The entrepreneurship specialization sequence of courses I have been studying on the Coursera platform since December 2014 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.
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 (before coming to my logical senses).
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.
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.
To this end, I have added to two further Coursera Specialization course sequences to my self-directed study portfolio:
Emerging Technologies: From Smartphone to IOT to Big Data
As offered by Yonsei University and composed of the following courses:
Career Success
As offered by the University of California Irvine and composed of the following courses:
To this end, I have added to two further Coursera Specialization course sequences to my self-directed study portfolio:
Emerging Technologies: From Smartphone to IOT to Big Data
As offered by Yonsei University and composed of the following courses:
- Smartphone Emerging Technologies - done
- Big Data, Cloud Computing & CND Emerging Technologies - done
- Internet Emerging Technologies - doing
- Internet of Things & Augment Reality Emerging Technologies - to-do
- Wireless Communication Emerging Technologies - to-do
- Emerging Technologies Capstone - to-do
 |
| Emerging Technologies: From Smartphones to IoT to Big Data |
As offered by the University of California Irvine and composed of the following courses:
- Project Management: The Basics for Success - doing
- Work Smarter, Not Harder: Time Management for Personal and Professional Productivity - done
- Finance for Non-Financial Professionals - done
- Communication in the 21st Century Workplace - done
- High-Impact Business Writing - to-do
- The Art of Negotiation - to-do
- Fundamentals of Management - done
- Effective-Problem Solving and Decision-Making - done
- Essentials of Entrepreneurship: Thinking & Action - doing
- Career Success Capstone Project - to-do
 |
| Career Success |
I have decided to commit to completing these two further specializations, because:
- 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.
- 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.
- The courses within each specialization are self-paced, so I can very easily spread the workload around my other commitments.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Furthermore, there is an additional self-paced and incredibly thorough Digital Marketing specialization (that is itself one module of a larger online MBA) I have been seduced by and plan to undertake once I have my Emerging Technologies and Career Success specializations out of the way.
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.
But digital marketing is not the current focus, emerging technologies and career success with entrepreneurship is.
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.
However, as our changing times are increasingly showing, this is proving to be more and more not the case.
Furthermore, there is an additional self-paced and incredibly thorough Digital Marketing specialization (that is itself one module of a larger online MBA) I have been seduced by and plan to undertake once I have my Emerging Technologies and Career Success specializations out of the way.
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.
But digital marketing is not the current focus, emerging technologies and career success with entrepreneurship is.
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.
However, as our changing times are increasingly showing, this is proving to be more and more not the case.
