Several months ago (wow, that was May!), I talked a little about online classes that the digital scrapbooking community might enjoy. It seems like more and more great classes are popping up, like “Every Life Has a Story” at The Digi Chick. I know a lot of you are taking Ali’s Yesterday & Today class at BPS as well.
I know I certainly loved taking a small group photography class recently and getting to interact with like-minded people. Forums and blog comments and Twitter can only do so much – sometimes you like to actually talk to someone!
Hanging on the coat-tails of yesterday’s lively discussion, I wanted to keep us talking. I’ve listed some of the things I’m interested in below. Please don’t feel like you have to answer every question, by any means.
- What new classes in our community excite you? (whether or not you can/will take them)
- Have you taken any online classes in scrapbooking (digital, hybrid, paper), photography, design, typography, productivity, or organization?
- What worked well in these classes? What would you have liked to see changed?
- What was the time commitment involved? Were you able to keep up with the assignments?
- Is there a difference to you in self-paced (w/ forum support) vs. instructed-led courses?
- What affects your decision to take an online course?
- Most importantly, on what topics do YOU need additional instruction, guidance or inspiration?
I like to think I ask these questions on behalf of many of the education providers in our community. I didn’t consult my colleagues and this isn’t a formal survey, but I think we’re all interested in knowing how we can improve the services we provide to you. Speak your mind!
An Unrelated Side Note
I didn’t exactly pull out all the stops for this year’s Blog Action Day (that being today), but Scrapper’s Workshop dedicated a whole post to digital scrapbooking as a green alternative to traditional paper scrapping. I hope they don’t mind that I nabbed their little graphic. Jenn has some excellent points. Since I never paper scrapped, I hadn’t really thought in depth about the eco-friendliness of digi.
I’ve taken both the photography courses offered at JessicaSprague.com, led by Candice Stringham. She has videos, a private forum, PDF downloads, weekly assignments, live chats, and feedback on images posted in a private class gallery. There is nothing I would change about the content or format. I learned a TON, and would highly recommend them! Candice’s teaching style is fabulous – makes it seem easy enough to give you the confidence to try it yourself.
I would love to see an affordable class on beginner digital design. I’m interested in learning more, but don’t want to pay too much just to learn the basics, KWIM?
I am currently taking a class over at RAKs which is a self pace class. I like these the best. I am also learning digital graphic arts at Whispers which is more of a weekly class. When there is no pressure to finish an assignment by a certain date, I tend to experiment more with what I have learned. I get more out of the class then.
I started taking a class online by a well know instructor (I don’t want to flame her here) and dropped out because the class was so lame. She would take you through the steps, but she never explained why or what we were really doing.
I would like to learn how to make my own templates.
I’ve taken several online classes at Big Picture, and never finished any of them. I think it’s because I don’t have the structure of having to BE somewhere at a certain time. I keep putting it off until the next hour, day, week and then POOF! class is over. It sucks. 🙁
I have never really thought about taking a class. Mostly because I wonder what I could learn in a class that I couldn’t from forums and trial and error and experimentation on my own. And with only so much money to spend, I think I would go for a kit I really like over a class.
But, I was tempted by the DigiChick class mentioned above. I think the main reason I did not enroll was that I just didn’t have any expectation of what I would get for my money. I recall there was a list of what was included, but it wasn’t detailed enough for me to believe it was worth my money.
I do want to start scrapping more about myself, and more story/legacy type of things, so that’s what would tempt me to enroll. Knowing myself, deadlines would be good for me, but I wouldn’t want it too structured.
I’ve took several digital classes, free ones only. But my problem is: I register myself and then I forget to get the classes, or if they send me e-mails for reminding me I have no time for taking them, or I think that I don’t have time.
At all, I’ve never had a digital class, because I am too much lazy for taking them.
There is a website (www.hummiesworld.com) that offers lots of tutorials. Some for free, but the BEST value is in the subscriber area, where you can learn everything from getting started with choosing a program, to creating your first layout, to playing with your photos and learning new techniques (playing is FUN!), even on DESIGNING!!! There is always a class going, and you can choose to join a class, or work at your own pace. There are written tutorials in PDF format, and also video tutorials. The videos are wonderful. Hummie has such a relaxing, soothing voice, and it is SOOOOO easy to follow along with her!! In many cases, there are downloads to go along with the lesson. You have access to all of this for the low price of $5.50 per month!! No where else in scrap land can you get such an awesome deal!!
I love tutorials but never took an online class for several and different reasons. Often I’m very tempted but then I think…language problems (with video or chats) that switch my attention and lead to shyness in interaction with mother tongued people, anxiety with due dates for assignments and the fact that my time isn’t at all mine to handle (I have to take care of a Alzheimer affected mom) stop me. Besides I hate to leave assignments unfinished, so…I look at them but stay away…
Ciao, ri