What the heck is a MOOC?? Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses mostly offered by leading universities or colleges. They are completely free and accessible for everyone with an internet connection. The course material typically consists of videos, readings, worksheets and tests. In addition to this, you’ll often find related discussion forums or groups in social networks such as Facebook. Thus a MOOC is more likely to be interactive than a traditional online course. Most MOOCs have more or less fixed start dates and end dates and often they are accessible only during that time. There may also be deadlines for assignments. However, in general you are not obligated to complete them. But some MOOCs offer the opportunity to obtain a certificate and in order to get one, you have to do all the course work and achieve a specific score. Besides, most providers charge a fee for certification. So far so good, but how can you now find a MOOC? - It’s surprisingly easy! Luckily most MOOCs are provided by specific platforms. So you don’t have to hop from university to university. I’ve listed some popular providers below. Simply go to one of these websites, pick a MOOC and enroll. Try it out! You'll see, it's fun:-) - Coursera: www.coursera.org - edX: www.edx.org - FutureLearn: www.futurelearn.com

What happened to the expected change of the educational world? Do you remember when around 2012 the idea of MOOCs rapidly spread through our campuses? We were euphoric about this great idea of making knowledge accessible to everyone. Massive Open Online Course were supposed to change the world of education. But now the hype has died down. Surveys have shown that the completion rate in such courses is below 10%. Besides, it turned out that that most registrants are college-educated men from industrialized countries. So it seems that MOOCs haven't lived up to our expectations. Regardless of this, I still love MOOCs and I hope that organizations continue to offer such courses. You can learn about nearly everything you can think of and this from the most prestigious universities from all over the world. For example you could do a course in quantum physics at MIT then learn about globalization at Harvard University and eventually head for a class on Shakespeare taught by University of Birmingham. To be honest, it's rather unlikely that you’ll make a big career jump simply by taking MOOCs. But these interactive courses are definitely fun and perfect to broaden one’s mind.

What if...? - What would happen if everyone on earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant? - When, if ever, will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than of living ones? - What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? - What if a rainstorm dropped all of its water in a single giant drop? - ... This are examples of reader questions, which Randall Munroe answers on his blog "What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions". Admittedly, the hypothetical questions are in some cases kind of farfetched and may not exactly be world shaking. But the scientific based answers are definitely fun to read. Munroe, who worked as a contract programer and roboticist for NASA before he became a writer and cartoonist, uses physics and math to answer the questions. His explanations are very understandable and humorously expressed. When I was a child I used to ask question of exactly this sort. In doing so, I nearly drove my mother crazy. She developed serious allergy to w-words. How beautiful had it been to have someone like Randall Munroe round who had patiently answered to all my questions... Munroe has also written a book with the same title as the blog, which contains a collection of some of the most popular answers from the blog. The book would probably not be the best source to prepare for your physics exam. But you can learn from the way he approaches the questions. I really like the way he explains and I'm sure you will too. Have a look at this video from his TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64CQp6z0Pk

Happy sunflowers When I was on my morning walk today, I passed a huge field of sunflowers. On my way home, I started to ask myself questions: Why are all the sunflowers facing the same direction? How do they determine the direction? What is this good for? Back at home, I searched the internet, and found explanations. First of all, I've learned that the turning movement of plants towards or away from the sun is called heliotropism. Furthermore I came across the following video from Science Magazine which I'd like to share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCRNHdGXTi4 Perhaps we should do like sunflowers do - always try to face the sun.

Book tip: The Life List Summer is a long time coming in Switzerland. But with a good book like The Life List written by Lori Nelson Spielman even a rainy weekend like this one can be beautiful. This easy to read but still touching story reminds us not to lose track of our deepest wishes and intrinsic values. It also shows, that sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone in order to make our real dreams coming true. Brett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a good job in her mother’s company, a handsome boyfriend and a luxury life. But with the death of her beloved mother Elizabeth, her life changes dramatically. It's not only she loses her job. As her last wish Elizabeth makes her to accomplish a list of goals - a life list written by Brett when she was 14 years old - in order to receive her inheritance. Brett is desperate and struggles with the list. But Elizabeth supports her with an intimate diary and letters she has left her. So on her way to complete the goals, Brett learns a lot about herself, her life and Elizabeth’s past. However, Brett has to make some tough choices and often things don’t seem getting better. But eventually, she finds her real purpose in life as well as her big love and all her dreams come true. The story isn’t unpredictable but it’s emotional and enjoyable. So I would recommend this book to everyone who likes easy to read, yet heart touching novels. The Life List was Spielman’s first book. I’m looking forward to further novels of her.

How children can benefit from animals I grew up along with horses, dogs, sheeps and different small animals and I’m very grateful I had this opportunity. An animal is such a great teacher. Patience, calm, straightforwardness and assertiveness are only a few of the mental skills you have to develop in order to work successfully with an animal. Furthermore an animal needs daily care. My granny and my parents always told me they would give away my pets if I wouldn’t look after them. This is, particularly for a small child, no easy task. While playing and discover the world, it’s easy to forget to feed the chicken or to muck out the guinea pig gave. But if parents do strict reminder, the child will develop a good sense of responsibility. Furthermore, also the physical health can benefit by having a pet. Several studies have shown, that people owning a pet are more resistant to allergies and infections. Especially toddlers still-developing immune systems (the immune system is completely developed only by the age of 7 years) can be strengthened by a pet friendly environment. But beside all this, animals just make us happy. Isn’t it heart-warming to be greeted with a friendly purr, an excited whinny or a cheerful squeal when waking up or coming home?

About my language learning phobia The trouble started when I was a little girl. As a pupil from the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the first foreign language I had to learn at school was French. By this time my mother and my sister were both already nearly fluent in French. I’ve always been more of a science-type person, so language-learning was quite a hard job for me. However, I tried hard. At last in the beginning of the French course... Practicing my first French words at home I made numerous mistakes. My mother and my sister laughed at me whenever I spoke. I was ashamed and eventually I refused to speak. When it came to English learning a few years later I was fearful and demotivated. During my education I bumbled through the language exams. I earned two master’s degrees so I had to attend countless lectures. Many of them were given in English. As you may imagine, it wasn’t fun to me. Likewise it wasn’t much fun to me to travel or to work in international relations. So I decided to set an appropriate New Year's resolution for 2016. My intention is to battle my fears and to improve my English (speaking) skills. In order to that, the first thing I did in 2016, was booking a language trip. I will go to Australia for seven weeks in September. Because I always need a very concrete goal, I also started a Cambridge First exam preparation course at our local adult education center. The test will be held in December. And then, a few days ago, I came across italki. I was instantly excited. What a great opportunity to work on my speaking issues one-to-one in peace! Still in the same week, I had my first lesson. My teacher, Chris, is very patient and I enjoy our lessons a lot. I’m confident that I will love it to communicate in English by the end of the year:-)

Where'd You Go, Bernadette Cheerful as the current spring weather is the novel I've just finished. "Where'd You Go, Bernadette", written by American author Maria Semple is a hilarious but also heart-warming story. Once a promising, revolutionary architect, Bernadette Fox has become an agoraphobic wife and mother. Her husband, Elgie Branch, a star at Microsoft who gave the fourth-most-watched TED talk of all time, spends most time at work. So it’s up to Bernadette to organize the family life (and to spend the money). Actually, she doesn’t do it by herself. Because of her dislike to leave the house, Bernadette has hired a virtual assistant from India who arranges her tasks via the internet. To her 15-year-old daughter Bee, Bernadette is a loving mum and best friend while she’s a disgrace to neighbors, acquaintances and especially to parents at Bee’s private school. Bee is extremely bright. The main story starts when Bee gets her report card. Unfortunately Bernadette told her years ago, that if she would perform well in school, she would get whatever she wishes. So Bee now claims for her promised reward. She wants the family to go to Antarctica over Christmas. Despite of her anxieties Bernadette agrees. Just out of love to Bee. But then, two days before Christmas, Bernadette disappears. Where has she gone??? Find out by yourself by enjoying this greatly written book! The story is mainly told through emails, letters, faxes and other documents Bee pieces together by searching for her mother. So we learn about Bernadette from different point of views. I’m sure, you will laugh, you will cry and you will fall in love with the extraordinary character of Bernadette.