Normally through the summer, I like to do a (fairly large) bunch of MOOCs.  I do this to keep my study habits sharp, and learn lots of new things … Or re-learn old things, as I’ve re-done MOOCs to cement my knowledge before.

This summer, I don’t think I can be bothered.  One issue is that I think I fairly well burned myself out with revising for the MST124 exam.  As great as it felt to put that exam in its place, I was still academically exhausted after.  Another issue is that there just aren’t any good MOOCs right now.

Which I’m sure isn’t true.  There aren’t any that I’m interested in that are high quality.  What I should really be doing, right now, is studying for a Cisco CCENT or CCNA.  And I tried.  But I tried using a Udemy “MOOC”.  I’m not going to name and shame the specific one I tried (I actually tried multiple, but one stands out), because I think the entire Udemy business model is flawed and engenders worthless courses that aren’t fit for purpose.  It was basically as though some guy wrote some notes from an actual MOOC, turned them into a PowerPoint presentation, and video taped himself reading it.  It’s completely worthless as a way to assimilate knowledge.  The others, whilst providing additional materials, were essentially the same.  Their pedagogical value was very close to nil.

Let’s put it this way: I now have more respect for Microsoft training.  Which is still pretty close to zero, but it’s a tiny bit less close to zero than it was two months ago.  I’ll probably end up taking TM257 and TM357 now, though.

The flip-side to taking it easy is that I’m going stir crazy.  My brain’s dying to learn, so it’s occupying itself with other things in the mean time.  I wanted to improve my handwriting and writing speed as both of my exams next June will be written exams.  What started as a perfectly logical plan of action quickly devolved into me becoming completely obsessed with fountain pens.  (Though common here in the UK amongst school children when I was going through the system, I never touched one in the States until I’d grown up, and then tried a defective one that put me off trying another for decades.)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy in my obsession, especially as I know it will die down and disappear soon (like all of my obsessions) but it’s not exactly productive.

Anyway, I’m going to give a few eBooks a go for preparation for M250 and TM254, but mostly … I’m taking the summer off, academically speaking.