additionally, the <i>Ways of Being</i> research project had a huge influence on <a href="http://www.eyesofastoryteller.blogspot.co.uk/">my EYES web series project</a> and vice versa; in fact, I refer to EYES, my practical dissertation and creative enterprise project, as being the practical expression of what I explored in <i>Ways of Being</i>. I believe the high marks both projects were awarded - EYES was also awarded the highest mark of its module - stand as testament to their mutually beneficial relationship.</span></span></div>
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<br />Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-34319490562530703612016-01-22T06:13:00.000+00:002016-01-22T06:13:04.330+00:00Initial Ways 2 Interface focus and About #2Interface page<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Since building my personal portfolio website, <i><a href="http://peterobrien.me/">PeterOBrien.me</a></i>, and retroactively constructing my <a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/masters-of-transdisciplinary-application/" target="_blank">Masters of Transdisciplinary Application</a>, which is itself being housed on my person website, the focus of <i>Ways 2 Interface </i>has greatly shifted from a transdisciplinary research project and study log" into "a personal journal/blog of mass communications and media studies 2.0" </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In short, the load on <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> has now been greatly eased into a much clearer and actionable focus - my personal reflections on all things mass media and progressive, but less so on film, because that is what my film focused blog, <i><a href="http://www.somethingtodowithfilm.com/" target="_blank">Something to do with Film</a></i>, is for. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">However, detailed below is the original focus of <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> as it was laid down on the initial version of the <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/about-2-interface.html" target="_blank"><i>About #2Interface</i> page</a>...</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b> A transdisciplinary research project and my study log. </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;"> The Project: Something New and Fantastic </span></span> </b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Is it actually something new and fantastic?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But from my point of view it is, because this overall project-and-blog-thing is very much tied up with my larger personal development aims, so naturally I have a great deal of enthusiasm invested in the overall focus of <i>Ways 2 Interface</i>.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's about finding my focus.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This blog started its life as a research focus extension of the concerns of my First Class BA (Hons) in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies and, in particular, the focuses of my two final year dissertations: <b>EYES</b> (practical dissertation) and <i><b>Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle</b></i> (award-winning theoretical dissertation). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hence, the name of this blog: </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ways 2 Interface</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> a.k.a. Round 2.</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/01/welcome-2interface-something-new-and.html" target="_blank">Welcome #2Interface</a></i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> - my original intention for this blog.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">However, the initial focus of just presenting my extended research and considerations never felt quite right - it always felt incomplete. After essentially writing another dissertation spread across the first four posts of this blog, I decided to reassess its situation and where exactly I stood in regards to my academic interests.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/07/why-2-research-mastering-the-researcher.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Why #2Interface: expanding my focus + focusing my interests = mastering the enterprising researcher</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> - my reassessment of this blog and its focus.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, this project was always building towards a masters degree in Creative Technologies and Enterprise that I was very interested in undertaking (there is still a huge maybe hanging over this, but the option is still open) and, when I reassessed the situation in regards to my postgraduate education, it occurred to me what was really missing from this blog - MOOCs!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The many different MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) I had undertaken throughout the later part of 2013 and the full breadth of 2014.</span></div>
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<a data-pin-board-width="400" data-pin-do="embedBoard" data-pin-scale-height="200" data-pin-scale-width="80" href="http://www.pinterest.com/nonirishjazzman/mooc-tastic/">Follow Peter's board MOOC-tastic on Pinterest.</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From the many different disciplines of the MOOCs I have studied, it is clear to see that I have a hybrid transdisciplinary focus that extends far beyond the creative writing and film focus of my BA (Hons).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Basically - my MOOCs, the vast swathes of time they have eaten up and the reflections they have encouraged me to produce on the various different aspects of my overall education and creative application - are very much an expression of my expanded hybrid focus.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsG8ry6UTaKgfYJnOObyZD7GojljdAvPIjKjNYJ5d82j6Wsg9PbgXQl_cnwiz6hFTjo53q9xVoos_29rbRLPioDx8e8aNEOiZN6Zs8UUBGs2iFv8XyCF3Q-9zZi8sNbZ739BWf3FlWjlY/s1600/4+hour+work+week.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsG8ry6UTaKgfYJnOObyZD7GojljdAvPIjKjNYJ5d82j6Wsg9PbgXQl_cnwiz6hFTjo53q9xVoos_29rbRLPioDx8e8aNEOiZN6Zs8UUBGs2iFv8XyCF3Q-9zZi8sNbZ739BWf3FlWjlY/s1600/4+hour+work+week.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's about re-thinking traditional paradigms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Additionally, I am finding that my creative entrepreneurial focused practice and self-directed postgraduate study is proving to be vastly more beneficial and fulfilling than a pre-arranged masters degree. Therefore, for the time being, I am staying off the conventional path, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">while I continue to explore</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the wilderness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It has taken me quite some time (nearly a year) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to realise</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that I could utilise this blog to further</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> consolidate my learning by using it as a reflection space. Therefore, I have quite a large backlog to get through, but as the content of the blog becomes more fuller and more widely representative of all the studying I have been doing, I will gradually tie its relevance back into the original research focus of <i>Ways 2 Interface</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Welcome #2interface.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKwhx7CEDaJJU_vJ9al2srAheN4wcuHu5fpD-uZI60u_2RB4PQ6yPnk3bBAzC-kK-QxRlnGtAMiVOLdt1u1-PWhd3nk2J81EkQk4ZI8i1oVmdwQp-oFQTA9fmu6q61iP3yA4IvPrlaCag/s1600/857113_10151430481159337_717172635_o-019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKwhx7CEDaJJU_vJ9al2srAheN4wcuHu5fpD-uZI60u_2RB4PQ6yPnk3bBAzC-kK-QxRlnGtAMiVOLdt1u1-PWhd3nk2J81EkQk4ZI8i1oVmdwQp-oFQTA9fmu6q61iP3yA4IvPrlaCag/s1600/857113_10151430481159337_717172635_o-019.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: white;"><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/ways-of-being_5954.html">Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle</a> </span></b></i><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">- the award-winning primary progenitor for </span><i style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Ways 2 Interface</i><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://eyesofastoryteller.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">E Y E S - A Web Series Concept Proposal Package</a></b> - the sister dissertation project of <i>Ways of Being</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For an overview of my wider research web and the philosophy driving it, see <b><i><a href="http://www.somethingtodowithfilm.com/2014/04/my-philosophy--my-research.html" target="_blank">Smartlife: my philosophy + my research web = why I am doing, what I am doing and why it just might help you to fulfill your potential...</a></i></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you would like to get in touch, please feel free to do so via the <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/contact.html">contact form</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #990000;"> </span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>About Me: Something to do with Film </b></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r-HkiLpz4Qg/UiZ4T3XvUxI/AAAAAAAAR0g/h8ylXLHo93k/s1600/IMG_2350-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r-HkiLpz4Qg/UiZ4T3XvUxI/AAAAAAAAR0g/h8ylXLHo93k/s1600/IMG_2350-002.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My name is Peter O'Brien, I am a Creator, Writer, Filmmaker, Personal Developer and award-winning Researcher based in Bristol, UK. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In July, 2013, I graduated from Bath Spa University, where I gained a First Class BA (Hons) in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies; as well as a great deal of recognition and heartfelt encouragement of my overall potential.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am currently embarking on my own self-directed postgraduate study that <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> is chronicling.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I
can't help but feel your careful consideration and reflection has
developed formidable power. I wish that all my students had a fraction
of your application and drive to dig deeper.” </span></b></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Mike Johnston, Senior Lecturer in Creative Media Practice.</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My theoretical dissertation, <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/ways-of-being_5954.html"><b><i>Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle</i></b>,</a> the primary progenitor for this project, is a Masters length paper that gained the highest mark ever awarded to a Film and Screen Studies dissertation at my institution.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It has also been bestowed with the<span style="color: #073763;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Media Futures Research Award for Excellence in Film and Screen Studies research.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"This is certainly one of the best FL dissertations I have read for many a year"</span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">-<span style="font-size: small;"> Dr Terence Rodgers, Head of Department: Film and Media Production.</span></span></span></span>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nh0OGMCZ3yU/UZQhlW750dI/AAAAAAAAOPw/gk4RiRp4SrA/s1600/Collages2-002+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nh0OGMCZ3yU/UZQhlW750dI/AAAAAAAAOPw/gk4RiRp4SrA/s1600/Collages2-002+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #20124d;"> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My practical dissertation and creative enterprise project, <a href="http://eyesofastoryteller.blogspot.co.uk/">EYES, a web series concept proposal package</a>, a reflexive expression of contemporary networking attitudes and their implications on our ways of being, was also awarded the highest mark of its module.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"These materials are comprehensive and strong, showing a close attention to detail throughout... verging on the overwhelming, from an assessor's point of view."</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">- Professor Kate Pullinger, Lecturer in Creative Writing and Digital Media.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My
temperament is a fusion of creative and academic. This
project will very much employ the full breadth of this combined
expertise; as well as nurturing it and growing it in new areas. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My two dissertations very much serve as testimonies of these two key facets of my character. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At heart, I have always been both a deconstructor and a builder.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"You're a really good builder." </span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">- Charlie Driscoll, Nephew and fellow Lego builder. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My philosophy is simple: <u><b>utilise everything that you are, to achieve everything that you want to be</b><b>; while helping others along the way</b></u>. I very much took this to heart while undertaking my degree and I do likewise here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All of my exploits are feeding into this project. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"That is so typical of you, that you work while you work."</span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_Yug8ISmG4R_OU7JjxfFrxoYbzKD3RH2qEqLEDatN3V8LvPZe-NttLzEATKg0sV-hp0NPb8ZJ5k3PtiamEqNL4GkICoMuDOvXpJTjJnp2T8wmXghnluVnpvPSNl9_RIBJgmYNiSfqIaz/s1600/IMG_2065-004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_Yug8ISmG4R_OU7JjxfFrxoYbzKD3RH2qEqLEDatN3V8LvPZe-NttLzEATKg0sV-hp0NPb8ZJ5k3PtiamEqNL4GkICoMuDOvXpJTjJnp2T8wmXghnluVnpvPSNl9_RIBJgmYNiSfqIaz/s1600/IMG_2065-004.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have something of a special relationship with stories and it has <a href="http://www.somethingtodowithfilm.com/">something to do with film</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have spent all of my life building a foundation of knowledge that, in the broadest sense, lies somewhere between stories and film.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In other words: how we make sense of the world through the stories we tell ourselves and what role mass entertainment and branding (film, being a primary example) play in this inherent narratology. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Pete, you have a
fantastic dissertation which deserves the highest possible grade.
Really, it is brilliantly written which displays your thorough research
and passion for the topic and, most importantly, it is original and not
something that people have written about tens of thousands of times.
You've done something new and fantastic.” </span></b></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">- Matt Coot, friend and fellow student.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Between June 2013 and January 2014, I wrestled with the best way to orchestrate <i>Ways 2 Interface</i>. Should it be pure academia, devoid of me and my journey? Or should it be more of me and my story?</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, I have decided on something inbetween. As a creative and an academic, <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> is an extension of my story, an exploration of my path and an expression of my overall drive to dig deeper. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"The most motivated individual I have ever had the pleasure to meet... I have never met an individual so driven and so likely to succeed and
push the boundaries of which ever field he chooses to go into." </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">- Tim Bradshaw, friend and fellow student. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMEzH2IE_VeGdUQSLjp8Rx91EYfRQpTYn-IJ79pAPMMsW86tpt3ZwI2anrEqhhIo50llThXCyze6a0Yw0Bdgv-BY6kDLsmiieqrXdIyD-2ovwbtYI7TqFaJJ-V6jtFv8YUF636XjB0SHz/s1600/IMG_3117-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMEzH2IE_VeGdUQSLjp8Rx91EYfRQpTYn-IJ79pAPMMsW86tpt3ZwI2anrEqhhIo50llThXCyze6a0Yw0Bdgv-BY6kDLsmiieqrXdIyD-2ovwbtYI7TqFaJJ-V6jtFv8YUF636XjB0SHz/s1600/IMG_3117-001.JPG" width="398" /></a><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Between June, 2013, and January, 2014, I evolved the focus and aesthetic of this project from its origination in <i>Ways of Being</i>. It was a process that made me reflect deeply on the growth of my own story. I have come to realise that if we persistently invest ourselves in the things that we are passionate about, the things we are passionate about will empower us to achieve great things.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I hope you enjoy coming on this journey with me. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Every good day, every bad day; complex and simple at the same time - that's very me, that's </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">PeterOBrien.me</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Considering that my last blog post was posted towards the beginning of August, I felt it was time to provide a brief update in regards to my ongoing studies or postgraduate 2.0 studies, as I have now come to call them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This new title for the combined online learnng via MOOCs that I have enrolled myself in, since graduating from my BA (Hons) in the summer of 2013, has come about as a result of finally getting my personal website, <i><a href="http://peterobrien.me/">PeterOBrien.me</a></i>, of the ground.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmezODSUCmuxOWYFJRkKW-R-YdqXNRQ6KwEG09octKZB_OzD-Sq_nCr7YDlMsTd6qIza1A_hJvnTXHqMUdxyg63CwpYHrupeRtB800SD9gp75aBXaf3Sg0eakp2LM8BHvI5iHhVAfLkpV1/s1600/365+FRAMES+2015+-+Day+226+-+14.08.2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmezODSUCmuxOWYFJRkKW-R-YdqXNRQ6KwEG09octKZB_OzD-Sq_nCr7YDlMsTd6qIza1A_hJvnTXHqMUdxyg63CwpYHrupeRtB800SD9gp75aBXaf3Sg0eakp2LM8BHvI5iHhVAfLkpV1/s640/365+FRAMES+2015+-+Day+226+-+14.08.2015.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is still being constructed, but it is now live.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The primary purpose of my personal website was to establish a personal brand identity under which I could bring together and unify all of my other focuses and online endeavours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One key aim of the purpose behind <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> was to create a space where I could showcase my online learning achievements which is how the <a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/postgraduate-2-0-studies/" target="_blank">Postgraduate 2.0 Studies </a>page on <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> came about. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUD4-OV7WLp9dfwCsI1d1_azIjcQe4LDzgsKYwnzV5KCZjswOl_FeHpidh-FIHLVOLyRjxSZkH80DYQKVdrVtz98eyDB-sUNjBn1uAfCuX9dV3aVqk2x1A14dgLLPq3FvkyjSK8UkRJJp/s1600/IMG_2109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUD4-OV7WLp9dfwCsI1d1_azIjcQe4LDzgsKYwnzV5KCZjswOl_FeHpidh-FIHLVOLyRjxSZkH80DYQKVdrVtz98eyDB-sUNjBn1uAfCuX9dV3aVqk2x1A14dgLLPq3FvkyjSK8UkRJJp/s640/IMG_2109.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's really strange seeing yourself objectified into a website!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I figure that Postgraduate 2.0 Studies is a good name, my studies are postgraduate and they are online.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As a result, I have shifted my focus away from <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> while I have been building <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> and organising everything that I have going on. One key implication that has now become clear as a result of this organisation is that<i> PeterOBrien.me</i> will unload the burden of my Postgraduate 2.0 Studies on this <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> blog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I continued to study new MOOCs (now over eighty) and add them to my portfolio, the study page on this site was getting ridiculously out of hand. It was a problem I had previously encountered on my LinkedIn profile where I would add each new MOOC to my education section and watch my profile struggle to load as a result.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, this is the reality of Big Data that human beings are now having to face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Big data is a broad term for data sets so large or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. Challenges include analysis, capture, data curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, visualization, and information privacy."</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_data" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What to do with it all and where to put it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, the configuration of <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> has now solved this problem, as I believe the layout of the Postgraduate 2.0 Studies page is much better suited to present a vast array of information in a concise form.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It has two slideshows...</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU44FUM-vpOnX18mUlFf5D9F_Bl6okMsI2B0fsm41PfYnT6CNA_XZXBkYIbSFXfs0koBRjG7pZ86Uj2TozKTSUDJSJ4o9ToCxNgbiTikxG_bTiONdr6w4jjGvDjbsdpCP8o-kgXjyGw8-C/s1600/IMG_2114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU44FUM-vpOnX18mUlFf5D9F_Bl6okMsI2B0fsm41PfYnT6CNA_XZXBkYIbSFXfs0koBRjG7pZ86Uj2TozKTSUDJSJ4o9ToCxNgbiTikxG_bTiONdr6w4jjGvDjbsdpCP8o-kgXjyGw8-C/s640/IMG_2114.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A slideshow for the courses I have enrolled myself in</span>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxRGQzPqX5a9cRtGQMt_mEsF-RT68lNIcTEcZOmkKngW5vJt0E3wQxAOCOYayxRAOo2MxZytQbxQh_1VLFJkhL0YnhdJ41E5um8C9Ch1tfCaeOtGrGB8_O5UD8dwVCxaK3e1B7DxmZ1BCj/s1600/IMG_2116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxRGQzPqX5a9cRtGQMt_mEsF-RT68lNIcTEcZOmkKngW5vJt0E3wQxAOCOYayxRAOo2MxZytQbxQh_1VLFJkhL0YnhdJ41E5um8C9Ch1tfCaeOtGrGB8_O5UD8dwVCxaK3e1B7DxmZ1BCj/s640/IMG_2116.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And a slideshow for the courses for which I was awarded a certificate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Simple.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Additionally there is a link to <a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=76832AF9871A2F8B!11443&authkey=!AKt_kMZd7Nctjug&ithint=file%2cxlsx" target="_blank">an Excel spreadsheet that lists all of my MOOCs in chronological order together with other relevant enrolment details</a>, if a user wishes to examine such details.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is also a traditional list at the bottom of the page numbering all of the MOOC I have enrolled in with hyperlinks to their respective course pages. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore the Studies page on <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> will soon be disappearing. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg39qLYArR0Sd_yZDDQw-zPM7TMtgRd0gIYvDz5rb1Zt6nWJyYZVl5KJpWrTWRSiMl4SY860rh3oNER14ioxqvKLVDPugHwuE61ydwDnFtqdinoZtC84wt06iYjel7_i-g21I5P-JbIoY4b/s1600/IMG_2123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg39qLYArR0Sd_yZDDQw-zPM7TMtgRd0gIYvDz5rb1Zt6nWJyYZVl5KJpWrTWRSiMl4SY860rh3oNER14ioxqvKLVDPugHwuE61ydwDnFtqdinoZtC84wt06iYjel7_i-g21I5P-JbIoY4b/s640/IMG_2123.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Make the most of it while it is still here.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Additionally, while I will still continue to blog about my studies on this site, the content of those posts will be focused more towards being in relation to my larger transdisciplinary research project, for which the <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> website was originally established.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For more general MOOC reviews, reflections, recommendations, insights, etc., <a href="http://peterobrien.me/blog/" target="_blank">the blog of <i>PeterOBrien.me</i></a> will take of these. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> will demonstrate, the only way in which I can organise my life and my focuses, while retaining my sanity, is by compartmentalising everything; this is why I have various different online platforms (or filling cabinets) for different purposes...</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Ways 2 Interface</i> - transdisciplinary research</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.somethingtodowithfilm.com/" target="_blank">Something to do with Film</a></i> - film-centric</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Breaking Cinema</i> - to host my podcast (not up yet)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://forwardfacingvisualographer.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Forward Facing Visualographer</a></i> - my visual creations</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://creativehive.org.uk/digitalme/" target="_blank">DigitalMarketing.me</a></i> - one-off blog created as part of my Digital Marketing studies</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://366frames2012.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">366 FRAMES 2012</a></i> - one-off self-contained project</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://365frames2015.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">365 FRAMES 2015</a></i> - one-off self-contained project</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://eyesofastoryteller.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">EYES of a Storyteller</a></i> - one-off self-contained project</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">... and <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> is the main hub (or office) that brings them all together into a unified overview.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Crucially, as the name of my personal website should indicate, they are all me, everything that I have created online is me, so I am going to insure that I keep a firm grasp on it all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another key aspect of myself, or the digital extension of myself IS all of the MOOCs I have enrolled myself in, these are parts of myself as well, and, in particular, clusters of related MOOCs naturally come together to represent specific focuses of my career focus and wider interests. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is for this reason that if you examine <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> you will note that in addition to my Postgraduate 2.0 Studies page, there are additional pages devoted to specific MOOC and study focuses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have individual pages for...</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/entrepreneurship/" target="_blank">Entrepreneurship</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/digital-marketing/" target="_blank">Digital Marketing</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/emerging-technologies/" target="_blank">Emerging Technologies</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/career-success/" target="_blank">Career Success</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/web-science/" target="_blank">Web Science</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/solid-science/" target="_blank">Solid Science</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/big-data/" target="_blank">Big Data</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/neuroscience/" target="_blank">Neuroscience</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/psychology/" target="_blank">Psychology</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://peterobrien.me/portfolio/entrepreneurial-filmmaking/" target="_blank">Filmmaking</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and I am probably going to add another one based around Digital Making, that may just be combined with the Filmmaking one, because the fact that I am a filmmaker kind of speaks for itself. I have not decided yet.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is should be noted that one of my focuses is Digital Marketing and this is not accidental. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Digital Marketing is something I wanted to get to grips with ever since graduating from my BA (Hons) and it is not accidental that I have spent the last two years exploring and defining myself in order to construct an appropriate unified brand to encapsulate it all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A value driven brand is essential for success in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship is the primary objective of my postgraduate 2.0 studies, everything is working for everything else, that is the point.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Entrepreneurs are competing for resources and opportunities that enable them to tell their story and build their reputation. If you’re an entrepreneur who isn’t actively branding himself, rest assured that your competitors will waste no time in branding you, which may hurt your image, company valuation and bottom line."</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248824" target="_blank">Michael Georgiou, <i>Entrepreneur</i></a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>PeterOBrien.me</i> is a fusion of personal and professional and my key driving impulse in making it was to produce 'an online portfolio to end all online portfolios'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A similar phrase, <a href="http://www.somethingtodowithfilm.com/2014/05/ways-of-being.html" target="_blank">'the film dissertation to end all film dissertations', worked in producing my award-winning undergraduate theoretical dissertation, <i>Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle</i></a> (the progenitor for <i>Ways 2 Interface</i>), so I do not see why it will not work for producing a personal website that utilises the entirety of my professional portfolio and personal life experiences as a combined visual-centric portfolio of my values, my character, my strengths, my skills, myself.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpxG-xUC-ZIPVTMRszpor_lWLEne8Xlswv_cczMOqyBLBoDbYPFEx5CIBpInfaohNHgsn4FkvF9uSCNLmdj8DjRvOcTXk5D9X3JjLxmSw1pJ20w4iM9YTn5n6RVzbufOm90eTwBQEdjI1/s1600/IMG_2120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpxG-xUC-ZIPVTMRszpor_lWLEne8Xlswv_cczMOqyBLBoDbYPFEx5CIBpInfaohNHgsn4FkvF9uSCNLmdj8DjRvOcTXk5D9X3JjLxmSw1pJ20w4iM9YTn5n6RVzbufOm90eTwBQEdjI1/s640/IMG_2120.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you do not know what you are, then how will you know what to do with yourself?</span></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With the design of PeterOBrien.me, the idea is that you click on what appeals to you and within that page there will be details and links to other relevant and related components of my overall portfolio.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or you can just have the brief visual-centric storyboard overview of my overall portfolio on <i>PeterOBrien.me</i>'s main page.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Every good day, every bad day; complex and simple at the same time - that's very me, that's </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">PeterOBrien.me</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, going back to my Postgraduate 2.0 Studies and as they are now organised and collected on <i>PeterOBrien.me</i>, I am no longer going to be providing periodic progress updates or MOOC by MOOC reflections on <i>Ways 2 Interface</i>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are two reasons for this...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I do not need to provide periodic progress updates because the MOOCs as arranged and detailed on <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> speak for themselves. If I do provide a periodic update I will do it on the blog of <i>PeterOBrien.me</i> and I will only do it on <i>Ways 2 Interface </i>if that progress update is immediately applicable to the research concerns of this platform.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is becoming impossible to provide periodic updates and reflections on each MOOC because I study so many! I rarely find the time to provide updates or to author reflections; unless, of course, those reflections are required exercises of the MOOC I am studying, such as is currently the case with the <i>DigitalMarketing.me </i>blog I had to create for my Digital and Social Media Marketing MOOC. I do not underestimate the power of reflection and of getting your head in order by objectifying it, but I also always respect the concept of time and realise that I only have so much of it! However, I have now started to produce video reflections and reviews of my MOOCs as evidenced within my <i><a href="https://365frames2015.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">365 FRAMES 2015</a></i> project, which is a quick, easy and spontaneous way of generating reflection material. As a result of this, I will continue to produce these videos instead of lengthy, time-consuming written reflections, such as I am doing now!</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, I will provide one final and very brief MOOC progress report right now.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am currently enrolled in...</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Priority:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Digital and Social Media Marketing</b> - as part of the iversity Marketing Toolkit</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Logical and Critical Thinking</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Understanding Video Games</b></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Secondary</span></div>
</div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>The Importance of Money in Business</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What is a Mind?</b></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tertiary</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Introduction to Big Data</b> - as part of the Coursera Big Data Specialization</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Quantitative Methods</b> - as part of the Coursera Solid Science Specialization</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Marketing in a Digital World</b> - as part of the Coursera Digital Marketing Specialization</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Fundamentals of Neuroscience, Part 1: Electrical Properties of the Neuron</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>The Mind is Flat: The Shocking Shallowness of Human Psychology</b></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally, I will very shortly be reconfiguring the <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> website to be bring it into line with the changes I have cited in this blog post and some additional ones I have not detailed.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In particular specific changes concerned with the transdisciplinary research of <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> and how that will play into the content of <i>Breaking Cinema</i>, the podcast I have been developing.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But more on this later...</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-1235678020832360852015-08-13T03:02:00.001+01:002015-08-13T03:51:44.226+01:00Emerging Technologies & Career Success: Expanding my Entrepreneurship Specialization<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/entrepreneurship-specialisation-go.html" target="_blank">The entrepreneurship specialization sequence of courses I have been studying on the Coursera platform since December 2014</a> I consider to be representative of the three courses + one capstone that form the specialization in addition to the further self-directed entrepreneurial studies, research and practice I have been doing around it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have previously described this self-directed study as being equivalent to undertaking a traditional masters course and I certainly see my current learning program as fulfilling the function of the MSc in Creative Technologies and Enterprise I had initially planned to undertake (<a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2015/03/no-free-lunch-from-me.html" target="_blank">before coming to my logical senses</a>). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, being an online entity that is constantly growing and something that I can very freely mix and match, my online studies are never a fixed and pre-determined course of study, as the ongoing evolution of the research and study blog over the past two year-and-a-half has shown.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Certainly, this is one of the great redeeming features about online learning - the student can take a much or as little time they feel is necessary in order to come to terms with as many or as few disciplines they feel the success of their end goal(s) requires.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To this end, I have added to two further Coursera Specialization course sequences to my self-directed study portfolio:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Emerging Technologies: From Smartphone to IOT to Big Data</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As offered by </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yonsei University and composed of the following courses:</span><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Smartphone Emerging Technologies</b></i> - done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Big Data, Cloud Computing & CND Emerging Technologies</b></i> - done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Internet Emerging Technologies</b></i> - doing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Internet of Things & Augment Reality Emerging Technologies</b></i> - to-do</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>Wireless Communication Emerging Technologies</i></b> - to-do</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Emerging Technologies Capstone</b></i> - to-do</span></li>
</ol>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAaCedBcHbWFgGqLFwU7-5ZG0_8gEZhEmvAZL5XUWAS946w5tnPgpNUFLvVyqHs5GEJJ4j4VWq0MAaLpkLRqHv5JwGBVG1rQn3CtgXm5rMrBTAMGeQMv6XZRpkNMMGVHXjVYRBjcXpt7L/s1600/Emerging+Technologies+Specialization.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAaCedBcHbWFgGqLFwU7-5ZG0_8gEZhEmvAZL5XUWAS946w5tnPgpNUFLvVyqHs5GEJJ4j4VWq0MAaLpkLRqHv5JwGBVG1rQn3CtgXm5rMrBTAMGeQMv6XZRpkNMMGVHXjVYRBjcXpt7L/s640/Emerging+Technologies+Specialization.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/specializations/emerging-technologies" target="_blank">Emerging Technologies: From Smartphones to IoT to Big Data</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Career Success</u></b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As offered by the University of California Irvine and composed of the following courses:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Project Management: The Basics for Success</b></i> - doing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Work Smarter, Not Harder: Time Management for Personal and Professional Productivity</b></i> - done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>Finance for Non-Financial Professionals</i></b> - done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Communication in the 21st Century Workplace</b></i> - done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>High-Impact Business Writing</i></b> - to-do</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Art of Negotiation</i></b> - to-do</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>Fundamentals of Management</i></b> - done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>Effective-Problem Solving and Decision-Making</i></b> - done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>Essentials of Entrepreneurship: Thinking & Action</i></b> - doing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Career Success Capstone Project</b></i> - to-do</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgieKmSRsPKwDCfCJv6oDHAfRIXv3BoQ3ExgICZNcf6dnm_GtKva9obQpFoVAaTKRdwMf9CoM_mFfnlzXZ9F_py3STNmxKu03G7e_fJ3Tbu1oWeSzQSMSXA_72zlSSfGjXClvqLZOPOCo3a/s1600/Career+Success+Specialization.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgieKmSRsPKwDCfCJv6oDHAfRIXv3BoQ3ExgICZNcf6dnm_GtKva9obQpFoVAaTKRdwMf9CoM_mFfnlzXZ9F_py3STNmxKu03G7e_fJ3Tbu1oWeSzQSMSXA_72zlSSfGjXClvqLZOPOCo3a/s640/Career+Success+Specialization.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/specializations/career-success" target="_blank">Career Success</a></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have decided to commit to completing these two further specializations, because:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They further adhere my self-directed program of study closer to the one I would have undertaken in my MSc in Creative Technologies and Enterprise, emerging Technologies was a major component of the MSc.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Emerging Technologies in relation to the skill-centric focus of the Career Success specialization greatly enriches my overall program of study to the point where it is actually become a superior program of study to the one offered in the MSc in Creative Technologies and Enterprise.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The courses within each specialization are self-paced, so I can very easily spread the workload around my other commitments.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The courses within each specialization are incredibly short, so I can very easily complete each course component in a relatively short space of time (I am already well over half through both specializations), which is useful considering I want to get the specializations done by the end of September.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Exploitation of emerging technologies and updated career success skills are essential for future success in entrepreneurship. The business idea I am developing within my entrepreneurship specialization also relies very heavily on the focuses of emerging technologies and career success skills.</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Between them, they will cost just over £600 but I am thinking of the long-term value the successful completion of these specializations will bring to my larger postgraduate portfolio. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Furthermore, there is <a href="https://www.coursera.org/specializations/digital-marketing" target="_blank">an additional self-paced and incredibly thorough Digital Marketing specialization (that is itself one module of a larger online MBA)</a> I have been seduced by and plan to undertake once I have my Emerging Technologies and Career Success specializations out of the way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As with emerging technology and career success skills, competitive exploitation and implementation of digital marketing practice is absolutely essential for entrepreneurial success! I have been looking for a decent and thorough online digital marketing course for over a year now (I was always confident a new one would pop up at some point) and FINALLY I have found it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But digital marketing is not the current focus, emerging technologies and career success with entrepreneurship is.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, when all is said and done, I can see now that all of my self-directed postgraduate study will be collected together on this Ways 2 Interface website as one cohesive portfolio with various specializations and discipline concerns outlined and detailed within, opposed to just one very expensive single piece of paper that students typically like to think proves they are fully capable and competent in their respected studied disciplines.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, as our changing times are increasingly showing, this is proving to be more and more not the case. </span><br />
<br /></div>
Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-47681452989153825952015-06-30T14:16:00.000+01:002015-06-30T14:18:58.291+01:00Innovation for Entrepreneurs - Passed with DISTINCTION<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have now completed <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovative" target="_blank">Innovation for Entrepreneurs: From Idea to Marketplace</a></i>, the second course in my <i><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/entrepreneurship-specialisation-go.html" target="_blank">Entrepreneurship Specialisation</a></i>, and I have passed with distinction!</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NSV8w5Sq2Tov3ScJwue2n6c3rZ15_G7zRnQEJsDKtYf2I_gTm715Guw0o9RGqcO9L8mOyprhZzSKK18nj0Lk6jK7UNv7CymylnZufl8WDHTFMT7MXXh2nUD_Q6LtQ6X0vZmmLxN1Wl7b/s1600/Innovation+for+Entrepreneurs+-+June%252C+2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NSV8w5Sq2Tov3ScJwue2n6c3rZ15_G7zRnQEJsDKtYf2I_gTm715Guw0o9RGqcO9L8mOyprhZzSKK18nj0Lk6jK7UNv7CymylnZufl8WDHTFMT7MXXh2nUD_Q6LtQ6X0vZmmLxN1Wl7b/s640/Innovation+for+Entrepreneurs+-+June%252C+2015.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My <i>Innovation for Entrepreneurs</i> signature track certificate and course participation details can viewed by <a href="https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/records/AugRbVFKuHcH65gH" target="_blank">clicking on this link</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Next up in my specialisation is to complete the exams for <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/venturefinance" target="_blank">Funding for Entrepreneurs</a> </i>and numbers were never really my strong point<i>...</i></span></div>
Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-43482296115550454862015-04-17T00:03:00.000+01:002015-04-17T16:44:38.977+01:00Proactive Adaptability: Online Learning and MOOCs - Where to start?<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Embrace the maze and mess and multifaceted realm of online study that WILL continue to change and that WILL continue to be recognised by employers, educators and new students.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been studying online since October, 2013 and after taking part in close to fifty MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and various other online resources I can safely say that the best place to dive into this realm of collected knowledge is...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">.. anywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That is the simple answer.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is no point even attempting to provide yourself with an overview before embracing the online learning arena because new MOOCs are being launched weekly and the parameters of this revolution (and it really is a revolution) continue to expand and change.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, this blog post is not an overview, it is an approach to getting started.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In a nutshell - just dive in and find your way as you go.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #0b5394;">The importance of nurturing proactive adaptability through your studies in order to attain career fulfilment</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first MOOC I undertook was <i><a href="https://iversity.org/en/courses/the-future-of-storytelling" target="_blank">The Future of Storytelling</a></i> which was recommended to me by one of my tutors shortly after I graduated from university. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An online course that dealt with how storytelling is changing in relation to the introduction of new technologies in many ways picked up where my studies at university in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies had left off and, therefore, was a very good place for me to begin my online learning odyssey.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHbElDovg2lcNV-FBSsW_FQhwat5SLWHWzMdyENOANr4CaPiNCzlXxHnlnX4daHcrXlKLuXqYR9IvhrToYh-NGkgz7P2uwWz1NeEQLDzBZksHouOjHaH2-lYbdthV-sduvNWLRqV6_kOe/s1600/The+Future+of+Storytelling+-+statement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHbElDovg2lcNV-FBSsW_FQhwat5SLWHWzMdyENOANr4CaPiNCzlXxHnlnX4daHcrXlKLuXqYR9IvhrToYh-NGkgz7P2uwWz1NeEQLDzBZksHouOjHaH2-lYbdthV-sduvNWLRqV6_kOe/s1600/The+Future+of+Storytelling+-+statement.jpg" height="640" width="566" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My very first Statement of Accomplishment.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, even if I was familiar with some of the foundation knowledge, the actual experience of sitting in front of my computer, taking notes from video lectures, participating in discussion forums and submitting electronic exams was a completely new experience for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And it took a great deal of adjustment, but the best way to become accustomed to this type of experience is to just stick with it, which is exactly what I did. I just stuck with it, completed <i>The Future of Storytelling</i>, undertook another MOOC, completed it, undertook another, so on and so forth...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now learning online is just the norm for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Moreover, through the course of this persistence, I have</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> acquired an invaluable skill that a structured course of study would be hard pressed to teach and install within its students.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This skill I refer to as </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">proactive adaptability</b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The ability to positively embrace change and quickly re-adjust yourself to the introduction of new parameters and processes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you are studying for career advancement with the aim of gaining job security then I promise you that proactive adaptability is a skill that will serve you very well in the long run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Those safe little careers of yesteryear that would hold your hand until you were 65 are all going to a land far, far away to live happily ever after... without you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Job-hopping is becoming the new career norm simply because it is more cost effective to hire short-term and acquire expertise on an assignment-by-assignment basis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And successful job-hopping requires proactive adaptability. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Job-hopping is the new career security and proactive adaptability will ensure that you always have more jobs to hop to. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, embrace the maze and mess and multifaceted realm of online study that WILL continue to change and that WILL continue to be more and more so recognised by employers, educators and new students.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's still early days for online education, but, be under no illusion, it is not going anywhere and it is a disruption that enables anyone with an internet connection to gain entry to knowledge and expertise that would have once cost them thousands and thousands of pounds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I gave up undertaking a £6000 masters course simply because I had covered the masters' curriculum within many of the MOOCs I had undertaken.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I do not have a masters degree, but I have the knowledge and a proactive adaptability that only cost be some time and persistence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And considering how much undervalued degrees have become with employers and in general, possessing the knowledge and proactive adaptability in regards to my career focus (in my case entrepreneurship) is worth much more than possessing a masters degree that would have just put me into additional debt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do not write off online learning, because it really is worth it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #0b5394;">Anywhere is too much - My advice on where to start</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Firstly...</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sign up to the free self-paced course:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Learning how to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects</span></b></i></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In short this course will benefit you even outside of online learning as it teaches you various invaluable techniques on how to break down vast arrays of knowledge as well as how to ensure that you retain that information. </span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nT5Afh6V6i4?showinfo=0" width="640"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Learning how to Learn</i> - trailer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You know all those supposed techniques of learning you had hammered into you at school - delete them!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Learning how to Learn</i> teaches you how to learn the smart way and it is all drawn from the latest neuroscience research being conducted into learning and memory, so you will be in the hands of educators who know what they are talking about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Therefore buy yourself a notebook and take plenty of notes, but rewrite the lecture points out in your own words, as your brain will much more likely to retain the information - this was a tip I acquired from the course, so it obviously works!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I only wish I had undertaken this course BEFORE I undertook the many other courses I have undertaken. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh, well, you live and learn - that is the point of proactive adaptability.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Secondly...</i></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Find your own way, sign up to MOOCs based on what your projected career focus is or just what are your general interests.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/coursearaaddict/" target="_blank">MOOCs Addicts</a> is a good facebook group to join if you have question, want some guidance or need some MOOC suggestions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or just type "your interests/focus MOOC" into google and see what comes up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Finally...</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">While they are not the only MOOC hosting platforms out there, the following list indicates some very good platforms to begin with... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/courses" target="_blank"><b>Coursera</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Offers free and signature track paid courses with Statement of Accomplishments issued on the successful completion of most free courses and Verified Certificates issued on the successful completion of all paid signature track courses.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.open2study.com/courses" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Open 2 Study</span></b></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Offers exclusively free courses that come with Certificates of Achievement on the successful completion of a course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/categories" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">FutureLearn</span></b></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Offers free courses, with new courses being added monthly, and a Statement of Participation can be purchased on the successful completion of a course.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.edx.org/courses" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">edX</span></b></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Offers free courses that issue Statements of Participation on the successful completion of a course; with the option to pay for a verified route of study that will issue you a verified Statement of Accomplishment on the successful completion of a course.</span></div>
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<a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm#" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">MIT OpenCourseWare</span></b></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the first online learning platforms. This platform has all of the earning materials for its paid degree courses freely available to access, but no statements of completion. This platform relies much more on a proactive learning habit, as there is less direction in regards to how to absorb all of the materials; it really is just a case of getting stuck in and finding your own way.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://alison.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Alison</a><b> + </b><a href="https://www.udemy.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Udemy</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b> </b>+ <a href="http://www.saylor.org/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Saylor</a></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">No idea, as I have not used them yet, but I keep reading good things about them, so what I would say is exercise a bit of proactive adaptability and find out for yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Podcasts</b> + <b>YouTube</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do not underestimate these platforms, as they give you access to ever expanding knowledge. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Listening to over one hundred different podcast shows and well over four thousand hours of content has completely reconfigured my world-job-personal-everything-view... but that is a whole other blog post.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #0b5394;">My approach</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Start with <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learnhttps://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn" target="_blank">Learning how to Learn</a></i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Really invest your time and attention to gaining the most out of completing it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then sign up to another MOOC that is concerned with your area(s) of interest or career focus(es) and then just take things from there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If it does not quite work, just try something else.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's the great thing about online content, there's always additional stuff out there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ultimately, all of this ever expanding and (mostly) free education content - you would have to be stark raving mad not to exploit it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So get proactive and adapt!</span><br />
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-91903318296322970952015-04-16T12:38:00.000+01:002022-05-13T12:38:34.950+01:00Building, crediting and utilising your learning<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><i>On building...</i></span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">While I have undertaken somewhere in the region of fifty online courses, I am not suggesting that you do the same, unless you want to.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Only study as much or as little as you think is necessary and/or your MOOCs/studies indicate you should, but this is where online learning really comes into its own, because it offers you the opportunity to build your own program of study... a program that others can guide you on, but ultimately only you can figure out how much or little you need to cover.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">The reason I have undertaken so many is because I have been pro-actively building my own program of study to satisfy the areas of knowledge I know I need to acquire if I want to achieve success as an entrepreneur - as my current specialization in entrepreneurship should demonstrate - based around the business practice of my multi-faceted focus. </span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies was the degree I studied at university and while it served as a hugely invaluable exploration of two areas I feel very passionate about - writing and film - there other areas of fascination it could not cover.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">If you look at my list of studies on this blog and the various MOOCs I have undertaken, you will begin to see that my focus stretches far beyond film and writing into areas as diverse as neuroscience, entrepreneurship, anthropology, web science, big data, negotiation, conflict resolution, branding, e-learning, psychology, language learning, research methods, human nutrition, leadership, human rights, cyber security, management practice, health and wellbeing.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">I have a transdisciplinary focus which is to say that I have my feet in many different waters of knowledge, precisely because they fascinate and precisely because I know somewhere in all of oceans of knowledge there is a business idea for my entrepreneurial focus.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">A business idea I have been developing directly as a result of having undertaking all of these MOOCs that have been exercising my understanding in all these diverse areas.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">For me, this is why MOOCs and online learning are so invaluable; a taught degree program I have always found to be way too constrictive (and very much out of date), so it was only logical after graduating from my degree I would build my own program of study to expand its focus even more so. </span></div>
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<span face="'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif">This is also why I want to work for myself, because I have yet to find a job that would allow me to satisfy all of these areas. Therefore, like my education, I have to build my own one.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Admittedly, it grew far beyond what I initially anticipated, but that growth was just a natural part of the proactive adaptability have been refining. </span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">The point is, going into it with my first MOOC The Future of Storytelling, I did not know what was going to follow after it, I just completed it moved onto the next MOOC E-Learning and Digital Cultures </span><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">There is still plenty more I would like to study, but for the time being my actual entrepreneurial practice is the focus; as it is being nurtured in my ongoing entrepreneurship specialization, something that is finally acknowledging all of the studying I have done for the past year-and-a-half.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><i>On crediting...</i></span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">What's the difference between a taught degree and a MOOC?</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Credit.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">When you undertake a degree or any university course on the successful completion of the courses various modules you acquire credits points. Basically, you need to acquire enough credit in order to actually be awarded your degree.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">With MOOCs they do not (yet) award credit, so all of the MOOCs I have undertaken have not been building towards being awarded a master's degree; in fact, if they had I would probably already be well past a master's degree.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Anyhow, that is the major difference between the two: with one you accumulate credit that demonstrates you did all of the studies and with the other (if you successfully complete the course and if it awards one) you receive a statement of accomplishment that demonstrates you did all of the studies. </span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Basically, credit costs a lot more than knowledge, you now, that silly little thing you can actually do something with - I know which one I would rather have!</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">What's more employers more and more so really do not care about the credit side of things; all they want is someone who knows the knowledge and can put that knowledge into successful action. </span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Therefore, a Statement of Accomplishment can easily hold just as much weight; a collection of them can really put a credited degree in its place!</span></div>
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<span face="'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif">Everyone else keeps telling me how it will not work, but that's okay, they can worry for me. I do not have time to worry, I have work to do.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">A </span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">However, if you do complete an online course while you will have the knowledge, you may not necessarily attain a completion certificate: either because you did not finish the course in time or because the course does not actually award them</span></div>
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<span face="'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif">A record of your accomplishments</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">and this platform is one way in which I am utilizing my online learning.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><i>On utilising...</i></span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><i>A little and very annoyingly common story in today's world...</i></span> </blockquote>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Not long after gradating I sat for an interview at a creative agency, I told the interviewer all about my First-Class degree and the fact that BOTH of my final dissertations had received the highest marks of their modules.</span> </blockquote>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">The interviewer did not care.</span> </blockquote>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">It was only when I explained that my high marks should demonstrate to him just how much time, hard work and persistence I had put into my creative endeavours that he started to show a real interest in me. </span> </blockquote>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">The moral of the story: degrees count for very little today, employers want proactive, adaptive, hard workers who can demonstrate all of that knowledge and experience in a portfolio of work, either generated from previous work experience or from within an education environment.</span></blockquote>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">I am cutting back, because I have had a solid year of studying and I am having a year of putting those studies into action.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">That need is reflected in my choice of MOOCs </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Not only could I use MOOCs for my professional career focused development, but I could also utilise them for my personal development as an individual (again something that a traditional degree course is hard press to teach).</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">Hopefully by now I have established the inherent need to be proactive when it comes to successful online learning. </span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">That's the great thing about online learning it really is about building your own program of study and taking charge of your ideal career. </span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">And it's (mostly) free - you would have to be a stark raving mad not to exploit it.</span><br />
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">So get proactive and adapt!</span><br />
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0Bristol, UK51.454513 -2.5879123.144279163821153 -37.74416 79.764746836178844 32.56834tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-46384811633117451952015-04-10T18:03:00.003+01:002015-04-12T18:58:19.446+01:00The First Step in Entrepreneurship - Passed with DISTINCTION<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>This first achievement in my Entrepreneurship Specialisation goes some way in bringing together all of the other studies and research in entrepreneurship I have been undertaking since mid-2013. It's been a long road - with still more to go - but I am finally starting to reap the rewards of my persistence.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Coursera have now issued my certificate for <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovativeideas" target="_blank">Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship</a></i>, a MOOC that I started studying in December, 2014 and then officially completed last month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is the first course in <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/entrepreneurship-specialisation-go.html" target="_blank">my online Entrepreneurship Specialisation</a> and I have passed it's first instalment with a distinction!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyy4J78o7G6uAU5G7i9cdrUKeX0dGuObDsXNBaU_jdGxLvemPEeTnNJYdVoYxLLrwKJXEXae5QhRtcijfTnVXHENNlOVDpRRDHla1e4OIUgkMNgYMeCukXkburhs1yIkFHkalH8hBEjVeO/s1600/The+First+Step+in+Entrepreneurship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyy4J78o7G6uAU5G7i9cdrUKeX0dGuObDsXNBaU_jdGxLvemPEeTnNJYdVoYxLLrwKJXEXae5QhRtcijfTnVXHENNlOVDpRRDHla1e4OIUgkMNgYMeCukXkburhs1yIkFHkalH8hBEjVeO/s1600/The+First+Step+in+Entrepreneurship.jpg" height="490" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My First Step in Entrepreneurship signature track certificate and course participation details can viewed <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovativeideas">by clicking on this link</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This specialisation is one component of a number of self-directed pursuits that are making up for the masters degree in Creative Technologies and Enterprise I ultimately decided not to undertake, for a number of reasons. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For more on my transdisciplinary creative enterprising focus and/or my reasons for not undertaking my master degree...</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2015/03/headspace-for-neuroscience-or-not.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Headspace for Neuroscience... or not: Dealing with Multiple Focuses, Burnout and Information Overload</i></a></li>
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2015/03/no-free-lunch-from-me.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>No free lunch from me: Creative Technologies and Enterprise MSc - Withdrawal</i></a></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, this first achievement in my Entrepreneurship Specialisation goes some way in bringing together all of the other </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">studies and research in entrepreneurship<i> </i></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been undertaking since mid-2013. It's been a long road - with still more to go - but I am finally starting to reap the rewards of my persistence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now I just need to <i>officially</i> complete the next two MOOCs in the specialisation - <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovative" target="_blank">Innovation for Entrepreneurs</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/venturefinance" target="_blank">Funding for Entrepreneurs</a></i> - so as to be able to participate in <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/entrepreneurshipcap" target="_blank">the final portfolio</a></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/entrepreneurshipcap" target="_blank"> capstone MOOC</a> that will bring my whole specialisation, hopefully, to a successful conclusion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In this video I discuss my approach to studying and completing <a href="https://www.coursera.org/specialization/entrepreneurship/26?utm_medium=listingPage" target="_blank">the specialisation</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One down, three to go...</span></div>
<br />Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-2558223431892264282015-04-02T03:58:00.000+01:002015-04-02T03:58:51.484+01:00The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound and Colour - MOOC Review & Reflection<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>A very insightful free online course that uses some less known film examples to explore the evolving aesthetics and technologies of hollywood filmmaking. Ultimately, the entire course acts as a widely accessible overview and introduction to the study of hollywood cinema.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I recently undertook and have now completed <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/hollywood" target="_blank">The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound and Color</a></i> MOOC as hosted on Coursera. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7mVeTP3T9lI/VRyvB6YZWQI/AAAAAAAAiSc/IYDNGRnYfsE/s1600/Language%2Bof%2BHollywood%2B-%2BStatement%2Bof%2BAccomplishment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7mVeTP3T9lI/VRyvB6YZWQI/AAAAAAAAiSc/IYDNGRnYfsE/s1600/Language%2Bof%2BHollywood%2B-%2BStatement%2Bof%2BAccomplishment.jpg" height="640" width="587" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My Statement of Accomplishment.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the video below I reflect on my experience of undertaking the MOOC and discuss what I ultimately gained from that experience...</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nQokVViOMRU" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://365frames2015.wordpress.com/2015/03/22/day-081/" target="_blank">365 FRAMES 2015: Day 081 - 22/03/2015</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Overall, a very insightful free online course that uses some less known film examples to explore the evolving aesthetics and technologies of hollywood filmmaking. Ultimately, the entire course acts as a widely accessible overview and introduction to the study of hollywood cinema.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iPMrO0oGEpI" width="640"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The Language of Hollywood</i> - MOOC trailer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can sign up for the next session <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/hollywood" target="_blank">on the Coursera course page</a>.</span></div>
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-46315858576625068692015-03-20T03:29:00.002+00:002015-03-20T06:24:52.783+00:00Headspace for Neuroscience... or not: Dealing with Multiple Focuses, Burnout and Information Overload<div class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I can clearly see the filmmaking entrepreneurship outcome at the end of all my research, studying, practice and endurance. Additionally, the fact that this blog post is still a bit rough-and-ready does not matter (this is the result of my daily mindfulness talking), I am restarting my entrepreneurial filmmaking endeavour by breaking cinema...</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In this (mostly) stream-of-consciousness blog post (I apologise if its a bit rough around the edges) I go about reconfiguring my cluttered state of mind back into to a focused and goal-orientated healthy headspace.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, I discuss:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I start by detailing my recent case of burnout as caused by my cluttered transdisciplinary focus in regards to everything I have been studying and working towards.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I detail my engagement with daily mindfulness meditation, my holistic reasons for undertaking it and my experience with undertaking it.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I transition into my reasoning behind dropping the Creative Technologies and Enterprise masters degree I had been accepted on by exploring my fascination with the human brain as whole, my engagement with the discipline of neuroscience and my aspirations to develop this academically further in regards to my film and media research focuses.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, this line of thought brings me back to my original primary focus of entrepreneurial filmmaking and, as a result, I conclude that I must drop my engagement with neuroscience, at least until I have my entrepreneurial filmmaking practice breaking its own ground. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, using my own case, I consider and reply to the query of another young student filmmaker in regards to the merits of a Mass Communication degree he is considering undertaking and his own aspirations to go on to become a professional filmmaker.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In conclusion, utilising everything that has been set forth, I set down my reconfigured mindset in regards as to what I regard as my current primary focuses and how this will naturally lead towards my entrepreneurial filmmaking outcome.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Let's start...</span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>State of a Cluttered Transdisciplinary Mind</b></span></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Evolution designed the human brain not to accurately understand itself but to help us survive. We observe ourselves and the world and make sense of things to get along. Some of us, interested in knowing ourselves more deeply - perhaps to make better decisions, perhaps to live a richer life, perhaps out of curiosity - seek to get past our intuitive ideas of us. We can. We can use our conscious minds to study, to identify, and to pierce our cognitive illusions. By broadening our perspective to take into account how our minds operate, we can achieve a more enlightened view of who we are. But even as we grow to better understand ourselves, we should maintain our appreciation of the fact that, if our mind's natural view of the world is skewed, it is skewed for a reason."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Leonard Mlodinow, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241960541/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0241960541&linkCode=as2&tag=sometodowithf-21&linkId=TI2EFZ6PVPBAOLLN" style="text-align: start;">Subliminal: The New Unconscious and What it Teaches Us</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=sometodowithf-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0241960541" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i>, 2014:194.</span></blockquote>
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=sometodowithf-21&l=as2&o=2&a=1444722204" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For some time now, I have been finding it increasing difficult to coherently organise in mind, or even to explain out loud, all of the focuses, projects and interests I am currently enrolled within. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Why is this so</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">?</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Because there are too many different focuses occupying my time and energy!</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To name just a few of my current focuses...</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Constructing my personal website</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bringing my podcast project, <i>Breaking Cinema</i>, together for launch</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reconfiguring my financial plan and mindset</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Writing a self-help study guide</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sifting through and reconfiguring a crowdfunding project I filmed last summer</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Studying <i>Funding for Entrepreneurs</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Completing the assignments for <i>The First Step in Entrepreneurship</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Studying <i>The Body Matters</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Studying <i>Neurobiology: The Everyday Neuroscience of the Brain</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reconfiguring my diet, as indicated by <i>The All-Day Energy Diet</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Practising</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and developing my daily meditation aptitude</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Reading well over 10 books</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Working a part-time job (with plenty of full-time overtime) to take care of the bills while accumulating a bit of wealth on the side. </span></li>
</ul>
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<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These are only the 'primary' focuses, they do not include updating this blog or <i>365 FRAMES 2015</i>: my video a day project which always takes up a sizeable amount of time. There are also plenty of additional secondary and tertiary focuses.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The problem is my transdisciplinary inclination - I have always found it incredibly difficult and pointless to study one subject in isolation. I do not see the world like that, I see it as one mass-interconnect-thing. It's all connected. Every effect has its cause and everything effect stimulates further effects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, it is only logical that I would reconfigure my financial plan and mindset while studying <i>Funding for Entrepreneurs</i> and it is equally logical that I would reconfigure my diet while also practising (and refining) daily meditation; in addition to studying the workings of body in <i>The Body Matters</i>.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Holistic and trasndisciplinary - that is how the world works for me.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, the result of this multi-faceted focus is that it is now completely zapping all of my energy and causing me to be increasingly bogged down, which is exactly why I have been gradually descending into full-blown burnout over the last three weeks.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Burnout is detrimental not only because it makes you stone dead miserable, but because it causes you to completely lose your edge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3JRpnDZ9Xb6Vy6wsRj48wXo89_gAhN4U9tan8pmlFzL5yiq_RH2O9Onsu7_nt55LGPkuXMtptTL8ViXQZa_-3hQxn0bStCq5Kbsv3mT5mLnH8FLenYr4LnICIT9JMcAos3tmxMcQWGRYn/s1600/The+Last+Three+Weeks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3JRpnDZ9Xb6Vy6wsRj48wXo89_gAhN4U9tan8pmlFzL5yiq_RH2O9Onsu7_nt55LGPkuXMtptTL8ViXQZa_-3hQxn0bStCq5Kbsv3mT5mLnH8FLenYr4LnICIT9JMcAos3tmxMcQWGRYn/s1600/The+Last+Three+Weeks.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The last three weeks, as chronicled in my <a href="https://365frames2015.wordpress.com/page/2/" target="_blank">365 FRAMES 2015</a> project.</span><br />
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</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I do like my edge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Burning out my Headspace</b></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Burnout is a psychological term that refers to long-term exhaustion and diminished interest in work. Burnout has been assumed to result from chronic occupational stress (e.g., work overload). However, there is growing evidence that its etiology is multifactorial in nature, with dispositional factors playing an important role."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_%28psychology%29" target="_blank">Burnout (psychology), Wikipedia</a></span></blockquote>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On the upside, though, this onslaught of burnout is something that I have been expecting and actively engineering myself towards... so that I can actively avoid it in future.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Burnout is not something new to me, as I experienced it many times during my time at university and each time I did encounter it, I learned from the experience and enacted lifestyle changes that would insure each new bout of burnout would be less severe than the last.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is precisely why after three weeks of going downhill, I am still managing to get by, but it I do not enact further changes soon, things will only get worse.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am completely committed to working for myself and creating my own opportunities, but I know the only way I am going to successfully sustain this in the long-run is to positively manage stress and my workload.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the same way that I have been gradually revamping my diet since 2011, I have also been readjusting my mindset and natural responses towards stress and exhaustion. </span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the same is true of my current burnout.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, there is one key difference this time.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Previously when I had burnout it was always because I had overworked myself by focusing on too many focuses at the same time. While this is certainly true of my current burnout, there is an additional factor that I have been aware of for some time now.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Information overload. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am experiencing Information overload as the result of having my head plugged into so many different focus streams of information.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Think of the brain as a giant board with lights. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Each light represents a concept. When a concept is brought to your attention, that area lights up. With so much information reaching you, many areas are lit up at once. To handle this, your brain uses a controller that focuses attention on the most important area. It also keeps scanning other areas in case they become important. With so much brain activity, keeping your attention focused becomes very difficult. The result is wandering attention, inability to stick to one task and frustration at the constant interruptions from new areas being lit up. At night, while you’re asleep, the controller is still sorting out information, often waking you with ideas buzzing in your head.”</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blynott.com/info_overload.html" target="_blank">Dr. Larry D. Rosen, Professor of Psychology at California State University</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been forcing my brain to turn over too much information, that is precisely why I find it impossible to recall everything I am currently working on - there is too much information knocking around my head on a daily basis.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, in today's internet-centric world and my unquenchable appetite for knowledge who can blame me? </span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But is something is not working, I adjust my approach.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Enter My Headspace</b></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;">"Mindfulness is the willingness to the rest in that natural state of awareness, resisting the temptation</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;"> to judge whatever emotion comes up, and therefore neither opposing or getting carried away with a feeling. Meditation is simply the exercise that is going to give you the best conditions to practise being mindful of these emotions. And headspace is the result of applying this approach. Headspace does not mean being free from emotions, but rather existing in a place where you are at ease with whatever emotion is present"</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;">- Andy Puddicombe, </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1444722204/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1444722204&linkCode=as2&tag=sometodowithf-21&linkId=JUBTDYJZLIYFIBNY" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Get Some Headspace</i></span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;">, 2011:65</span></span></blockquote>
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<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mindfulness is something that I started to dabble with during my time at university, but it was never something that I made stick on a daily basis, until now.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FAcTIrA2Qhk" width="640"></iframe></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The neuroscience behind meditation.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having read about the many empirically proven benefits of practising mindfulness, implementing it into my life on a daily basis has been on my agenda ever since first dabbling with it. </span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Suspecting that 2015 was going to be an especially busy year, I decided that it was now or never, so I have been using the <a href="https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app" target="_blank">Headspace Meditation app</a> introduction course as well as the companion book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1444722204/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1444722204&linkCode=as2&tag=sometodowithf-21&linkId=JUBTDYJZLIYFIBNY" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Get Some Headspace</i></span></a> <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">as guidance. Already, even with my current burnout, I have experienced various calming and positive benefits. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"sitting quietly and meditating is a much more effective way of calming yourself down than attempting to let off steam through another aggressive act. Countless studies have shown the benefits of meditation on stress and anxiety as well as on reducing the risk of heart disease"</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Elkman, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1401945686/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1401945686&linkCode=as2&tag=sometodowithf-21&linkId=GCEQEPBBWJ5UYDS2" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The All-Day Energy Diet</i></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>,</i> 2014: 178.</span></blockquote>
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<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The most primary being that I now look at each new problem without an irrational and immediate response of fear, problems are just puzzles now - fascinating puzzles! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Acquiring daily headspace has the resulting experience of a calm walk in the park, but in practice it is anything but a walk in the park. Like physical exercise or adapting to a new diet, practising daily mindfulness requires a great deal of willpower - it is about developing a whole new aptitude in regards to taking charge of the various streams of information flowing and coalescing throughout your mind.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Basically, it involves sitting still while focusing on the present moment and it's great deal harder than it sounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Could you sit still for 10 minutes a day?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, yeah, I do it on a daily basis and already missed a considerable number of days, but that's okay because you will only ever identify your weak points (for improvement) by failing in the first place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But is it enough to counter my current burnout?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">No, it's not.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hence, why I still feel burnout. </span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just practising mindful meditation each day is not enough, If I am still overworking my body (and the mind is the brain which is a energy sapping component of the body), then I am still overworking my body and experiencing all of the negatives that come with that overtaxed state of being.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the video below (you don't have to watch it) it takes me fifteen minutes with the help of a written list to outline all my current focuses!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ktSKAx5DgvY" width="640"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">State of a Cluttered Life - 365 FRAMES 2015: Day 068 - 09/03/2015</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, I have come to a decision, a decision that my information hungry mind finds very painful and difficult to make, but I am making it regardless.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have decided to cut back on my focuses.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I will continue to cut back until I reach a state of information simplification.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is to say that I can transition all of my focuses into a state of harmony where I can succinctly recall them all in my head at the same time without the aid of a written list.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I can perform that simple act and keep performing this simple act, burnout will have a hard time finding its way back into my life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's about being disciplined </span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As with my transitioning diet and adoption of mindfulness it is going to take great deal of experiential time to get intuitively accustomed to, but I have no doubt that this simplification technique will pay off in the long.</span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But for the time being, the removal of one quite considerable focus is obvious. </span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This focus is an obvious candidate because it is a focus that I really should not be worrying about at the moment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This focus is my fascination with neuroscience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Mastering Neuroscience and Entrepreneurship</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2015/03/no-free-lunch-from-me.html" target="_blank">a recent blog post I commented on my decision to drop my admission to the MSc in Creative Technologies and Enterprise I had been accepted on</a>. The primarily reason behind this decision being that I have covered the majority of the master's curriculum in my own independent research and studies, I studied somewhere in the region of close to fifty online courses, as chronicled on this blog. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In particular, <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/entrepreneurship-specialisation-go.html" target="_blank">my current specialisation in entrepreneurship</a> has proven to be a shockingly formidable alternative to the master's route and I also suspect that its teaching has been more engaging and up-to-date than the master's course of studies would have been.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, there was an additional reason for dropping this masters option, which I did not discuss in my previous blog post - my fascination with the potential of neuroscience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"The science of the mind has been remade by one new technology in particular. Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, emerged in the 1990s. It is related to the ordinary MRI that you doctor employs, except fMRI maps the activity of the brain's different structures by detecting blood flow that waxes and wanes, just slightly, as the activity varies. In this way fMRI offers three-dimensional pictures of the working brain, inside and out, mapping to a resolution of about a millimetre, the level of activity throughout the organ... This revolution has a name, or at least the new field it spawned has one. It is called... neuroscience."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Leonard Mlodinow, </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241960541/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0241960541&linkCode=as2&tag=sometodowithf-21&linkId=TI2EFZ6PVPBAOLLN" style="text-align: start;">Subliminal: The New Unconscious and What it Teaches Us</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=sometodowithf-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0241960541" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>, 2014:6-8</i>.</span></blockquote>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Aside from always being hugely fascinated by the mind and the tantalising possibility of uncovering its true workings in order to better all of our lives, the study of the human neurological system holds huge implications for the field of film and media studies and the practice of future filmmaking. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This area of interest also happens to be one of my main areas of research; as I detailed in <i><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/ways-of-being_5954.html" target="_blank">Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle</a></i>, my award-winning theoretical dissertation:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"the human body as a complex organic whole comprises a major variable that has been missing from all film theories’ understandings of the spectator and spectacle relationship... Perhaps the reason previous film theories have been unable to adequately factor actual audience members into their paradigms is precisely because they have deprived their ideal spectators of a physical presence and a body that can influence the filmic experience! Cognitive theory only incorporates the body as far as being an experience simulator driven by perceptual data sourced via the eyes and ears. However, what if the body was actively influencing the filmic experience as a perceptual membrane on a basis equivalent to the eyes and ears?" </span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/ways-of-being_5954.html" target="_blank"><i>Ways of Being</i>, 2013:55</a></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The issue of the human body as a larger neurobiological stimiulator and influencer in the creation of an individual's filmic experience was one of the primary focuses of my dissertation and it is a focus I carried over into the creation of this blog's exploration of my larger transdisciplinary research focus - transdisciplinary because when dealing with human cognition in relation to film and media many different topics and focuses need to be touched upon.</span><br />
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"The fundamental focus of the project is the idea of an interfacing process - the introspective and expressive capacity inherent to us all - that we have always interwoven throughout our day-to-day existences and that we continue to do so at a formidably greater capacity in our contemporary digital realities. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">By examining the habits and manifestations of our cognitive, corporeal, cultural and connected ways to interface, 'Ways 2 Interface' will aim to build a unified understanding of this interfacing process - the brand at the heart of all our stories."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- <i><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/01/welcome-2interface-something-new-and.html" target="_blank">Welcome #2Interface</a></i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hence why I have been studying so many different online courses, I have been acquiring all of the necessary ammunition I need to tackle this bold new subject of empirical film research that very naturally extends into other areas of human existence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KyQYYLsXhqc" width="640"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How neuroscience, a.k.a. neurocinematics, is changing the way we view film.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I have already commented in previous posts on this blog, this empirical area of research in regards to film and media is a hugely under-explored and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">underexploited </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">area. Although, the rise of neurocinematics looks very promising and is definitely one I want to get my teeth into, as it is a research area that I feel hugely passionate about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Creative Technologies and Enterprise MSc did comprise a research project component which I could have utilised in regards to exploring something within the are of film and neuroscience; while also studying the entrepreneurship components of the course alongside it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But why?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now that I have become well-and-truly acquainted with entrepreneurship, why waste additional time covering the same ground in a costly masters degree, when I could just undertake an alternative masters degree centred around neuroscience and experience a much more cost effective return on all the time and money I would be investing in it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, gradually, I have been making the transition away from undertaking my original degree in Creative Technologies and Enterprise and have been looking more towards all the neuroscience degrees out there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the conclusion of my undergraduate degree in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies, my progression onto a masters or even a PhD was strongly encouraged; particularly based on the ideas of what I had explored in my award-winning theoretical dissertation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was flattered, but only half keen to continue down the academic route, as I commented to my course leader, based on my desire to make films and my inclination for entrepreneurship, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I wanted to get my hands dirty, I did not want to waste away in some quiet corner of a university.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is why the <a href="http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/schools/humanities-and-cultural-industries/courses/postgraduate/creative-technologies-and-enterprise" target="_blank">Creative Technologies and Enterprise MSc</a> degree was offered up by my university, because it is a heavily practical course, the enterprise aspect would have satisfied my entrepreneurial inclination and the research component would have allowed me to empirically continue the research I had started in my theoretical dissertation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even so, though, it still did not feel like the best option for me to undertake; hence, why I have put off undertaking for over a year-and-a-half. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am SO pleased I did, because that year-and-a-half has given me time to explore and expand my focus further; more-and-more so I have found myself being brought back to the unknowns and potentials of neuroscience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, it is not just a case of applying to any masters degree, because, as I did not study a science/empirical research degree at undergraduate level there's quite a bit of foundational knowledge I need to acquire </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">before any university would take my application seriously</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The fast growing field of neuroscience might be crying out for practitioners from all the other areas of study and industry, but if you can not get your head around the basics of empirical variable research practice, then neuroscience is not for you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is why, when you look at the list of online courses/MOOCs I have undertaken over the last year-and-a-half there are a number that deal with acquiring the necessary pre-requisites for undertaking neuroscience as a masters proper, such as:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/good-brain-bad-brain-basics" target="_blank">Good Brain, Bad Brain: Basics</a> (Neurobiology)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/how-to-read-a-mind" target="_blank">How to read a mind</a> (cognitive poetics)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/researchmethods" target="_blank">Understanding Research Methods</a></i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/research-project" target="_blank">Developing Your Research Project</a> </i></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the latest one...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/neurobio" target="_blank">Understanding the Brain: The Neuroscience of Everyday Life</a></i> is a 10 week course and I can already see that it is a minutely accessible course for someone who does not understand neuroscience but wishes to gain a foundational knowledge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is also a course I have been thoroughly enjoying undertaking, but I started this course three weeks ago right when my burnout really started to kick in. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Therefore, I have now discontinued undertaking this course. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I did not want to, but I did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's why:</span><br />
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. A number of filmmaking projects occupied a huge part of my final year of my undergraduate degree and many people were surprised that I did not continue my filmmaking after I graduated.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. The decision not to enrol in any further filmmaking was very intentional because - like my begrudging decisions to cut back on my focuses now - I decided to stay away from film in order to accustom myself with the practice of entrepreneurship. I did not want to do it - it absolutely perplexed and terrified me - but it was necessary for my ongoing growth, so I grit my teeth and got on with it.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. I focused on entrepreneurship because the ability to create your own opportunities and generate income streams from those ventures is the only ongoing career security you can guarantee yourself in today's digitised and increasingly outsourcing world. Additionally, a growing means through which to produce your own filmmaking output is by combining your practice with an entrepreneurial mindest in order to manipulated the mass-interconnected world of Video on Demand and consumer generated content - this is where the filmmakers (should we even still call them that?) of the future can be found. </span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />4. While undertaking my studies in entrepreneurship, I have not only discovered that I fit the profile of an entrepreneur (I am certainly slightly delusional), but the actual practice of entrepreneurship is something I can see I would enjoy undertaking, as it shares many parallels with film-making practice and distribution. </span></blockquote>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lBTMzXYK61A" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Before this year is out, I will hold a specialisation (a mini-degree) in entrepreneurship.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. The realisation that if the entire process of filmmaking and entrepreneurship are so similar and if I have a natural inclination in both fields, then I would be an idiot not to combine them.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, the logical conclusion at the end of these points is that my current primary focuses should be:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">engaging further filmmaking </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">while putting my entrepreneurial mindset into action, in co-operation with my further filmmaking. </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Simple.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I need to focus purely on these two without any other substantial focus (distraction) , such as neuroscience, sapping me of my energy and attention towards the first primary two, I just do not have the headspace for it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is great potential for neuroscience as a discipline and I believe there is a great deal I could bring to the film and media fields. My education has instilled inclinations in both film practice, that I am now continuing in my further filmmaking, and in film theory, that a degree in neuroscience would greatly allow me to expand.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is safe to say that, in order to be taken seriously and if I am serious about pursuing neuroscience, then neuroscience is one field in which I would absolutely need to possess a masters degree. However, this academic route is just going to have to wait and who knows, if I ever do get round to undertaking it, neurocinematics may even be a masters degree in its own right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But for the time being, it is all about my entrepreneurial filmmaking practice, how ever long the realisation of this may take.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is the inclination that felt right when I graduated from my undergraduate degree and I am not going to undertake anything else until I have become an entrepreneurial filmmaker.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">No excuses and no distractions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"My attitude is that now that I have done my degree, I am going to keep working towards what I was working towards - I am going to carry that on..."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Me, 17/08/2013, one month after graduating.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's that simple.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Focusing on Film(making) and its Inherent Entrepreneurial Practice </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While I have been experiencing my burnout and toying with the idea of writing this post, but dreading it because I was so burnt out, I received this query from Anurag Singh Bohra, a young filmmaker in his own right...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dear Peter,</span> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This year I am planning to do a course on mass communication as apart from writing stories I have a passion for article writing as well. Moreover I see as an alternate option to earn a living as film making is a risky profession. I am also thinking of starting my film by 2016 as soon as I am done with my course. Since you are an experienced film maker I need your advice whether a course in mass communication is enough to get started as a film director. Do producers find it suitable to sign a person with mass communication degree as a film director?</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I read Anurag's query, I knew that I had to write this post, because his dilemma shared so many parallels with my own situation and it was only through presenting my situation that I would be able to adequately answer his reply. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"everyone's got potential - everyone should be allowed to achieve their potential. That is what I am doing myself and it is only fair I help other people to do it as well."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-<span style="text-align: right;"> Me, 17/08/2013, one month after graduating.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anurag, </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">in reply and in addition to what I have already said, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">the simplest answer I can provide you with is...</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">... no.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">No, you do not have to have a degree in Mass Communication in order to be a filmmaker or even be recruited as a filmmaker.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If I wanted to become a neuroscientist then I would absolutely have to possess a degree, because a science discipline always requires previous academic weight. However, with the arts and humanities, which a Mass Communication degree would fall under, possessing a degree, especially where film and media is concerned, is rarely ever a required pre-</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">requisite.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In fact, while a degree can be used as a sign of your interest in the field, more often than not, it can be seen as a detriment to your case. J</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ust because</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> you possess a degree in Mass Communication does not mean you actually know how to make a film or understanding the larger logistics of filmmaking practice. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Possessing a degree means you understand theory and are hopefully a critical thinker - that's the established preconception.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is a truly irritating preconception and especially if you do also possess a portfolio of work that does demonstrate you do know how to get your hands dirty as a filmmaker.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And this is the key to becoming a filmmaker or being recruited as one - practice.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If your Mass Communications degree does offer up the education of the practical elements of filmmaking and provides opportunities within its program of study then you may be on to something.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, as I discovered with my degree, be very wary of degree courses that claim to teach filmmaking, because more often than not, they will just teach you the basics - basics you can easily teach yourself with all the materials that are now available on the web. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And quite frankly, if you want to understand the craft of filmmaking, get together with some other like-minded individuals and teach yourself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Two books I would highly recommend as introduction/overviews are:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0374534136/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0374534136&linkCode=as2&tag=sometodowithf-21&linkId=5AU33O5UTBHR3Z5U" style="text-align: start;">The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies and What They Did to Us</a><i><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=sometodowithf-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0374534136" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></span> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">by David Thomson</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0571305032/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0571305032&linkCode=as2&tag=sometodowithf-21&linkId=YPHTZFR7HKYIBF25" style="text-align: start;"><i>Digital Film-making</i></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=sometodowithf-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0571305032" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Mike Figgis</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Other free resources to teach yourself filmmaking:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/explore-filmmaking" target="_blank">Explore Filmmaking: From Script to Screen</a></span> - <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">a free online course</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/videoschool" target="_blank">Vimeo Video School</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://nofilmschool.com/" target="_blank">No Film School</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://filmmakeriq.com/" target="_blank">Filmmaker IQ</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/" target="_blank">Desktop Documentaries</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://creatoracademy.withgoogle.com/page/education" target="_blank">YouTube Creator Academy</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://filmcourage.com/" target="_blank">Film Courage</a></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are so many useful resources out there for teaching the art and business of filmmaking. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Maybe your degree can give access to resources that will assist with this, but at any rate teach yourself and get used to undertaking consistent filmmaking.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You could even do this alongside the degree in various filmmaking projects, how ever big or small your time will allow. The technology is not a problem, everyone has a smart phone, start small and work your way up.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uZxQPrKi6Lo" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do not underestimate the potential or influence of micro-filmmaking. Micro-filmmaking is very easy way to build up a large portfolio of work and outreach.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Just start assembling a portfolio of work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I can not tell you the amount of people, and in particular students, I have talked to who say, "Yeah, I would love to make a film..."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">... and that's it, that's all it will ever be, the dream of an idea that will one day evaporate into just another piece of forgotten potential.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Unless they take action, action that becomes consistent action...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been there, I struggled and I still struggle.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A portfolio is what other people are going to want to see when they are considering working with you, they are much more likely to work with someone who has already actively done something, than someone who has just done a lot of passive studying.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So this is certainly worth considering in regards to whether you undertake this Mass Communications degree.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, if are considering a hybrid career, as I am undertaking and which is fast becoming the standard and healthiest career option, then a degree in Mass Communication might just add additional weight to your filmmaking practice. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You mentioned writing as another passion and alternative income stream.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Certainly, a degree would assist you in this respect and the fact that it is a degree based around Mass Communications, opposed to something more specific, such as Film Studies, means that you would possess a wider-ranging knowledge more able to dissect and comment on the mass-connected-media-centric world we now occupy. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have said it before, the problem with Film Studies is that it is an isolated discipline concerned with a medium that is no longer isolated, like every other form of media, film is now inter-connected with everything else.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Basically, a Mass Communications degree would be more to the world today if you really wanted to apply some theory.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What I am getting at here is if you wished to progress further down the academic route, then a discipline in Mass Communications would provide you with a firm and relevant footing from which to progress.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In terms of writing: fiction, non-fiction, essay, article, review, a degree would help slightly, but it is by no means essential. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As with filmmaking, different writing aptitudes are something you can teach yourself. Starting a blog is a really great way of doing this.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/04hLoV6dRbU" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do not underestimate the potential or influence of blogging (of vlogging). By the way, the Cameo app is a free and easy way to produce micro-films. If you can tell a story in under two minutes with an engaging style and pace, you're already on your way to being an effective long-form filmmaker.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It pains me to admit this, but I spent four years studying Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies and the majority of my writing style and aptitudes I developed on my own - by reading and writing. I read some really great written material and then wrote some pretty terrible originals. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I do not know how much this degree would cost in terms of time and money, but is it worth the cost?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My original masters was not worth the cost. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Why?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It just did not feel right.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"The truth is that our unconscious minds are active, purposeful, and independent. Hidden they may be, but their effects are anything but, for they play a critical role in shaping the way our conscious minds experience and respond to the world."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Leonard Mlodinov, <i>Subliminal</i>, 2014:29.</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Neuroscience is telling us that the unconscious mind is a very formidable piece of software and, more than likely, your unconscious mind has already figured out what you want to do... or maybe it has not yet, but in either case - do what <i>feels</i> right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If it feels right to go for the degree, go for it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you are still not sure, then do what I did and put it off, until you are sure what it is you want to do. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But, if you want to be a proper professional filmmaker in the future then absolutely start filmmaking now, regardless of whether you undertake your degree. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Knowing lots about film and media is great, but it means nothing if you do nothing with it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Start filmmaking now. No excuses.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>365 FRAMES 2015</i> - the video a day project I am currently undertaking - is a perfect excuse for me to exercise my filmmaking skills every single day for a whole year. </span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: start;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I4vrbkgIV4I" width="640"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of my better 365 videos, it only took 48 days.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not every video is brilliant, but that's okay, not every workout session I have produces the best results, but each session, good or bad, does produce results - even if those results are failures that are </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">indicators on how to improve my technique for the next time.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I knew that I was going to do some more filmmaking in 2015 and I wanted to get back in shape AND improve upon my previous filmmaking experience. Making a short video each and everyday, some more ambitious than others, is a perfect way to do this. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Filmmaking is hard - even making a video a day is hard - it is something that really will test your resolve. It is an aptitude that does not jump out of thin air fully formed, it requires an ongoing commitment and engagement. Like my mindfulness exercises, I do them everyday because I know eventually that daily practice will become second nature and, as neuroscience has already generated, this practice will greatly benefit my mind and body. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Likewise, making a video every day will greatly benefit my filmmaking aptitude.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Filmmaking requires a great deal of hard work and many more mistakes besides before you will be at a level where your filmmaking work is off a 'pristine' quality that you will be happy showing to people. But even if it is not that great at first, you can still show it to people, because it's testament of your ongoing commitment to the medium. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And through the process of all this hard filmmaking you will acquire the single most important skill to have as a filmmaker, a skill that no degree course on the planet can teach you - perseverance.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Filmmaking is fraught with obstacles and if you can not persevere through all of these obstacles, forget it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The secret?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just make something. And then make something else. And keep making stuff, keep developing your craft, building a portfolio, spreading your name, networking, collaborating, succeeding, failing, burning out, persevering, filmmaking.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just keep focusing your headspace on becoming a smarter filmmaker and, by smarter, I mean thinking outside of the traditional filmmaking box. The entire medium of film and the business surrounding it is changing, change and grow with it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Embrace the inherent entrepreneurship of filmmaking and being a successful filmmaker involves coming to terms with the financing, distribution and marketing aspects of the craft. However, the ability to find/build/inspire your audience is the key component that will ensure success in the whole venture. You might have the best crafted film ever made, but without an audience there is nothing you can do with it or get in return for it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anurag, the reason why I have include your query in this blog post is to convey you to you that fact that filmmaking, especially today, is hard work, it can be incredibly draining and it is a holistic practice that is inherently transdisciplinary.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today, successful filmmaking requires more that just a technical and theoretical understanding of the pre-production, production and postproduction of filmmaking. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Your degree may offer you a technical and theoretical understanding, but I doubt that it will provide much more besides - the financing, distribution, marketing, networking and endurance skills that are essential to being a successful filmmaker.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although, I could be wrong, because I have not seen the course syllabus or the professional criterias of the practitioners who teach the degree. It could turn out to be quite a radically new type of degree.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, one thing I am certain off is that filmmaking is a very risky profession and so is any form of interestingly fulfilling life.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Filmmaking is an odyssey into the unknown and If what I have said does not feel right, do not be a filmmaker.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, at the end of all this, the questions you should be asking yourself are:</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">what do you want your focus to be?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">how multifaceted do you want it to be?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">how much headspace are you willing to devote to your focus(es)? </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Focusing my Healthy Headspace on Breaking Cinema with Entrepreneurship</b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I writing this post last week, but gave up after only partially writing it, because I was still exhausted from my burnout and my brain just did not want to have to confront it, so instead I focused on working some overtime and doing quite a bit of read.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, now that I have a bit of time away from it and a week without any overtime, I came back to this post and what you have read in this is very stream-of-conciousness record of how my unconscious mind - a formidable piece of software when given a bit of time - has quite naturally sorted out and simplified my focus over the last week.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the beginning of this post I noted that my current focuses were: </span></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">constructing my personal website.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">bringing my podcast project, <i>Breaking Cinema</i>, together for launch.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">reconfiguring my financial plan and mindset.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">writing a self-help study guide.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">sifting through and reconfiguring a crowdfunding project I filmed last summer.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">studying <i>Funding for Entrepreneurs.</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">completing the assignments for <i>The First Step in Entrepreneurship.</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">studying <i>The Body Matters.</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">studying <i>Neurobiology: The Everyday Neuroscience of the Brain.</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">reconfiguring my diet, as indicated by <i>The All-Day Energy Diet.</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">practising</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and developing my daily meditation aptitude.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">reading 14 books:</span></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>The All-Day Energy Diet </i>(now completed)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Odd John</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Amortality: The Pleasures and Perils of Living Agelessly</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies and What They Did to Us</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>APE: How to Publish a Book</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Technologies of Seeing: Photography, Cinematography and Television</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>The Rules of Wealth: A Personal Code for Prosperity</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The Opportunity Analysis Canvas</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The Business Book</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The Queen's English and How to Use it</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The Suitcase Entepreneur</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution in the Digital Era</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Economics: The User's Guide</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>On the Origins of Stories: Evolution, Cognition and Fiction</i></span></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">working a part-time job (with plenty of full-time overtime) to take care of the bills. while accumulating a bit of wealth on the side. </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In addition to:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">networking online.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">studying <i>The Language of Hollywood</i> (now completed)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">studying <i>Documentary: New Trends, New Formats</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">studying<i> Scandinavian Film and Television </i>(already discontinued)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">studying and reviewing <i>Explore Filmmaking: From Script to Screen</i> (already discontinued)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">studying My Copyblogger copywriting course</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">updating my daily <i>365 FRAMES 2015</i> project.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">updating this blog, <i>Ways 2 Interface</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">updating <i>Something to do with Film</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">keeping on top of the story construction for my web series project.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Researching an additional documentary idea I have had in pipeline.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ENOUGH!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is too much, way to much. No more burnout, I like my headspace focused and</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, with the invaluable help of writing this blog post,</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> this is how I have now reconfigured my current focuses:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wellbeing</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Entrepreneurship</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Filmmaking.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Study Guide.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Relaxation.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Temporary Inconvenience.</span></li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And more specifically...</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Wellbeing</b> - the foundation on which everything else is built - without optimum wellbeing you might as well be burnout all of the time - I intend to live a long, healthy and prosperous life.</span></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">daily mindfulness for optimum headspace</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">weekly physical exercise, as ever</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">continue to adjust my diet one day and item at a time.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">study and complete <i>The Body Matters </i>in relation to the above.</span></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Entrepreneurship</b> - essential for future properity</span></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">complete my specialisation in entrepreneurship</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">continue to network and gaining an understanding of building an audience.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">continue to brainstorm entrepreneurial ideas</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">read and complete <i>The Suitcase Entrepreneur</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">continue to reconfigure financial mindset with the assistance of <i>The Rules of Wealth</i>, but this will naturally happen as my knowledge of business finance increases.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">update <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> where necessary.</span></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Filmmaking</b> - essential for a fulfilling life</span></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">continue my daily video a day with <i>365 FRAMES 2015 </i>and occasional other micro films to keep building my portfolio.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">complete development and launch of my podcast <i>Breaking Cinema - </i>the completion of this one in the next couple of weeks is essential as this will assist with audience building<i>.</i> When this is launched move on to finishing and launching your personal website.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">read and complete </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Big Screen.</i></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">occasionally update </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Something to do with Film </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">where necessary.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">study and reference <i>Documentary: New Trends, New Formats.</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">continue to brainstorm ideas for<i> </i>the crowdfunding documentary project and it's second round of filming later this year (<i>365 FRAMES 2015</i> is preparation and practice for this).</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>read and complete Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution in the Digital Era</i></span></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Study guide</b> - essential in order to help other achieve their potential, but this one receives barely an hour of daily time, until I can devote more time to it. For the time being, this one could be considered the hobby in relation to my other focuses listed here, aside from relaxation.</span></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">continue to write self-help study guide one small piece at a time</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">read and reference </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">APE: How to Publish a Book</i></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Relaxation</b> - essential for the unconscious mind</span></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">read <i>Odd John</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">read<i> Amortality: The Pleasures and Perils of Living Agelessly</i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">do not read more than two forms of light reading, one fiction and one non-fiction is a good balance.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">watch films - MUBI and YouTube, sorted.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">find ways to make socialising (with friends and family) interesting in order for it to actually be consistently bearable, the podcast will help with this.</span></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Temporary inconvenience</b> a.k.a. part-time job</span></li>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">keep doing it until you are able to kill this idiotic way of earning an income.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">only do as much overtime as is necessary.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">devote as little of your attention towards it as possible, your mind has better things to be thinking about.</span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's it. I have tested what I can handle over the last two weeks and this is it (remember the questions I left for Anurag at the end of his section): </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">this is what I want my current focuses to be.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">this how multi-faceted I want them to be - you will note that ultimately it does not extend too far outside of entrepreneurial filmmaking. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">this is as much headspace that I am willing to devote to my focuses. </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My human brain is too skewed to handle anything else.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, everything else - including my beloved neuroscience - is put on the shelf for the time being!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Naturally, this list will change as some focuses are completed and new one's take priority. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As ever, life is a work in progress, but for now the above items are my priorities, these are essential for my future success.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If I am serious about becoming an entrepreneur, then this is what I have to do.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The best part?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the time it has taken me to write this blog post, I have already put this ordered reconfiguration into practice and, low-and-behold, my burnout is gone.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now that I find myself organised in my burnout free healthy headspace, I can clearly see the </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">filmmaking entrepreneurship </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">outcome at the end of all my research</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, studying, practice and </span><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">endurance</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Additionally, the fact that this blog post is still a bit rough-and-ready does not matter (this is the result of my daily mindfulness talking), I am restarting my </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">entrepreneurial filmmaking </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">endeavour by breaking cinema...</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-8275024003428224002015-03-10T21:04:00.002+00:002015-03-10T21:04:15.568+00:00Odd John Philosophy: My view on Philosophy as expressed by Stapledon<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am currently reading </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0575072245/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0575072245&linkCode=as2&tag=sometodowithf-21&linkId=47JTJ4LIXIFJUBCE" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;"><i>Odd John</i></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> by Olaf Stapledon, an author who is very close to my heart and a very formidable philosopher in his own right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpbQUlXajIwDXroHQ0aDiwO2r9pI8q1qiAcuPnOlXDCABlF8ioatzI4jRnXoxMbQ8GEZ92vtoNSF9dQyoQVmi2YKHj2rR8RTaBqq9g3jCnwaBCRj07_rCPeGb6cvdsr3Mef7R1JJIcS7x/s1600/IMG_0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpbQUlXajIwDXroHQ0aDiwO2r9pI8q1qiAcuPnOlXDCABlF8ioatzI4jRnXoxMbQ8GEZ92vtoNSF9dQyoQVmi2YKHj2rR8RTaBqq9g3jCnwaBCRj07_rCPeGb6cvdsr3Mef7R1JJIcS7x/s1600/IMG_0513.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, the book's protagonist and antagonist, John, a superhuman, offers the following summary of philosophy and it is a summary that perfectly sums up my feelings on the subject...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"'Philosophy,' he said, 'is really very helpful to the growing mind, but it's terribly disappointing too. At first I thought I'd found the mature human intelligence at work at last. Reading Plato, and Spinoza, and Kant, and some of the modern realists too, I had almost come across people of my own kind. I walked in step with them. I seemed to miss some vital move. The exhilaration of puzzling over these critical points, and feeling one had met a real master mind at last! But as I went on from philosopher to philosopher and browsed around all over the place, I began to realise the shocking truth that these critical points were not what I thought they were, but just outrageous howlers. It seemed incredible that these obviously well-developed minds could make simple mistakes; and so I had respectfully dismissed the possibility, and looked for some profound truth. But oh God, I was wrong! Howler after howler! Sometimes a philosopher's opponents spot his howlers, and are frightfully set up with their own cleverness. But most of them never get spotted at all, so far as I can discover. philosophy is an amazing tissue of really fine thinking and incredible, puerile mistakes. It's like one of those rubber "bones" they give dogs to chew, damned good for the mind's teeth, but as food - no bloody good at all.'"</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stapledon, <i>Odd John</i><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=sometodowithf-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0575072245" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, 2011:31-2</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></blockquote>
<br />Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-23239440701004122342015-03-06T16:26:00.000+00:002015-03-08T17:08:50.357+00:00No free lunch from me: Creative Technologies and Enterprise MSc - Withdrawal<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If courses need to be discontinued, then courses are discontinued. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If redundancies</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> are necessary, then people are made redundant. If a new VC is required, then a new VC is hired</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> - the educated can take care of themselves, it's the uneducated we need to start worrying about!</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After much consideration, studying and an exercise of principle, today I finally withdrew from <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/07/why-2-research-mastering-the-researcher.html" target="_blank">the MSc in Creative Technologies and Enterprise I have been toying with undertaking ever since graduating with my BA (Hons)</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMuqnZgh71LgBZX_TYJx1z-yDmvkJl9-sp6IjVIEeM1BstmOhJlH3VvcOXNjkGtrNunl2lO40Wh7EuxfH1YMTSYZbYH0xIag7E-WCKXTooR9zy7DLy4RvlUjHt7iP-emsrAy6Xwf4NMvb/s1600/CTE+Withdrawal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMuqnZgh71LgBZX_TYJx1z-yDmvkJl9-sp6IjVIEeM1BstmOhJlH3VvcOXNjkGtrNunl2lO40Wh7EuxfH1YMTSYZbYH0xIag7E-WCKXTooR9zy7DLy4RvlUjHt7iP-emsrAy6Xwf4NMvb/s1600/CTE+Withdrawal.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At first a very hard choice and then a surprisingly easy decision to make. Why? See the next screenshot...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Originally, Bath Spa University offered the degree to me for September, 2013; then they offered up February, 2014; with me officially settling on September, 2014 (when the degree actually launched due to enough student applications). However, feeling that there was still more I wanted to do before going back to university, I informed the university to push my entry back to September, 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now I have pulled completely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My reasoning is thus:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In the last year-and-a-half, I have covered the curriculum of the degree in <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/studies.html" target="_blank">the many MOOCs</a> and <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/research.html" target="_blank">independent research</a></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> I have undertaken.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was not overly impressed with the interpersonal approaches or calibre of the teaching staff.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also studied my BA (Hons) at Bath Spa University and, aside from having already moved on, I am a little tired of the university.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As the creative technologies side largely takes care of itself once you have acquired a proactive and progressive temperament. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My main incentive behind taking the degree was for the enterprise aspect, as entrepreneurship is something that greatly excites me. I am currently working my way through my verified <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/entrepreneurship-specialisation-go.html" target="_blank">Specialisation in Entrepreneurship</a> which more than makes up for (and would probably transcend) the teaching in the Creative Technologies and Enterprise MSc.</span></li>
</ol>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, aside from the additional material resources it would have given me access to - definitely not worth £6000 - the Creative Technologies and Enterprise MSc is now redundant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I elaborate in the video below...</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W5uzqnOBetg" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://365frames2015.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/day-063/" target="_blank">Withdrawal - 365 FRAMES 2015: Day 063 - 05/03/2015</a></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the time of making the video above two days ago, I still had not submitted my notice of withdrawal, it was only when I read the following piece of news today, that I </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">submitted it out of principle</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2981009/University-vice-chancellor-spent-42-000-taxpayers-money-jetting-world-BUSINESS-class-just-one-year.html" target="_blank">University vice-chancellor spent £42,000 of taxpayers' money jetting around the world in BUSINESS class in just one year</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xid-0gSo656t5Ob4msPFyFFdWLWjUI_NVFAWugiAD_Yl7jQGmIKTL31ieala3fHffZczddhWr1-jGAIE0tbKZZbSG1neDbvKEv9u4eFVruB3wENC8lZpHyuabefRWyKWytCZPBa5uxhc/s1600/VC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xid-0gSo656t5Ob4msPFyFFdWLWjUI_NVFAWugiAD_Yl7jQGmIKTL31ieala3fHffZczddhWr1-jGAIE0tbKZZbSG1neDbvKEv9u4eFVruB3wENC8lZpHyuabefRWyKWytCZPBa5uxhc/s1600/VC.jpg" height="640" width="568" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thoughts? See screen capture below...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's bad enough they decided to bury their heads in the sand when the government decided to increase the tuition fees, but you must be joking if you think I going to enrol in a university headed by a Vice Chancellor who reinforces the rising of tuition fees by spending tax payers money in order to go globe-trotting to recruit international students to fill the empty spaces.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not only is it infuriating to the UK students who really do want and need to go to university, but it's insulting to the international students who are being conned into fronting the bill.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If courses need to be discontinued, then courses are discontinued. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If redundancies</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> are necessary, then people are made redundant. If a new VC is required, then a new VC is hired</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> - the educated can take care of themselves, it's the uneducated we need to start worrying about!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ODUGfkP7F1cLikwhACnr9Nkru7kuJQB8qntVq351oVTzXSw-fehsnggE8AI4IbeiTpHjQuW7mnOepIzPVG_uF-qwSTHGIVtUJmTbyC6JxH9g-nxMlEg0gxMnZayetojZy5WwA6wj8dlG/s1600/grad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ODUGfkP7F1cLikwhACnr9Nkru7kuJQB8qntVq351oVTzXSw-fehsnggE8AI4IbeiTpHjQuW7mnOepIzPVG_uF-qwSTHGIVtUJmTbyC6JxH9g-nxMlEg0gxMnZayetojZy5WwA6wj8dlG/s1600/grad.jpg" height="570" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hence why I did not go to my graduation. I was a little angry about the whole affair.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What's even more infuriating about this insult is that I am now ashamed to admit that I studied my BA (Hons) at Bath Spa University.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I never actually went to my graduation ceremony, so can it really be said that I did go there?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the very least I did not contribute any money towards the VC's lunch.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bath Spa University, I am grateful for the masters offer and I am flattered that you offered it to me on the strength of my BA (Hons), but this is my final answer...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">No, thank you. The VC can buy her own bloody lunch!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-49835856250078813352015-02-17T04:55:00.000+00:002015-02-17T05:02:01.620+00:00Finance and Film: New MOOCs<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My latest MOOC additions...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/venturefinance" target="_blank"><b>New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs</b></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">University of Maryland on Coursera, 01/12/2014 - present</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have now started the third course in my entrepreneurship specialisation.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUHl3wx0BtH_7IWMMca3rY9bN-9V48iy8Jl1tyKyp7HlFB1eBYqldX2putdApDGUU6rb2P_QeHwTmwp4G-uxGTacTZ-Cd9QiIGBJmbGi1LK8uj8F0xNtOdVZ6I3unufjPhfwdAB3P2MSg/s1600/Funding+for+Entrepreneurs+-+Syllabus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUHl3wx0BtH_7IWMMca3rY9bN-9V48iy8Jl1tyKyp7HlFB1eBYqldX2putdApDGUU6rb2P_QeHwTmwp4G-uxGTacTZ-Cd9QiIGBJmbGi1LK8uj8F0xNtOdVZ6I3unufjPhfwdAB3P2MSg/s1600/Funding+for+Entrepreneurs+-+Syllabus.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Funding for Entrepreneurs - syllabus</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finance is rarely ever an enjoyable subject, but it is an essential one and one that I am fully determined to master!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/hollywood" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound and Colour</a></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Wesleyan University, 02/02/2015 - present</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This MOOC is more of a side curiosity and really is just exploring a subject I have always been fascinated by in the world of cinema - innovation.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iPMrO0oGEpI" width="640"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Additionally, I get to watch a number of films as part of the course which is always a plus.</span></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/scanfilmtv" target="_blank">Scandinavian Film and Television</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">University of Copenhagen, 02/02/2015 - present</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another side curiosity which I am not bothering to study too minutely, I am just using the course materials in order to provide an overview of Scandinavian cinema.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUpUvUO37bnf_bidrLC5AitSn3yoNrG_lDdmJNL9gD9sbPatwwAH9icIkX9PZk8lbCIeC9XkpBMvbC2lHE5Swg_Ba8WuyIOMu8wAg6XewmzeZhoDq4OJuFkTJNdU_Xd88_cYrTjtfBB3D/s1600/Scandinavian+Film+and+Television+-+Syllabus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUpUvUO37bnf_bidrLC5AitSn3yoNrG_lDdmJNL9gD9sbPatwwAH9icIkX9PZk8lbCIeC9XkpBMvbC2lHE5Swg_Ba8WuyIOMu8wAg6XewmzeZhoDq4OJuFkTJNdU_Xd88_cYrTjtfBB3D/s1600/Scandinavian+Film+and+Television+-+Syllabus.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Scandinavian Film and Television - Syllabus</span></span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, I do wish that I did have the time to study it a little more closely, but I will more than likely sign up for an additional session of this MOOC later in the year.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/explore-filmmaking" target="_blank">Explore Filmmaking: From Script to Screen</a></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">National Film and Television School, 02/02/2015 - present</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am not really studying this MOOC as much as I am reviewing it to determine how it teaches the various facets of filmmaking in the online space.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f5sWTjlxf7c" width="640"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, it has been refreshing many of the pieces of knowledge and practice I gained from my BA (hons) in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies. Knowledge that is currently being put into practice in my <i><a href="http://365frames2015.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">365 FRAMES 2015</a></i> project.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.edx.org/course/documentary-new-trends-new-formats-uc3mx-pca-1x#.VOK5evmsV8E" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Documentary: New Trends, New Formats</span></a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 17/02/2015 - present</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This MOOC caught my eye some time back and is one that I have been eagerly awaiting to undertake; mainly because it picks up where my traditional education in documentary left off and considers a subject that is at the heart of the <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> research project and study log - the ways in which we interface with ourselves.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DBJW-C7dj2A" width="640"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Additionally, this MOOC deals with a progressive area that I am currently exploring in my <i>365 FRAMES 2015</i> project; as well as various other creative projects I am developing.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-87392411656748089222015-02-08T03:56:00.000+00:002015-02-08T04:08:25.369+00:00Psychology and Photography MOOCs - completion reflection #IntroPsy #PHOT<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have now completed my 4 week courses in the <a href="https://www.open2study.com/courses/foundations-of-psychology" target="_blank"><i>Foundations of Psychology</i></a> and <i><a href="https://www.open2study.com/courses/the-art-of-photography" target="_blank">The Art of Photography</a></i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have also passed both courses!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Foundations of Psychology</b></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e5RhvqfFef4" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I undertook the <i>Foundations of Psychology</i> in order to provide myself an introductory overview of the field of psychology and to bring order to all of the Psychology literature I have been reading for a decade now, as it is a subject that greatly interests me both from an academic point of view, but also in regards to day-to-day application.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I found the Open2Study course to be a very concise introduction that coherently broke down and explained the fundamental principles of the academic field and of human psychology. Overall, it did exactly what I need to the course to do and I can now approach psychology from a foundation approach from here on out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIztraXROEP_p5jEES_oZcUa-fxVhAAEIR9C9D-0ON9cGFBwcyIrWNKSu4RaJykNFk93uS3RAQfWaxwED-RqqLFYKMh_ccD8V3T7idOVR37V71UFmnQGgnfwxw18ICA19u8AzH3u7nWTn/s1600/Foundations+of+Psychology+-+Ways2Interface.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIztraXROEP_p5jEES_oZcUa-fxVhAAEIR9C9D-0ON9cGFBwcyIrWNKSu4RaJykNFk93uS3RAQfWaxwED-RqqLFYKMh_ccD8V3T7idOVR37V71UFmnQGgnfwxw18ICA19u8AzH3u7nWTn/s1600/Foundations+of+Psychology+-+Ways2Interface.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Owned it.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally, <i>Foundations of Psychology</i> is a prime course to undertake if you are considering studying Psychology over a more prolonged period, as this course will allow you to test the psychology waters and see if you can handle the more laborious and technical aspects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B03T9xrsoj0aZGNGT3R4N2daSmc/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Foundations of Psychology</i> - Certificate of Achievement</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Art of Photography</b></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MynKmBjqbao" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This has been a course I have been meaning to enrol myself in for some time now, as the competent use of a Single Lens Reflex camera is something I have never really mastered; mainly because I have never allocated the time. This knowledge is paramount now that I am engaging myself more and more so in filmmaking and the SLR is the best weapon of choice. A colleague and myself have already experienced many problems with the use of a SLR in a project we filmed last summer and it is not something I am prepared to go through again!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Did this course breakdown and supply the technical knowledge I needed?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And it supplied a great deal more as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having already undertaken a photography course previously and being something of a digital photographer anyway, the theoretical and artistic considerations of photographic practice are something I have already mastered. Therefore, it was very refreshing to see that this course covered those areas of photography in addition to the technical how-tos of actually successfully using your camera.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphxInZwA0aSMBsxEzDmvHqzv-24J1xQjQd9Q456uECN6zvnRsx8K5kGi7-U9CFTj8kXeReJkX4hbed8wTzRFF0uqdxEcT8lNtMDUOcKm4r_m5niFn7zSd3s55l72kptFCsI3IrY9ZycZj/s1600/The+Art+of+Photography+-+Ways2Interface.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphxInZwA0aSMBsxEzDmvHqzv-24J1xQjQd9Q456uECN6zvnRsx8K5kGi7-U9CFTj8kXeReJkX4hbed8wTzRFF0uqdxEcT8lNtMDUOcKm4r_m5niFn7zSd3s55l72kptFCsI3IrY9ZycZj/s1600/The+Art+of+Photography+-+Ways2Interface.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still have some more practice to do.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, I would recommend the <i>The Art of Photography</i> short course to anyone who is interested in gaining an introduction to the discipline of photography and wishes to become an active photographer through the course of doing so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B03T9xrsoj0aOUpHUDhGTDd0b0U/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>The Art of Photography</i> - Certificate of Achievement</a>.</span></div>
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-28437677479731258682015-01-22T12:32:00.000+00:002022-05-13T12:33:50.355+01:00Understanding Entrepreneurship - The First Step in Entrepreneurship MOOC - Completion Reflection<br />
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">I have now fully completed <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovativeideas" target="_blank">Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship</a></i>, the first course in my Entrepreneurship Specialization.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">I passed this first course with distinction!</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUbqnUJJmhRmSxhXenK65LN_uBIKA-IyjgZPN6xswO_8M4Wn8jGNxPBQRAdO15Ta1dCkAoMKcueUzJNZ5Zql9laXgg03NbFsyKUcuT_AizxG_k3bnSxfqHNjZbncaTWAfTwV07TvlDijQ/s1600/IMG_0951.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUbqnUJJmhRmSxhXenK65LN_uBIKA-IyjgZPN6xswO_8M4Wn8jGNxPBQRAdO15Ta1dCkAoMKcueUzJNZ5Zql9laXgg03NbFsyKUcuT_AizxG_k3bnSxfqHNjZbncaTWAfTwV07TvlDijQ/s640/IMG_0951.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">MOOC 1 of 4 of the Entrepreneurhsip Specialization.</span></td></tr>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><i>The First Step in Entrepreneurship</i> is exactly that, it is focused on getting the student to come to terms with what an entrepreneur is and how they go about enabling entrepreneurship.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33tLEF4Iu83z2uVqebrZDH22Nm0iCKsLb8-Oe9T-G7RexCSWEBjFcmdn6RL_JZ0x1viVS1lPDtShLh51N3s6hwXTYQSRSS5qplhvabIhz-3-Ir1BXsMaRaonwCyl32D-fSBDVUzhiIRlJ/s1600/IMG_0950.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33tLEF4Iu83z2uVqebrZDH22Nm0iCKsLb8-Oe9T-G7RexCSWEBjFcmdn6RL_JZ0x1viVS1lPDtShLh51N3s6hwXTYQSRSS5qplhvabIhz-3-Ir1BXsMaRaonwCyl32D-fSBDVUzhiIRlJ/s640/IMG_0950.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">I can believe this.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Weeks 1 & 2 are devoted to the entrepreneur, their mindsets, motivations and behaviours, and weeks 3 & 4 are devoted to practice of entrepreneurship in relation to industry conditions and customer analysis</div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">My review of <i>The First Step in Entrepreneurship</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IMBuhYlWNbZqV5B38Ng8SVoW80YSvtBJN3MfPxibp6puoP-cyxmdHHW3tgXFfQn2a4dSJH0G1IUFLy1oy3Vpq6u-l4FozsX9nuxL_qfI3K1hA81YJx3U9mtfCjZyBQaqmYFNC4YviRZi/s1600/The+First+Step+in+Entrepreneurship.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IMBuhYlWNbZqV5B38Ng8SVoW80YSvtBJN3MfPxibp6puoP-cyxmdHHW3tgXFfQn2a4dSJH0G1IUFLy1oy3Vpq6u-l4FozsX9nuxL_qfI3K1hA81YJx3U9mtfCjZyBQaqmYFNC4YviRZi/s640/The+First+Step+in+Entrepreneurship.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">My verified certification for <i>The First Step in Entrepreneurship</i></span></td></tr>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lBTMzXYK61A?showinfo=0" width="640"></iframe></div></span><div style="text-align: center;">How I studied the MOOC</div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XlLnSdk9c4o?showinfo=0" width="640"></iframe></div></span><div style="text-align: center;">Verification</div>
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0Bristol, UK51.454513 -2.5879123.144279163821153 -37.74416 79.764746836178844 32.56834tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-89085279367127506702015-01-15T06:51:00.002+00:002015-01-15T06:54:44.802+00:00New Year and plenty of new MOOCs to study<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As ever I am studying multiple things at the same time and I have signed up for plenty of MOOCs throughout 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, I have now started four new MOOCs:</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovative" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Innovation for Entrepreneurs: From Idea to Marketplace</span></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; text-align: start;">University of Maryland on Coursera, 05/01/2015 - 15/02/2015</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is the second MOOC in my </span><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/entrepreneurship-specialisation-go.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Entrepreneurship Specialisation</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and, as with the first, the workload is already starting to build up, but I am gaining a huge understanding from the MOOC's content and practice.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.open2study.com/courses/the-art-of-photography" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Art of Photography</span></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">RMIT University on Open2Study, 05/01/2015 - 03/02/2015</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">#phot</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As I have already studied photography previous, this MOOC is really just a refresher and is aimed specifically at providing me with assistance in Digital SLR filming for a number of projects that I have planned this year.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.open2study.com/courses/foundations-of-psychology" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Foundations of Psychology</span></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">RMIT University on Open2Study, 05/01/2015 - 03/02/2015</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">#IntroPsy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For many years I have read an awful lot about psychology, new breakthroughs and the subjects implications on our ways of being. However, I have never had an introductory overview to the subject and as the Open2Study courses tend to be quite compact, I figured this was the best and quickest way for me to gain a consolidated overview of the field of psychology.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-nutrition-food-health-wageningenx-nutr101x" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Introduction to Nutrition: Food for Health</span></b></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Wageningen University on edX, 08/01/2015 - 09/03/2015</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">#NUTR101x</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been getting my health in shape for many years now and over the last three I have placed particular emphasis on my nutritional intake. I have tried various different forms of nourishment and eating patterns as a result. I am now ready to finally consolidate all of the research and studying I have been doing into one systemic lifestyle that I can do as a daily habit and adjust accordingly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have intentionally left this transition to the beginning of 2015 and this MOOC marks my first step in bringing about this systematic consolidation at the beginning of a new year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Furthermore it will undoubtedly crop up in my <i><a href="http://365frames2015.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">365 FRAMES 2015</a></i> project, so there will be no quitting - I will achieve this transition!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Td8HHqvaInwN07PzWFpX2ZPgyk_Ve83dCRBhTDSfPi1z2PkfTt03EY_IvZP3OsVuTrXEJ59IqOyJrnuriLEbcf786_Q06wmELuGQ9kN2tFJGI_RYwXwc4gYUAxkqRn1SgXxlYa-L1mIl/s1600/IMG_5231-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Td8HHqvaInwN07PzWFpX2ZPgyk_Ve83dCRBhTDSfPi1z2PkfTt03EY_IvZP3OsVuTrXEJ59IqOyJrnuriLEbcf786_Q06wmELuGQ9kN2tFJGI_RYwXwc4gYUAxkqRn1SgXxlYa-L1mIl/s1600/IMG_5231-001.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"This is a - excuse me - a damn fine cup of green tea."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is a lot planned for 2015 and all systems are go...</span></div>
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0Bristol, City of Bristol, UK51.454513 -2.587909999999965351.296248 -2.9106334999999652 51.612778 -2.2651864999999654tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-10919286723888611392015-01-06T23:30:00.000+00:002015-01-08T05:28:39.997+00:00A study day (one of many)... #365Frames2015<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was studying one of the bonus lectures in <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovativeideas" target="_blank">The First Step in Entrepreneurship</a>...</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A study day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Day 006 of my 365 Project, <i>365 FRAMES 2015</i>, in which I will be producing a short video for each day of 2015.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXUHISHc0YYmy2iEZJ6hAB2SdTS1fO7By4WmZSM08OPvBuEqC_Z2KDulMb_O-6aieL-VDCziCeE22MiB-roofecLFMX0BZC0VT_UPKq3BbvIQYqCFcTplx3vQtaMIdbaP3vFY7oGRerQkO/s1600/365+FRAMES+2015+-+Day+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXUHISHc0YYmy2iEZJ6hAB2SdTS1fO7By4WmZSM08OPvBuEqC_Z2KDulMb_O-6aieL-VDCziCeE22MiB-roofecLFMX0BZC0VT_UPKq3BbvIQYqCFcTplx3vQtaMIdbaP3vFY7oGRerQkO/s1600/365+FRAMES+2015+-+Day+006.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://365frames2015.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/day-006/" target="_blank">365 FRAMES 2015: Day 006</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://365frames2015.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">See my 365 Project here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-18859201626488297512014-12-21T16:46:00.000+00:002014-12-21T17:44:49.767+00:00English has gone global - Understanding Language - week 4 reflection/course conclusion #FLlanguage #MOOC<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Global English is a major component of the MA in English Language Teaching that the University of Southampton offers in partnership with the British Council; the same MA that this MOOC has served as a brief introduction/teaser for and was very much being crammed down my throat in this final week!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The focus of week 4 of the <i><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/understanding-language" target="_blank">Understanding Language</a></i> MOOC was on english as a lingua franca - a language that is utilised for communication between two or more individuals who do not share a native language - and a consideration of the emergence of the controversial new Global English. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As with weeks 2&3, I did not gain much from this fourth and final week of the MOOC. Ultimately, while it has provided some new insights, I have largely found the <i>Understanding Language</i> MOOC to be a huge disappointment. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kMWGv2zKGS3cWGi2BW4aybvLm4kbgTc9rPm9riQIKsUp9tok2mFESdMCK2fNDrjdQJpbwPWJc02StsTVeFRvJozYzMEx7NdOYPavxO2e6N1ncgFI2FKjmlsqemX-Fp7N3bJ-9rP9cEjk/s1600/IMG_5104-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kMWGv2zKGS3cWGi2BW4aybvLm4kbgTc9rPm9riQIKsUp9tok2mFESdMCK2fNDrjdQJpbwPWJc02StsTVeFRvJozYzMEx7NdOYPavxO2e6N1ncgFI2FKjmlsqemX-Fp7N3bJ-9rP9cEjk/s1600/IMG_5104-001.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Week 4 notes, there were not many.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The week dealt with the historical spread of the english language across the globe while considering whether this was necessarily a good thing and then used this foundation to consider the global presence of the english language today. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In particular, it's role as a lingua franca a.k.a. a go-between language in international fields, such as academic, the UN, etc., was discussed; as was the emergence of english language variants which exist and vary precisely because english has been absorbed by so many different cultures and has been adapted accordingly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This area of teaching and research that is focused on english language variants has become known as Global English and it is quite controversial. Ultimately, Global English is a major component of the MA in English Language Teaching that the University of Southampton offers in partnership with the British Council; the same MA that this MOOC has served as a brief introduction/teaser for and was very much being crammed down my throat in this final week! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI3RGWjtLYPsbvYTab89fJvxvD0rDi_SEHk4PCCT8LkWuyXJXQNf5pKUD2XZ_lxD_pesUHKVmmJ_32AbawPFvm7novXBjpdWPdHv78ZPbvcEIEDUY-Ye7M-dXASSeRV6tvRXKQ8W61_9kl/s1600/IMG_5113-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI3RGWjtLYPsbvYTab89fJvxvD0rDi_SEHk4PCCT8LkWuyXJXQNf5pKUD2XZ_lxD_pesUHKVmmJ_32AbawPFvm7novXBjpdWPdHv78ZPbvcEIEDUY-Ye7M-dXASSeRV6tvRXKQ8W61_9kl/s1600/IMG_5113-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kill the tuition fee and no problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the incentives for universities to create MOOCs is so that they can advertise their institution's expertise and course catalogue in the hope that you might be persuaded to sign up for something - I have no problem with MOOCs doing this. However, if the MOOC offers you next to nothing while it is trying to win you over - as I have found to be the case with the <i>Understanding Language</i> MOOC - I am going to be very annoyed!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yeah, I was not very enthralled by this final week or the way in which it did not really tie together the weeks that came before it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Overall, the <i>Understanding Language</i> MOOC has just felt too much like the University of Southampton was trying to sell me the MA in English Language Teaching, opposed to actually teaching me something new. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was very surprised because the University of Southampton also produced <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/web-science-week-1-reflection.html" target="_blank">the <i>Web Science</i> MOOC I am quite big on</a> and, while that was also advertising a new degree they have started at their institution, the MOOC itself offers you an awful lot on its own!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, not long after the <i>Understanding Language</i> MOOC concluded, FutureLearn announced a new batch of courses and the one created by the University of Bristol caught my eye: <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/cultural-studies" target="_blank"><i>Cultural Studies and Modern Language: An Introduction</i></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have already signed up, it sounds very promising...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"By the end of the course, you will have heard twelve examples about how language and artifacts contribute to culturation and development; collectively these examples will introduce you to a methodology on how to understand other cultures."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While the <i>Understanding Language</i> MOOC has been a bit of a let down, it has at least started to introduce me to the conceptual foundations of language learning, so with any luck the <i>Cultural Studies and Modern Languages</i> MOOC will build on those conceptual foundations and fully set me on my way to start learning another language somewhere down the line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can read my other posts on the <i>Understanding Language</i> MOOC below:</span></div>
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<li><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/11/understanding-language-commencement.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Understanding Language: Learning and Teaching MOOC - Commencement</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/11/understanding-language-week-1.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Do you take my meaning? Understanding Language - Week 1 Reflection</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/classrooms-and-technology-understanding-language.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Classrooms and Technology - Understanding Language - Weeks 2&3 reflection</i></a></li>
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<br />Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-19086967303985610142014-12-19T05:40:00.003+00:002015-02-16T11:45:01.197+00:00Entrepreneurship: Launching an Innovative Business - specialisation is a go<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the primary focuses for all of the studying I have been doing over the past year has been to demystify the many intimidating intricacies of entrepreneurship. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, in order to now consolidate all of the disparate pieces of that learning, in addition to bridging any gaps that still remain in my knowledge, I have enrolled myself on the <a href="https://www.coursera.org/specialization/entrepreneurship/26?utm_medium=listingPage"><i>Entrepreneurship: Launching an Innovative Business</i></a> specialisation as offered by the University of Maryland on Coursera.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A brief overview of the specialisation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Being a specialisation this is a little different to the MOOCs I have taken in the past, mainly because it is made up of three separate MOOCs; with a final capstone project in which I will have to produce a portfolio demonstrating my learning from the three MOOCs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am also paying for this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, at the successful completion of the full cycle of the specialisation I will have gained a verified specialisation certificate and, hopefully, I will finally possess a thorough and working knowledge of the entrepreneurial process.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1mI7Jn10gBs0Gf8MLB7GGpaws6NCzF_E1TmMzsN-7OwNBL5teXSyUy-t1fqJGgEnahppantg6Zdmsk-k_jaDfNF857s-EJMEmMwEzMgeIxEhmJRhx-JyIRJdQKLLNDokAiu21l_Eo19v/s1600/IMG_5109-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1mI7Jn10gBs0Gf8MLB7GGpaws6NCzF_E1TmMzsN-7OwNBL5teXSyUy-t1fqJGgEnahppantg6Zdmsk-k_jaDfNF857s-EJMEmMwEzMgeIxEhmJRhx-JyIRJdQKLLNDokAiu21l_Eo19v/s1600/IMG_5109-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Specilisations (combining MOOCs) are a new offering my coursera, no doubt other platforms with follow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The specialisation is broken down into the following subject areas and timespans: </span><br />
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<li><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovativeideas" target="_blank">Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship</a>, 01/12/2014 - 01/01/2015</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/innovative" target="_blank">Innovation for Entrepreneurs: From Idea to Marketplace</a>, 05/01/2015 - 05/02/2015</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/venturefinance" target="_blank">New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs</a>, 09/02/2015 - 09/03/2015</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Entrepreneurship Capstone, 02/03/2015 - 20/04/2015</b></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am already three weeks into the first MOOC and I am already finding the workload to be pretty intensive, but hugely rewarding! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have spent a good while looking/waiting for an adequate online entrepreneurship course to undertake and this specialisation looks and feels like it really does fit the bill. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have already undertaken a few others on FutureLearn - <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/innovation-and-enterprise" target="_blank"><i>Innovation and Enterprise</i></a>, <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/starting-a-business" target="_blank"><i>Starting a Business: Realise Your Vision</i></a>, <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/innovation-the-key-to-business-success" target="_blank"><i>Innovation: The Key to Business Success</i></a> - and while these did provide many useful insights (which will be invaluable here), overall they just felt a little too loose and i</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">n many ways they lacked the no-nonsense </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">cohesive approach of this specialisation. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2DlXinQPVjMjFX89PCs7jE97ko8ZNI-Em5_wgfCdMWWWxad_lAsCvlviFlgrrBzFVS01xRjq_J4NPcn-gVXgN5wNI97htyU8A4wUln33NtldBxXzlkfhIHt13y_07CB4kneFu6po6mbJ/s1600/IMG_5110-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2DlXinQPVjMjFX89PCs7jE97ko8ZNI-Em5_wgfCdMWWWxad_lAsCvlviFlgrrBzFVS01xRjq_J4NPcn-gVXgN5wNI97htyU8A4wUln33NtldBxXzlkfhIHt13y_07CB4kneFu6po6mbJ/s1600/IMG_5110-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#3 Overall Business Course on Coursera.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first MOOC of the specialisation was named the #1 entrepreneurship course on coursera and t</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">he University of Maryland's <a href="http://mte.umd.edu/" target="_blank">Master of Technology Entrepreneurship</a>, which this specialisation is sourced from, also looks very promising, so I feel like I am in safe hands with this specialisation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I will not be posting a reflection for each week of the specialisation, as that will not be manageable in terms of time or the amount of content I would have to cover. Instead I will be posting a learning reflection at the end of each of the three MOOCs, with maybe a few additional relevant posts here or there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the capstone? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, no idea. I will deal with that one when I get there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If I get there that is... </span></div>
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-41126463968440168972014-12-19T04:16:00.002+00:002014-12-21T16:48:09.619+00:00Classrooms and Technology - Understanding Language - weeks 2&3 reflection #FLlanguage #MOOC<div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe that the current expansion into online learning is starting to change this and all these online MOOCs offer additional study resources for students and educators to exploit. I believe there now needs to be a greater cohesion between face-to-face learning and online learning programs, as both offer merits that supports the other. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Knowledge is great, but the human being evolved as a result of being a social animal.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have bundled weeks 2 and 3 of the <i><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/understanding-language" target="_blank">Understanding Language</a></i> MOOC together because they are really two sides of the same coin. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Week 2: Language Teaching in the Classroom</i> deals with traditional classroom based methods of teaching language</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Week 3: Technology in Language Learning and Teaching</i> deals with progressive forms of language acquisition and it's tutelage in today's digital focused world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This reflection will be a short one mainly because I drew far less from weeks 2 and 3. The content of weeks 2 and 3 was not a poor quality, but rather it was mostly material that I had covered previous and from my point of view is pretty common sense.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #073763;"> Week 2: Language Teaching in the Classroom </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The main emphasis of week 2 is on the classroom, the 'community' therein and how the construction of this collaborative community and the relationship between educators and students is intricately important in the acquisition of new languages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A key point that is made is the difference between naturalist and classroom teaching which is to say that there exists a huge difference between learning a language in a classroom setting opposed to acquiring it by immersing yourself in the everyday culture for which the language you are learning is utilised. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A classroom is a community of practice.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In addition to using the classroom setting to break down a language to it's conceptual foundations, the real challenge for language educators is to structure their programs of study in such a way as to also stimulate naturalists/spontaneous language exchange within in the classroom and its culture of students: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"in the 1970s and '80s, we went through a phase of thinking that classrooms should really imitate naturalistic language learning, and classrooms should be imitating first language learning. I think research in recent decades has told us that that's too simple a story, that classroom learning is a more complex business than that. Yes indeed, classrooms need to provide input, and need to provide a focus on meaning, and on learners making their own meanings, but classrooms also need to provide other things. First of all, it's been shown clearly that classrooms can help learners by actually developing their conceptual understanding of language, giving them key ideas that will help them make sense of the structure of the new language." </span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Professor Rosamund Mitchell, <i>Understanding Language</i> educator</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, I am not really interested in teaching language learning, only in learning a language and most of week 2's content was aimed at language educators. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The above point about the different between naturalist and classroom was not the only main point of the second week, <span style="text-align: justify;">but it is the only thing I have really taken from it - knowledge and experiential acquisition is not all done within the classroom, BUT the classroom can still help a great deal.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As ever, it's case of the best learning is done as a 50/50 split between practical and theoretical practice - something I learned while undertaking my undergraduate degree and presented as a welcome reminder here!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Certainly, I will be bearing this in mind when I do learn a language, whatever that language ends up being...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #073763; color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b> Week 3: Technology in Language Learning and Teaching </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Week 3 of the <i>Understanding Language</i> MOOC was centered around the conceptual explorations of language learning in the digital classroom. A great deal of consideration was directed towards the differences between face to face learning and online learning and what makes an effective online educator. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The basic success requirements of online learning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As this blog will testify, I am big on digital and online learning, as I have already gained a great deal from it and I can see that it has ongoing potential that has yet to be fully tapped into, as I said in the comments section of week 3:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"This is my 36th online course and I have used various different online learning platforms. Overall, I have found it be a vastly more rewarding experience compared to face-to-face learning. The flexibility and choice online learning offers you means that you can tailor your learning to meet the requirements of your own personal development criteria.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I was at university, while I did adhere to the taught program of study, I found myself branching off to seek out other areas of learning that my degree program was not fulfilling, such as basic life and career skills that would enable me to actually utilise my degree when I graduated! This is a common complaint among students and academia seems to think it is okay to exist in a bubble that is far removed from reality.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe that the current expansion into online learning is starting to change this and all these online MOOCs offer additional study resources for students and educators to exploit. I believe there now needs to be a greater cohesion between face-to-face learning and online learning programs, as both offer merits that supports the other.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Knowledge is great, but the human being evolved as a result of being a social animal." </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This social aspect was touched on briefly at the end of week 3 in the MOOC's consideration of connectivist learning.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Connectivist learning - I'm doing it with this blog!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Connectivist learning basically refers to the sharing of informative resources and discussions via discussion forums, social networks, etc., and certainly with something like language acquisition, conducting in this connectivist on an international cyberspace, the usefulness of connectivist interactions in language learning should be plain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, as with the second week, the third week was mainly geared towards the students who aim to go and teach language, either in the classroom or online. OR, as I pointed out, to teach language vastly more effectively by utilising a combination of classroom and online teaching. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, what these two weeks taught me is that if I do eventually learn a new language, then the process of learning I should employ is the process of learning I am already utilising. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Up next...</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/12/understanding-language-week-4.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>English has gone global - Understanding Language - week 4 reflection/course conclusion</i></span></a><br />
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-12927295263846020522014-12-16T06:27:00.001+00:002014-12-17T01:39:25.827+00:00A little ill, a lot slower and all because of STRESS - a warning to any individual who actually wants to get somewhere<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This post is as much of a reminder to me, as it is a warning for others... </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">enduring high levels of ongoing stress is just not worth the cost to your general wellbeing... </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The quickest ways to kill someone of natural causes is to put them in a pressure-centric situation for a prolonged period. The most terrifying part of this proposal is that it's not a proposal</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, we have a society that is built around these situations - we commonly call them 9-5 careers.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First I got a cold, then I got a really bad sinus infection, then they both cleared up and now I have a chest infection - all within the space of 3 weeks!</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The irony is that I am a ridiculously health </span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">conscious freak and I have no underlying health conditions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So why have I suffered so many ailments in such a short period of time?</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #073763;"> Stress. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For over 5 weeks now, </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been working myself way too hard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been doing a lot of overtime for my (usually part-time) t-shirt folding job and I have effectively been working full-time for the past 5 weeks in order to bring in a little extra cash (I have hated every second of it).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been quite uncompromising because even though I have temporarily been working full-time, I have not wanted to fall behind with my studying and creative project - the focuses that actually matter and will get me somewhere - so I have been using every waking second to work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It has been very stressful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It has literally been a pattern of working a shift, studying, exercising, sleeping, working a shift, studying, exercising, sleeping, working a shift, studying, exercising, sleep and absolutely zero downtime for the past 5 weeks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Except for my birthday, when I went to London to see <i>Interstellar</i> in IMAX - ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING - it was also a set of three days when my cold and sinuses cleared up and I felt fine, odd that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I only have a minor chest infection, but I'm still ill and I hate being ill, it just slows you down and makes you feel rotten.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A chest infection is the final straw, I am cutting way back so that this infection will clear up without any complications and when I am back to normal, which will probably coincide with the New Year, I am going to be instigating quite a few radical lifestyle changes, more on these later...</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #073763;"> The truth about stress and why you should do your absolute best to avoid it </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stress, which is almost always associated with someone's job, is one of the primary reasons I am very anti-traditional-work-patterns and by that I mean the jobs that make you work 9-5, five days a week with constant stress and pressure - absolutely ridiculous!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the last 5 weeks only go to show just how right I am.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do not compromise until you are earning a living doing something you feel absolutely passionate about, because if you are working a stress-filled job that you absolutely despise, that stress-filled, 5-9, 5 days a week job will take over your life and will damage your wellbeing according.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Put a very high value on your time and an even higher one on your wellbeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are no excuses when it comes to maintaining a high level of wellbeing, nothing is more important, not even money. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although, you would be pretty stupid to think that was the case and yet so many people do!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I hear it all the time - "It's a really stressful job, but it's worth it and I handle stress really well."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bullshit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is not physiologically possible to endured long and persistent bouts of stress.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Human beings evolved to handle stress in very short doses, when our ancestors were out hunting and gathering, if they encountered a predator then their continued survival would depend on their ability to act fast in the best possible way in order to successfully navigate such a life endangering situation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, in such situations, an endangered human body would get a superfast hit of a hormone called cortisol a.k.a. the stress hormone, which, as <a href="http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm" target="_blank">this article on stress and cortisol states</a>, gives the endangered human:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A quick burst of energy for survival reasons</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Heightened memory functions</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A burst of increased immunity</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lower sensitivity to pain</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Helps maintain homeostasis in the body</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And we still possess this hormonal response today, it's what you feel when someone sneaks up on you and you jump out of your skin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">but our bodies can only handle these cortisol induced hyper-states in short bursts, because the cortisol hormone response demands an awful lot from the human body and after a while, if you are finding yourself in continual stressful situations, the cortisol hormone will just wear down your body.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can never fully eliminate stress from you life, but you can put it in its place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The quickest ways to kill someone of natural causes is to put them in a pressure-centric situation for a prolonged period. The most terrifying part of this proposal is that it's not a proposal, we have a society that is built around these situations - we commonly call it the 9-5 career. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no data to back this up but if you were to go back through history and looked at all of the physical and mental health problems that have plagued human kind you would see a definite correlation between the exercise of the idiotic 9-5 work pattern and general human suffering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yeah, my chest infection has put me into a bit of a festering mood!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stress is one of the biggest killers on this planet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The cortisol hormone is deviously good at severely</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> weakening your immune system when produced in large quantities over a prolonged period of time - hence why I now have an agonising chest infection!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #073763; color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b> A warning and a reminder </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For many years I have known of the health problems that stress can cause mainly because I have suffered so many in the past; in fact every single health problem I have had in the past has always started from an over-worked and overstressed state of not-very-wellbeing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have really let myself down here and I should have known better, because I do know better!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So now I have killed all of the dreaded overtime and will be focusing back more towards my studies, which are rarely ever too stressful, because I am in control of my studies and, therefore, I am in control of how much stress those studies induce.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, this post is as much of a reminder to me, as it is a warning for others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Heed my warning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enduring high levels of ongoing stress is just not worth the cost to your general wellbeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you are overworked, then something has got to give, because at the end of the day, I</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">f you're dead, it's game over.</span></div>
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-77122757540474427982014-12-01T19:04:00.002+00:002014-12-01T19:51:04.209+00:00The web is not an exact science - Web Science - week 1 reflection #FLwebsci #MOOC<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Web Science is inherently transdisciplinary as it is employs many analytical techniques and knowledge bases from other subjects, such as economics, law, psychology, sociology, computer science, etc., hence why I am drawn so much to this subject. The aim is for Web Science to operate very much outside of the box in order to consider the thing we have come to call the web - a thing that keeps growing, that keeps changing and that is anything but an exact science!</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Back in February I started the <i><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/web-science" target="_blank">Web Science</a></i> MOOC as presented by the University of Southampton on FutureLearn, but I struggled to find a way into sticking with the essential focus of its topic. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSnyaM_NZsOnm9_QZxj-MzARo5ibkeQ4M63fk-r0Q4tO7rbRNkmCF8zBzxSAhoCtPkiFQlWdVDexyOAc6G_xiUW0000T3zseczO1LTbbSb9cEVhZqUDbuofd5mEqnOtRD8l0xgVQAMMmX/s1600/IMG_5064-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSnyaM_NZsOnm9_QZxj-MzARo5ibkeQ4M63fk-r0Q4tO7rbRNkmCF8zBzxSAhoCtPkiFQlWdVDexyOAc6G_xiUW0000T3zseczO1LTbbSb9cEVhZqUDbuofd5mEqnOtRD8l0xgVQAMMmX/s1600/IMG_5064-001.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is Web Science?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The main problem was that I lacked a technological foundational understanding in how the web actually works on a software and hardware basis. Therefore, after completing the first-and-a-half weeks, I decided that I would come back to the MOOC at a later date, once I possessed a better foundational understanding.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUJJ8G-1TOiWotcD6KvCG6OInRx5KXBlZvwfC52cNLFrfx5nwM3hnFg3pcJTf5YZXn7vvTw0qPYilcTG14h2e_mDgMmWh_lTTuaZasFYVMP0hl5e4uG0mnyGMYcThj0cQV-0nKqGYiORP/s1600/IMG_5059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUJJ8G-1TOiWotcD6KvCG6OInRx5KXBlZvwfC52cNLFrfx5nwM3hnFg3pcJTf5YZXn7vvTw0qPYilcTG14h2e_mDgMmWh_lTTuaZasFYVMP0hl5e4uG0mnyGMYcThj0cQV-0nKqGYiORP/s1600/IMG_5059.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the great things about many MOOC platforms is that they let you retain access to the course materials long after the course has completed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, now that I have dabbled a little with coding and have (nearly) finished the <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/insidetheinternet" target="_blank">Internet History, Technology and Security</a></i> MOOC, I now possess a basic understanding of the operational processes behind the internet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Additionally, while I was undertaking the <i>Internet History, etc.</i> MOOC and also <a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/2014/11/introduction-to-cyber-security-reflection.html" target="_blank">its kindred <i>Introduction to Cyber Security</i> MOOC</a>, I noticed that my attention kept shifting back to this <i>Web Science</i> MOOC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I was coming to understand the workings of the internet, I noticed that I started to look at my daily usage of the internet in a very different way: a very analytical manner not too dissimilar to the perspective the <i>Web Science</i> MOOC had started to nurture in me...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i>Web Science</i> - an introduction to a bold new academic discipline.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Web Science is inherently transdisciplinary as it is employs many analytical techniques and knowledge bases from other subjects, such as economics, law, psychology, sociology, computer science, etc., hence why I am drawn so much to this subject. The aim is for Web Science to operate very much outside of the box in order to consider the thing we have come to call the web - a thing that keeps growing, that keeps changing and that is anything but an exact science!</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIx6clJ9oJCahWFMik4n0AdUDg7zMWf3h5-hXGoZm-4FuSRS8lfAJI6XlTdfMSFGQC-MF83ugAyDCD96-r9Bj8DJvi4wCCdr_e-1MWwSC7jd13rFumJ1x-Wm4-JPgfxJYznJwAa0LuLFmc/s1600/IMG_5066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIx6clJ9oJCahWFMik4n0AdUDg7zMWf3h5-hXGoZm-4FuSRS8lfAJI6XlTdfMSFGQC-MF83ugAyDCD96-r9Bj8DJvi4wCCdr_e-1MWwSC7jd13rFumJ1x-Wm4-JPgfxJYznJwAa0LuLFmc/s1600/IMG_5066.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The tangled pre-history of the web.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Week 1 of the MOOC provides a brief pre-history and and recent history of the web and this is something that </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Internet History</i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">, etc. has gone into vastly more detail and is accordingly vastly more enlightening. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTsM8BRrHu31ljO2fF2KCD8Bz1h_EnIJtx8B9PCNYIqI_xK1BCQ73jPEKvXDRktpCRbdJSDwzC989kCPLwq0XQ0NJuYxf8vdgJO0BMHTiZ52fGsgOQuPkSlkvK0-Rt0JhcU_iP1BOWqE9/s1600/IMG_5079-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTsM8BRrHu31ljO2fF2KCD8Bz1h_EnIJtx8B9PCNYIqI_xK1BCQ73jPEKvXDRktpCRbdJSDwzC989kCPLwq0XQ0NJuYxf8vdgJO0BMHTiZ52fGsgOQuPkSlkvK0-Rt0JhcU_iP1BOWqE9/s1600/IMG_5079-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tim Berners-Lee is where the 'web' begins, he is not where the 'internet' begins.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe this lack of in-depth consideration of the various phases of the webs history is where I felt really let down and unclear about when I first undertook the MOOC back in February. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, I can not really blame the course as it is called 'web science', not 'internet science' and, therefore, is not concerned with the web's precursor before Tim Berners-Lee's proposal for the World Wide Web in 1989 (also the year I was born). </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Obviously you will need to possess some historical background context for this subject, but for a short course offering, such as this MOOC, you can only expect it to cover so much.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, the aim of this short course MOOC is to supply you with the basic tools in order to encourage you to proactively think much more analytically about the web, how it is changing the world and what role you have to play in this new technology. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the best ways in which the MOOC achieves this in week 1 is in its consideration of technological determinism and in questioning its position that technology is shaped by society in social construction.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4r0AYNs8XaZXD_z1Lfs3tbbU_evTpMNdvNNgCh3-VaJpLLGWHXPEineIqA4FHXQJemsXiTfPtlwtUEqDXhvoznjYepPXHQ-9vccKN5uJ9NA6GGHcDFwSyPmpzrtrn8n1wdZnuiNC85RhP/s1600/IMG_5067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4r0AYNs8XaZXD_z1Lfs3tbbU_evTpMNdvNNgCh3-VaJpLLGWHXPEineIqA4FHXQJemsXiTfPtlwtUEqDXhvoznjYepPXHQ-9vccKN5uJ9NA6GGHcDFwSyPmpzrtrn8n1wdZnuiNC85RhP/s1600/IMG_5067.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Does technology shape society or does society shape technology?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The argument for and against technological determinism was something that was heavily touched upon in the </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/edc" target="_blank">E-Learning and Digital Cultures</a></i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> MOOC I undertook previously. While the concept of technological determinism was introduced to me I did not really grapple with its larger implications.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEEs65lnO3NwWoNwnh1Rk_rVLg7gJYTVZwuFi-LKrJ_n8V3ZYxupWEePTCtFWlHQf7ymHmw5CBN3ZxSQlGuE06tARuBC1uurGcq8bjD3Ln3ZLSnyzsHmIY_qY9b6478O8h0NuU_Scn32R/s1600/IMG_5081-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEEs65lnO3NwWoNwnh1Rk_rVLg7gJYTVZwuFi-LKrJ_n8V3ZYxupWEePTCtFWlHQf7ymHmw5CBN3ZxSQlGuE06tARuBC1uurGcq8bjD3Ln3ZLSnyzsHmIY_qY9b6478O8h0NuU_Scn32R/s1600/IMG_5081-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>E-Learning and Digital Cultures</i> was not a MOOC with which I really thoroughly stuck.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Additionally, technological determinism is not something that was really dealt with in my Film and Screen Studies BA (Hons) either, as technological determinism is something that is more integral in Media Communications concerns. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, while it was never the primary agenda, technological determinism can be seen to have a part to play in my theoretical dissertation </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ways2interface.com/p/ways-of-being_5954.html" target="_blank">Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle</a>; </i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">essentially that the new technologies of cinema were arising out of a consumer demand for bigger film experience immersion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Therefore, my view is very much in favour of social construction</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, not technological determinism, and this is the same view that the </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Web Science</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> MOOC adopts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs345XiakadoEVF_UbNzZVsblukHt_xoQYuBMn8UZKCTcGnSY0afd72KjJKbseFlLJCp400NSvPMNLPTNZJeP3CzRuK2-t27Tx5CLuw7lfbaDY65gKs-5L9HGLaBnK9LnGCGgkmNXPuL3U/s1600/IMG_5074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs345XiakadoEVF_UbNzZVsblukHt_xoQYuBMn8UZKCTcGnSY0afd72KjJKbseFlLJCp400NSvPMNLPTNZJeP3CzRuK2-t27Tx5CLuw7lfbaDY65gKs-5L9HGLaBnK9LnGCGgkmNXPuL3U/s1600/IMG_5074.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why is a discipline such as <i>Web Science</i> is so integral?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"There are some bits of technological determinism that work. Certainly, the kind of technology </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">in the Web, its openness, its democratic features, those things shape how the Web is. But </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">there are other things which are very much part how we, as human actors and agents and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">societies, take that technology and do all sorts of different things with it, things that Tim </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Berners-Lee couldn't even have imagined, so Facebook or Twitter, for example"</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Catherine Pope, Web Science educator.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Technology does not just change us, it is much more about us influencing technology - the web is a major and direct example of this. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMLTtv8YLqTE8OkFjHEv7_bWx_FaBmNtj7o2JKnFqscPb9uGMM8hfsxBklI3skp1D7wf165t1W4Li__7bHPAWLyToqtrtFI7JJZhQObpesbDmZXB8HKiDgQtBXrBEla5Lo0SAzRoy7I6B/s1600/IMG_5070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMLTtv8YLqTE8OkFjHEv7_bWx_FaBmNtj7o2JKnFqscPb9uGMM8hfsxBklI3skp1D7wf165t1W4Li__7bHPAWLyToqtrtFI7JJZhQObpesbDmZXB8HKiDgQtBXrBEla5Lo0SAzRoy7I6B/s1600/IMG_5070.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Social shaping vs. technological determinism - which do you support?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On the whole, social shaping has become the dominant view and the web in particular is a primary example of how society shapes new technologies to fit the needs of society:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; text-align: start;">"The state of the market, or better, of society is the crucial factor in enabling the development and diffusion of any communications technology or in hindering it. That is as true of the computer chip and the Internet as it was of the telegraph and the telephone. Thus, innovations are the creatures of society in a general sense."</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; text-align: start;">- Brian Winston, <i>Technologies of Seeing</i>, 1996:3.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is why the further development of a discipline like Web Science is so strongly advocated and needed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Certainly, in terms of Film and Media disciplines, this is what I was getting at in <i>Ways of Being</i>: </span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"In short, there is too much indifference in Film Studies.The discipline is too focused on cave-like thinking and film theory of the past; a pantheon of knowledge that is becoming continuously outdated and finding itself at odds with new advancements and diversifications, such as the digital re-birth and large format hypercinema. Film scholars have always sought to understand the spectator’s and spectacle’s mutual pursuit of enlightenment; while they have uncovered aspects of it, there still does not exist a single unifying explanation of the profound processes of that relationship"</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <i>Ways of Being</i>, 2013:105.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, while my focus may have been towards Film and Media disciplines, by not considering the networking-and-interactions of these technologies and processes is insane and this is very much the incentive behind creating <i>Ways 2 Interface.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUm87WGB0_T-KALjLqCPuy6LMehp0COBBu6y32UKhyUH_CMdWApBIuwnyhH-s4ax9d0qg7lv2lq9cUynoBMfQOAXl8jS36kOfVLc375dsVcxQhzXF5fHmfpXs7WF_x6wOEDfQCu4F-pcnr/s1600/IMG_5086-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUm87WGB0_T-KALjLqCPuy6LMehp0COBBu6y32UKhyUH_CMdWApBIuwnyhH-s4ax9d0qg7lv2lq9cUynoBMfQOAXl8jS36kOfVLc375dsVcxQhzXF5fHmfpXs7WF_x6wOEDfQCu4F-pcnr/s1600/IMG_5086-001.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some notes I made while planning out <i>Ways 2 Interface</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have created <i>Ways 2 Interface</i> as a web blog precisely because it is considering the relationship of the spectator and the spectacle in film and media as connected globally in the thing we have called the web - it is analysing the the very thing of which it is a part. </span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Everything that has been presented throughout this paper is representative of the shift in thinking that is slowly taking place alongside the digitalisation of cinema and needs to continue to take place! In moving away from the cave, we have stopped viewing spectacle content on a screen, and we now experience and interact with it via an interface. If there is a great deal of neurobiological participation happening on the spectator’s part, then perhaps this offers a more accurate way to talk about the process by which the spectator interfaces with any type of film spectacle. While this section can not hope to provide many answers to the questions it has raised, one obvious conclusion should be apparent - all these diverging means of experiencing the world will continue to have huge implications on our ways of being in the world"</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <i>Ways of Being</i>, 2013:151.</span></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, the web has adopted cinema into its paradigm and this is the reason for why I am so fascinated by the web - it's a direct and vastly intricate expression of the relationship of the spectator and the spectacle like we have never seen before!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Certainly, Web Science will be huge help and an additional component of this transdisciplinary consideration I have taken up.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpCqUHsXGyTDE0pSzSRXbl-W2BbQagKy6NOQt82SlE6dP-U8m0fik6nhvRpudDwu_M0kCFdn-9MK7lGTNhxpIHXUqxWCZLk-oXY92xE0L2cJ3CCDumQLosS-TGmUhWZkiPV3xRzT7FxFD/s1600/IMG_5069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpCqUHsXGyTDE0pSzSRXbl-W2BbQagKy6NOQt82SlE6dP-U8m0fik6nhvRpudDwu_M0kCFdn-9MK7lGTNhxpIHXUqxWCZLk-oXY92xE0L2cJ3CCDumQLosS-TGmUhWZkiPV3xRzT7FxFD/s1600/IMG_5069.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Is the web guaranteed to exists indefinitely? </span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am currently undertaking quite a few MOOCs (as always) and while I do plan to finally work my through and finish the <i>Web Science</i> MOOC, it may not be any time soon, I will be engaging with the MOOC materials whenever I can make the time for them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, I do not think that making time will be a problem as it is clear that the knowledge this MOOC will nurture in me will have a clear and primary role to play in my further studies and research interests.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9fm5t0WkLVtZhLuaxP6u_Ji7TxROUykh-HpqVEy2H80ORkG8xkMkgHEmYFFCTNqmUjL_7EcsZbB4W23cYYeGzco-eb8Ffqd76OdxpyoyUqUMWY0tN25vmUbJHgOVmprh4wevUWFexybv/s1600/IMG_5073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9fm5t0WkLVtZhLuaxP6u_Ji7TxROUykh-HpqVEy2H80ORkG8xkMkgHEmYFFCTNqmUjL_7EcsZbB4W23cYYeGzco-eb8Ffqd76OdxpyoyUqUMWY0tN25vmUbJHgOVmprh4wevUWFexybv/s1600/IMG_5073.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The web a.k.a. unlimited potential. We have barely scratched the surface. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The web is for everyone and for everything, but it is not an exact science, it is something that we have to keep working at in regards to how we further develop it and how we continue to analyse it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's Web Science.</span></div>
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Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077768338344551586.post-66918042881531320392014-11-29T01:02:00.000+00:002014-11-29T01:02:01.907+00:00Information is an asset - Introduction to Cyber Security - completion reflection #FLsecurity #MOOC<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Successful and vigilant cyber security requires a proactive attitude in order to maintain your current situation and to be on the look out for new updates. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Ultimately, it's not just about changing some passwords and then sweeping all concerns under the carpet.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Introduction to Cyber Security</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic;">is not a quick fix, it's a quick introduction, beyond it's teaching, you have to keep running with what you learned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have now completed <i><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/introduction-to-cyber-security" target="_blank">Introduction to Cyber Security</a></i> (a week ahead of the official completion date) and the main realisation I have taken from the course is that all information is an asset, especially your personal information!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiEc-489K9jZXFYvAmoMZCY0yuY9Lc89a6ch1BlI1XEj2lpVTBS0F3Xsvo-4d6oPEp46XaITT8DSX9X0wy6i_iFMvqGTEa2Kiq97RP9_6vRfTLVwqMInAFSvgDdkyJLJwDMSJ7Exjoysk/s1600/IMG_5056-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiEc-489K9jZXFYvAmoMZCY0yuY9Lc89a6ch1BlI1XEj2lpVTBS0F3Xsvo-4d6oPEp46XaITT8DSX9X0wy6i_iFMvqGTEa2Kiq97RP9_6vRfTLVwqMInAFSvgDdkyJLJwDMSJ7Exjoysk/s1600/IMG_5056-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All done and dusted.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our day-to-day activities online and on our personal computing devices offer countless means for our personal data to be compromised and exploited by cybercriminals. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Introduction to Cyber Security </i>offers a great deal of clarity on this subject by providing overviews:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">of the threats that currently exist and how they actually function</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of how you can minimise the possibility of being a victim to one of these threats.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">of what to do if you are compromised by a threat.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of real life compromisation examples: how they happened, how they were dealt with, the long-term consequences.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">of how computing, online networks and digital security systems actually function </span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of how computing, online networks and digital security systems are often compromised.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of how cyber security is not an exact science and never will be - it's about educating yourself to always be on your toes!</span></li>
</ul>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5oAgxIzaq0E" width="640"></iframe><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cory Doctorow presents <i>Introduction to Cyber Security</i></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The main idea to understand in regards to implementing strong cyber security is in understanding three basic aspects underpinning effective security:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Confidentiality - our data to only be accessed by appropriate individuals.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Integrity - our data to only be manipulated by authorised parties.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Availability - our data to be accessible whenever we want.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once you have these principles understood you are in a vastly better position to assess your own cyber security in regards to your daily activities and the other individuals and/or organisations with which you come into contact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If authenticity can not be verified or if confidentiality can not be guaranteed, then there is cause for concern.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk8Xw5Gka9_PDB7asedQngv-g9OskLy4HVgI_4mVjFGwD2G5gwK6bbsorWj6dkJaWGaJims_kOXZpXqUL0caz_s7KFuIsbzTqd-ptadX0n_NbWYQR9HtUXSygbLCBMdvAesqv6YiCb-Lt/s1600/IMG_5025-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk8Xw5Gka9_PDB7asedQngv-g9OskLy4HVgI_4mVjFGwD2G5gwK6bbsorWj6dkJaWGaJims_kOXZpXqUL0caz_s7KFuIsbzTqd-ptadX0n_NbWYQR9HtUXSygbLCBMdvAesqv6YiCb-Lt/s1600/IMG_5025-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">CIA - Confidentiality Integrity and Availability.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While undertaking the course, you are very much encouraged to put into practice what the educators advise as minimalising your exposure to a potential threat. This practice is very accessible as there are many step-by-step guides included as part of the course materials.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The undertaking of this course has been pretty well timed, as improving my cyber security situation is something that I have been very actively improving for some time now; in particular since August when I was having trouble with my desktop computer and then when I was setting up my new laptop (which I acquired to replace my desktop computer). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A couple of months back my bank account was very nearly compromised, but fortunately my banking security got on the case and my credentials were reset and no money was lost. I still do not know how my bank account was compromised, but this incident has made me much more vigilant in regards to my cyber security practice. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJpvr0LvtAMK42cbqo7US4Z6_nLEk0wFyThYaNJXhwoNk2p4SKXnZdK-6r4SAntBcFrAxZDD6OL9SNAFOvWA68ZxkpK8OA1PFqcA5P0m46CVP4zqamKljh3Oq2S4uFEVluYJtLBpfZghK/s1600/IMG_5008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJpvr0LvtAMK42cbqo7US4Z6_nLEk0wFyThYaNJXhwoNk2p4SKXnZdK-6r4SAntBcFrAxZDD6OL9SNAFOvWA68ZxkpK8OA1PFqcA5P0m46CVP4zqamKljh3Oq2S4uFEVluYJtLBpfZghK/s1600/IMG_5008.JPG" height="640" width="452" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, the <i>Introduction to Cyber Security</i> course has served as a natural progression on from what I have already done by filling in the gaps of what I had not done or of which I was a little unsure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The course is broken down into the following areas: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Week 1: Threat Landscape</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Week 2: Authentication</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Week 3: Malware</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Week 4: Networking and Communications</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Week 5: Cryptography</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Week 6: Networking Security</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Week 7: When Your Defences Fail</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Week 8: Managing Security Risks</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The time span and content of the course has quite nicely and reflexively criss-crossed with the <i><a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/insidetheinternet" target="_blank">Internet History, Technology and Security</a> </i>MOOC I have just about completed. In many ways the <i>Internet History, etc</i> MOOC has lain the historical and technical groundwork for what I have been learning in <i>Introduction to Cyber Security</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The two MOOCs very strongly compliment each other and I would say that the Cyber Security MOOC is the natural successor to take after completing the </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Internet History, etc.</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> MOOC.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Only the last two weeks of the <i>Internet History, etc.</i> MOOC have been devoted to security, so I have been given a huge and very detailed preview of those last two weeks with the <i>Cyber Security</i> MOOC. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is just as well, as I suspect I would not have been able to have been able to get my head around the concept and workings of public and private keys in the <i>Internet History, etc.</i> MOOC had I not already encountered it in the <i>Cyber Security</i> MOOC. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AnUDTy7JyxS3X4YQIY6GrvS1CuWW7_9I4xVoqGQSReCIN9bDpuxCYxlQdRPWCkjYgcVYug2RHgCLoNvb9p_IsW33zNZX0ScLNkNIsA1sqZVYgNdq9eIC2NOS2UsMgiURfJTR2u0XWJJM/s1600/IMG_5048-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AnUDTy7JyxS3X4YQIY6GrvS1CuWW7_9I4xVoqGQSReCIN9bDpuxCYxlQdRPWCkjYgcVYug2RHgCLoNvb9p_IsW33zNZX0ScLNkNIsA1sqZVYgNdq9eIC2NOS2UsMgiURfJTR2u0XWJJM/s1600/IMG_5048-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The internet - a network of networks.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Likewise I would have struggled with the presentation and explanation of internet networking, communications, IP protocols, etc., in the <i>Cyber Security</i> MOOC had I not already had it very minutely illustrated in the <i>Internet History, etc.</i> MOOC.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, one of the most startling discoveries I have had revealed from both of these MOOCs and which has provided even more incentive to become highly literate in cyber security is the fact that the internet is not encrypted - it's an open space for all to see what passess through it (if you know how). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The reason for why the entirety of the internet is not encrypted is because it would require way too much computing power to encrypt and decrypt every single piece of information that goes through it. Therefore, only sensitive material, such as online payments, are encrypted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfjoQs6LprKKUuHF1BLmdACSsUSSPRhROphOBS221YQrE3FBqPmyYpp2Dk4JannB69Nz_CcxIe1JwPSbr33HGLIIeI1N6iew7A_RVgwAr3F5RK0FqzzRud0ykcAIksJ-6o0D4uHL-b8Rx3/s1600/IMG_5053-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfjoQs6LprKKUuHF1BLmdACSsUSSPRhROphOBS221YQrE3FBqPmyYpp2Dk4JannB69Nz_CcxIe1JwPSbr33HGLIIeI1N6iew7A_RVgwAr3F5RK0FqzzRud0ykcAIksJ-6o0D4uHL-b8Rx3/s1600/IMG_5053-002.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">https - the 's' tells you that the current webpage you are on is secure and is a verified web page. If you click on the padlock a drop down will reveal more information about the web page you are on. The main point to be taken from this is: if there is no https and the web page is asking you to hand over some personal data - don't, because that web page is not secure!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Additionally, a user can choose to encrypt their data where appropriate (emails being a primary target), but only when the user understands how to go about utilising encryption and decryption and this is something that the course touches upon an encourages.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have implemented many of the </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">course's </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">suggested practices, such as:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">taking stock and organising of my information assets (this is ongoing, it's a lot of stuff to get through)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">rejigging all of my passwords and setting up a password manager (this took the better part of a day)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ensuring that my security software and firewalls are up to date</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">utilising signed and encrypted email (I am working on this)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">being aware of how exposed I can leave my devices and data in public spaces and securing them </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">appropriately</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">nurturing better awareness of tell-tale signs of threats and indications of strong cyber security, e.g. phishing emails, checking for https.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-nbnBcjTLMAX1z2kdysX8kDht01FpMuHWfNJc7mTivWhZrTeM5Glxv5CsVpZwwG-CrU0V4hSIAyu_gsXQ3nJ3bLxSB-oggfhbRtOw5Ylpc4hpcVn13kBxzsxo5rMLXqHg-8eKZZATu1n/s1600/IMG_5051-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-nbnBcjTLMAX1z2kdysX8kDht01FpMuHWfNJc7mTivWhZrTeM5Glxv5CsVpZwwG-CrU0V4hSIAyu_gsXQ3nJ3bLxSB-oggfhbRtOw5Ylpc4hpcVn13kBxzsxo5rMLXqHg-8eKZZATu1n/s1600/IMG_5051-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It can get confusing, but understanding it will make you literate and cyber secure.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
</div>
<ul>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe there are two issues are at the root of the reason for why so many people of ignorant towards their own cyber security and how that can be hugely detrimental to them:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lack of overall understanding to all the threats out their, how to counter them and the consequences of not countering them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">getting into and staying in the habit of consistently maintaining high standards of cyber security practice.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I have come to learn from the course, understanding all of the potential threats, how you can counter them and what are the long term consequences of not countering them is easy, once you invest the time and effort into actually understanding the emerging subject of cyber security.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, consistently maintaining high standards of cyber security practice requires vastly more effort and that is the challenge I am starting to understand now - starting is easy, staying in the habit requires much more effort and perseverance. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not all aspects of cyber security are convenient or painless and, as the internet and the technologies and the algorithms that support the internet continue to grow and change and improve, so too will the cyber threats. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT8TQ7W6c_Y1H6TTygmdgN9XIRdW_Frd29pdIgpUocwXudOWqrO1mxYy7XEDAFHgqfCMBlCTefSaL-yiD61-yZ0l0aOCqJ5YmEkfX_TEA2lqhJideTNKqmqqpE1dxK5Vj1MegwrdmVDNuP/s1600/IMG_5052-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT8TQ7W6c_Y1H6TTygmdgN9XIRdW_Frd29pdIgpUocwXudOWqrO1mxYy7XEDAFHgqfCMBlCTefSaL-yiD61-yZ0l0aOCqJ5YmEkfX_TEA2lqhJideTNKqmqqpE1dxK5Vj1MegwrdmVDNuP/s1600/IMG_5052-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cyberspace cryptography.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Successful and vigilant cyber security requires a proactive attitude in order to maintain your current situation and to be on the look out for new updates. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, it's not just about changing some passwords and then sweeping all concerns under the carpet. <i>Introduction to Cyber Security</i> is not a quick fix, it's a quick introduction, beyond it's teaching, you have to keep running with what you learned.</span></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For quite some time now I have placed a great value on my time, even greater than I place on money - time is finite, but you can always acquire new money! I also place a high value on my overall well-being which I also place this higher than money - if you're dead, you can't make any money. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like time, health and money, your information - your identity - is an asset. A very valuable asset! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Therefore, realise, as I have, that if you want to keep your information/data/identity/cyber presence healthy, secure and in a position to keep you financially content, you are going to have to invest consistent amounts of your time into maintaining a vigilant defence about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2-yLjQu2JkTXL-TfYISPcNimtxk21WUBdYjb5Tns0WPlSJxr-Yto_XGLoxK3tnzn6gh14Wn4kpBbuIY_TP76B7APNWZLyfADWpU97VR7oa-O3vNfGp-IJw0_PtfDc4DJuiSD1W-zy1WI/s1600/IMG_5045-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2-yLjQu2JkTXL-TfYISPcNimtxk21WUBdYjb5Tns0WPlSJxr-Yto_XGLoxK3tnzn6gh14Wn4kpBbuIY_TP76B7APNWZLyfADWpU97VR7oa-O3vNfGp-IJw0_PtfDc4DJuiSD1W-zy1WI/s1600/IMG_5045-001.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Common tell-tale signs of a phishing email - delete these!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ultimately, like the Open University's earlier <i><a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/managing-my-money" target="_blank">Managing My Money</a></i> MOOC (which I have yet to complete) that offered a grounds up look at basic and successful personal finance terminology and practice, <i>Introduction to Cyber Security</i> is designed for anyone and is intended for anyone - utilise this free resource and reaps the rewards further down the line.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Information, just like time or money or maintaining good health, is a vital asset of a productive and fulfilling life - do not allow it to be compromised. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Your information is an asset, so look after it!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Be smart and be secure.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Peter O'Brienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16331786661079602602noreply@blogger.com0