For the last decade or so, I have been very keen on many online education providers such as EDX and Coursera, and firmly believe in the MOOC Revolution. MOOCs (or Massive Open Online Courses) are a course of study made available over the Internet without charge to a very large number of people. Their value really comes from their ability to deliver high quality higher learning classes for free to places that have no access to such a service. When EDX started, for instance, I was taking classes constantly – ones about epidemics, and space science – just all sorts of random topics.
I have used these platforms to broaden my horizons past what I learned during my university education. Rather than waste money, I tried not to venture to far out into my “comfort zone” when I was in school, and only took classes that pertained to my major or minor. To take a page from Odin’s playbook, I hunger for new knowledge and strive to better myself in any way that I can with new knowledge being my point of attention. Granted, I’m not sure I would sacrifice a body part for said knowledge, but who knows.
Sooooo. that brings us to today –
Last week I got a targeted Facebook ad for a UK-based company called Centre of Excellence, which is a for profit online course provider backed by professional accreditation from CMA:
Our courses are accredited by the CMA (Complementary Medical Association), which is internationally recognised as the elite force in professional, ethical complementary medicine by professional practitioners, doctors and, increasingly, by the general public. Upon completion of the course, you can gain membership to the CMA, which in addition to supplying a professional accreditation, offers a number of benefits. Our courses are also endorsed by the ABC Awards and Certa Awards Quality Licence Scheme.
COE Website, FAQ Page
I figured, what the heck – Normally, courses from COE cost upwards of $135.00-$150.00 USD, but I was able to use a coupon code to get the class for around $30.00. The price really isn’t that bad, and they run coupon codes constantly, I’d imagine its hard not to take a class at a large discount. Upon completion, this class comes with a few certificates – Granted, I took a humanities class, so I’m not sure how useful a certificate in this would be in the real world, but that really isn’t my concern. I wanted to test this new service out and see if I can recommend it to everyone.
Compared to the previous two companies I mentioned, Coursera and EDX, there is the fact that there is a giant pay wall around the content. The way those two work is that the material itself is free, but if one wants to get a certificate, a “donation” of sorts for $25-$50 dollars is required. and with EDX, you can only take tests if you have purchased the class. I prefer this method, because you could easily try to take a class way over your head and have to back out – not having wasted money would be a good thing.
Another key difference between those two and COE is that they usually contain video lectures from top teachers in their field, some that are renowned Harvard or MIT professors. This COE class is entirely text-based and reads like an old-school correspondence class. This isn’t a bad thing at all, the material was very well formatted, and just as good as a video, but it makes it come across more antiquated somehow.
Note: Some COE classes may have video content for all I know, this one did not.
This class was split into 12 modules, usually containing 4-5 lessons in each module. at the end, each had a short quiz to make sure you comprehended what you just read. The information contained and structure is reminiscent of a high-level high school, or Gen Ed college class about the same subject. There isn’t much in the way of in-depth analysis on any given topic, and everything is somewhat broad. This class could be used as an outline to further your studies.
Something that could have made this class better would have been assigned readings. Often times, this class makes reference to various sections of the Havamal or Eddas and just gives a quote. Perhaps having guided readings would have given a further understanding of the material. Honestly, as it stands you could probably learn the same material as this course from reading a basic book or, in all honestly, the Wikipedia page for Norse Mythology.
That isn’t to say that this class was bad, I just feel that it was too basic for me, which I can’t really fault it on since this was an experiment, and it lacked the amount of content I am used to from other providers. For example, in my article Free Pagan Learning, I looked at a class on The Icelandic Sagas from the University of Iceland. This was akin to a higher level university course on the subject, and was full of videos, readings, interviews and much more. For the same price, I felt like I had a more complete experience.
One good thing I can say for COE is that they have a WIDE variety of classes that may interest readers of this very blog. A quick glance though their listing for the more metaphysical and religious classes yields courses on Wicca, Khemetic shamanism, and a few Viking classes. Due to this (assuming I can find a coupon lol) I will likely try these guys one more time to see how a second class would go.
In conclusion, this class is a solid introductory class for Norse Mythology, and while its not flashy, the information is sound. Honestly, if I had to pay full price I would have felt ripped off due to the structure and format of the course, but for $30.00 it was not a bad deal. Similar MOOCs are technically the same price, if not more, if you get the certificate. My only issue is the pay wall, I wish the info was free with an option to upgrade. If you are even somewhat well-read in Norse religion, you will feel like you way ahead of the class, so I would only get this if you want to perhaps teach your kids about the subject, or show a total novice what you are into etc.
Stay tuned for more educational posts on here, and perhaps I will revisit COE and see if they are worth your while.
