College courses available on DVD
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Learning isn't just for kids — even the kind with a curriculum and classroom teacher.
Many of us well past college years yearn for those days when we could sit in a classroom and soak up wisdom — some history or English lit, for example, that we missed on campus when focused on sports, major courses, or finding a mate.
Now, we're working or otherwise too busy to enroll. Or maybe embarrassed to join a class with students 20 or 30 years younger.
Here's a solution I discovered recently: college courses on DVD. With these, a learner can watch some of the country's leading professors teach their subjects, from history, music, and religion to calculus and astronomy. The instructors present a coherent curriculum through a series of lectures that are interesting to viewers who want to learn that subject.
The benefits are many: You can learn simply by watching the video courses (or listening to audio editions); there are no papers, tests, or grades; and you can pause the lecture, rewind and watch it again if you want. You can also collect a few friends to watch and learn together.
When a brochure and course list from The Teaching Company arrives in my mailbox, I decide to choose a few courses and try this approach to learning.
The catalog is also on The Teaching Company's Web site (www.teach12.com or 800-646-3128). Courses are available on DVD and videotape, as well as audio editions on CD and audiotape. Each course is 6 to 60 hours long, divided into 30- to 45-minute lectures and accompanied by a 50- to 80-page course guide.
The Teaching Company reportedly chooses professors by identifying the best, rated by teaching performance, awards, peer evaluations, and other sources. Sounds promising so far.
My personal goal is to learn some history over the next few months, so I choose Foundations of Western Civilization, World War II: A Military and Social History, and Great World Religions.
Economics is a subject I always avoided in college, but now I think it's essential for understanding politics in our country. I figure a video course is the most painless way to get the basics, so I pick that course, too.
On my wish list are courses in psychology and philosophy, music, literature, and more. Not on my list are some that might interest you, including calculus, physics, mathematics, and biology.
The course lectures are well-organized, clear, and without frills. After seeing countless movies on the same TV screen, watching a relatively immobile person stand and talk is a different experience — more akin to classroom learning than living-room entertainment. If I wasn't interested in the topic, I'd definitely have trouble staying focused.
But these courses aren't designed to offer Hollywood's thrills, chills, or amusement. I view them with a pencil and paper in hand and take notes, just as in school. I usually watch one or two lectures at a time and supplement by reading historical fiction or watching movies that relate to the topic.
For example, while studying Foundations of Western Civilization, I'm also reading "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco, about 14th century Europe when reasoning meets the Inquisition. There's a Sean Connery movie with the same title I plan to see, and then I'll read other books such as "The Da Vinci Papers" by Dan Brown to embellish lectures on the Renaissance.
With this approach, I can learn the historical facts and chronology, while supplementing with entertaining examples. That works for me.
To read customer reviews with judgments that range from "boring" to "awesome," go to: www.photo.net/travel/teaching-company and www.eho.org/reviews/featured_publisher3.asp?featpubid=24.
For example, one learner who reports having bought about 20 courses comments, "I recommend The Teaching Company courses to anyone who wants the best in college-level courses by the best professors."
Course prices are not cheap, but they're frequently discounted as much as 75 percent. In the catalog I received, many of the courses were available for $60 to $200, though the standard prices run between $100 and $700, depending on the course and media format.
To share the cost, however, small groups of learners can buy the courses and watch them together or trade discs.
In addition, all courses come with a lifetime guarantee. If a course is less than satisfactory, or the disc/tape is damaged, you can replace it or get a full refund.
Personally, I can't afford to buy many of these college courses, but I'd definitely borrow more if the local library offered them. So, I go to the King County Library Web site (www.kcls.org) and find quite a few titles listed. Now that's a find.
Write Linda Knapp at lknapp@seattletimes.com. To read other Getting Started columns organized by topic, go to www.seattletimes.com/gettingstarted.