The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Bex on April 03, 2015, 06:35:48 pm
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So it begins!
It's my first course and I'm really looking forward to it.
Took me a little while to get to grips with the layout and where everything was but I really enjoyed all the vids.
I'll go through them all again in a day or two before I attempt the quiz.
How many of you are doing it too?
What did you all think of it?
:)
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I'm doing it too.
Does that mean you've finished all the work for the first week Bex? I haven't started yet !!
I made the mistake of subscribing to the introductions thread, in my innocence. Nearly a hundred emails in my inbox later I think I've unsubscribed again :relief: Having rural broadband, as opposed to urban broadband, makes getting so many incoming mails a disaster.
Still, just a glitch.
I'm really looking forward to doing the course. It seems a bit more formal than some of the MOOCs I've done, but my chickens and I are ready for the challenge :chook: Somewhere around 9,000 students doing it.
It's not too late to join, for anyone who meant to but forgot earlier.
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Does that mean you've finished all the work for the first week Bex? I haven't started yet !!
Oooh, I don't think so!
I've watched all the video lectures (they're only a minute or so each) and I'll watch them over again a few times yet. There's also some reading recommendations I'll look at (if I can remember where I saw them!)
As far as I can see, once you've seen and read it all then you do the quiz. You get three tries and they take the best result of that three each week for your overall assessment mark. Does that sound right?
Like I said, this is my first course so I'm struggling a little with the layout of the site and where exactly everything is but I think I'm getting it.
Nearly a hundred emails in my inbox later I think I've unsubscribed again :relief:
Ha! Yeah, I took one look at that and thought 'no way'! I'm on rural broadband and an incredibly old computer, I think it would have had a fit with all those emails!
It'll be interesting to see how everyone here likes it. I've been out of education for 12 or so years and really looking forward to doing this course. I'm watching for a free space on the horse course too :D
:excited: :chook: :excited:
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I've now watched all the videos, done the quiz (got one question wrong, not because I didn't know the answer but because I didn't read the question ::) ) and started the Smithsonian article. I eventually found that bit because I thought there must be more to the course than vids.
Now to find where to discuss the week......
It looks like fun, but not as formal and heavy as I had expected.
I know there were several other TASers doing the course, so looking forward to hearing what they think too.
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I'm doing it too :excited:
Just finished watching the clips and the first quiz too 8)
I like the extra resources provided, hope I get around to read as much of that as I can.
I've previously done one other course on here (Equine Nutrition), which had rather long clips, and I have to say I find the short ones here much easier to work with. They load quicker, and it's easy to go back and watch again just the bits you think you need a repeat on.
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I am about to start.
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I have just done the first week, where are the sdditional reading materials?
i like that the videos are so short.
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I also completed the first week yesterday. It is really interesting but I felt a bit superficial. I have read the additional articles - they added a bit extra to the learning experience. I am looking forward to see how it progresses.
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I have just done the first week, where are the sdditional reading materials?
i like that the videos are so short.
On the left, there is a list: week 1, week 2 etc. If you go there (slow to upload) you'll see a couple of links to extra reading. One is quite long and is a link to a Smithsonian semi-humorous article.
If there are more extras then I don't know where they are.
I agree Louise that it seems superficial so far. After a big build-up, the Google Hangout didn't work, which I found quite funny. On other courses I've done they haven't gone smoothly either :D
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i really like coursera, unfortunately don't have enough internet access for this just now but perhaps I could catch up with it if possible.
it might not be superficial to beginner chickeners!
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Done the first week now and aced the quiz (second time as I pressed a wrong button first time round! ::) )
FYI some of the questions were different the second time I took it, so if you found yourself wanting more quiz questions you could do the quiz all three times (they take the highest score anyway, so as long as you get them all right once you don't risk your score)
Off to check out week two now.
;D
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Ive done week 2 and for the first time in my life ended up with the very impressive score of 19 out of 17! :excited:
( Sadly its a computer glitch!!)
As a novice chook keeper Im finding it very interestng
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Just finished week 3 and I'm finding the course increasingly interesting.
The bit about males fighting over dominance has been useful. Having a cockerel and an older cock, there has been some fighting between my males as the younger one has matured. Previously I have intervened to prevent damage to the birds. The course showed though that one would back down, maybe run away and hide. He would also stop crowing. Once that new order has been established, the fighting stops or diminishes.
So last time there was a bust-up I let them get on with it, one chased the other all around the orchard, as in the video clip, then the cock submitted, stopped fighting and ran away.
Interestingly, the young cockerel now has all the hens in his harem, and the old boy is on his own. He spends his days sunbatheing with the sheep, or foraging amongst them. He spends the night in a separate house with some 12 week old pullets which are not going out much yet.
I have found the bits about aberrant behaviour interesting too, especially the fact that my free range hens show none of the problem behaviours at all :thumbsup:
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Starting the final week. All about commercial production and chicken death, so it won't be my favourite week.
Is anyone else still with us? :chook: :chook: :chook:
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I'm still on it too :chook:
Finding some bits very interesting, and other bits I'm already familiar with, but all in all I'm finding it very well done.
Having trouble finding regular time for it - had to catch up on 2 whole weeks last weekend!
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I am still wending my way through, but am a week behind at the moment. I am really enjoying it, and have picked up some useful information. We are set for a wet weekend so I shall aim to get caught up over the next few days. Wonderwool took all my attention last weekend!
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Ditto Louise, Im also a week behind now. No idea how that happened
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I'm still here too!
Been away so I'm also behind ::)
Going to catch up this week. I'm really enjoying it.
I'll be looking for more animal/smallholding related courses when this one's done, so if you spot any do please point them out ;D
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I've started on week 5. I am truly shocked about the housing which qualifies as 'Free Range'. Wait until you get to that bit - I will be most interested in other's opinions. All I can say is that now I fully understand why our genuinely free range eggs are so popular :chook: :chook: :chook:
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I am soooo far behind
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I had a bit of a marathon session on Sunday whilst OH was out on his bike and finished the course. I too was a little taken aback by the housing, and interested in the view put forward by the vet that commercial free range is possibly not the best in terms of welfare. I keep reminding my hens that they live a carefree and pampered life!
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Deadline for the work is tomorrow morning for anyone not finished yet.
I've watched the vid's and read most of the recommended reading and then completed all the quizzes.
Are the quizzes the only marked worked? I just want to check I haven't missed anything!
Is there anything I have to do to submit them or are they just automatically marked when finished?
I didn't really like week 5. Being confronted with the reality of how most chickens, especially egg laying chickens live wasn't nice.
I have really enjoyed my first foray into learning for many years though and I'm on the look out for more courses.
:thumbsup:
Do I remember another couple of free online course websites mentioned?
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The best one is Futurelearn. I've done quite a number of their MOOCS, on all sorts of interesting subjects. I have 4 more lined up for this summer: Shipwrecks; Monitoring climate from space; Soils; and Nutrition and wellbeing. I'm looking forward to them all.
I thought the Poultry course came to a rather abrupt end, on a rather unpleasant note.
The score for each quiz appears at the top of the page after you've submitted it, so you know your score straight away. If you didn't do as well as you wish, you can try again - 3 efforts altogether. I don't know how you get your certificate, although I think you had to request it at the start.
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I agree Fleecewife. it was as though they got fed up of it near the end!
I also had no idea about commercial free-range housing. I thought it was supposed to be far far better than it is. Just goes to show how little we know whats going on. At least all our hens have genuinely good lives....even though my Black Rocks will be Coq au Vin if they dig any more of OHs veg up!