MOOC = Massive Open Online Course

One of the biggest trends (and controversies) in higher education right now is the proliferation and use of MOOCs, inside and outside of the classroom. And while this is a controversy that gets more heated all the time, it’s also something that can be quite beneficial to the general populace—because top professors at top universities are involved in creating MOOCs which are courses designed for you to take from home, online at no cost in anything other than a time commitment.

Just this weekend, I signed up for two courses in the field of higher ed, and while I was doing so, I noticed that several platforms offer creative writing courses and even some editing courses. Then, there are those that are more business related, too. So I thought I’d share some of the ones I found.

I have not vetted the content or quality of any of these classes. I’m sharing these because they look interesting and I thought they might be helpful.

Open University
Start Writing Fiction: Have you always wanted to write, but never quite had the courage to start?
Writing What You Know: Do you want to improve your descriptive writing?

Coursera
Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade: Learn to become an effective builder of sentences using the basic tools of grammar, punctuation, and writing.

Michigan State University
Thinking Like a Writer: This course will help you learn to revise more effectively, but you’ll revise more than your writing. You will: revise how you think, revise how you understand yourself as a writer, and revise how you write.

MIT
MIT has a bunch of writing-related courses listed on their OpenCourseware site.

Canvas Network
Stunt Writing for Personal Growth: he Stunt Writing For Personal Growth class includes prompts, lectures, readings and discussions for writers of any age, at any level. Inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous quote, “Do one thing every day that scares you,” Stunt Writing For Personal Growth is a process that uses writing as a tool for you to learn about yourself, and gain skills in communicating your own unique story.

And, let’s not forget:

Writing Series Index on KayeDacus.com!