Online 'master classes'?

[overthehill]

Probably a question for those of you on FB. I see a lot of adverts for online master classes in subjects ranging from creative writing to cookery, presented by celebrity tutors. I'm tempted by an online course on [mainly vegetarian] Middle Eastern Cookery, presented by Yotam Ottolenghi. Has anyone here ever taken one of these courses? Are they good value for money?

[Roma]

I’ve done a few good courses with udemy.com.

Some of the courses offer certificates although I’ve only used them for hobby courses, not anything professional.

[Mountain Goat]

Do you specifically mean Masterclass? That's where the Ottolenghi class is so I think so. If so, as far as I know you pay for a year's membership ( you might be able to get a monthly pass, I'm not sure) and can take as many classes as you like. The range is great, the length/ depth of teaching varies, as does things like course materials and whether you have homework, and how active class discussion forums are.. But it is expensive and only worth it if you will use it a lot ( in which case it can work out to be reasonable). I've had a membership for a few years and have also bought it as a present. They add new courses very regularly. It's fun though, I haven't come across anything academic or that offers certification.

If you want me to check out details on the Ottolenghi course I can do. Or any others.

[overthehill]

Do you specifically mean Masterclass? That's where the Ottolenghi class is so I think so.

Yes, that's the one. I really fancied doing the Yotam Ottolenghi one, as he's known for vegetarian recipes (although he's not, specifically, a vegetarian himself). So, if I sign up, I can take any of the Masterclasses? Mind you, despite good intentions of expanding my culinary range, I'd probably start off all enthusiastic and revert to my usual fare of ragouts and curries.

[Mountain Goat]

Yes, unless there's a lower level of membership I don't know about. But I pay annually and can access everything. There are loads of cookery ones - I assume you can look at what there is without having to sign up but if you want me to check out anything hidden to you I can easily do that.

[Morganna]

I was at an online poetry class yesterday, and it was dire. It wasn't a Masterclass branded one, but is called after a cultural part of the Thames to make it sound better than it is . It is actually a woman doing it from her bedroom. I appreciate that most people are working from bedrooms and kitchens these days, but you could see her headboard and it added to the amateur feel of the thing.

She charged £25 a head (for two hours) and there were 12 of us, so obviously that came to £300, which isn't bad for 2 hours work with no overheads. The first half an hour was given over to people introducing themselves, which is not at all necessary when it's not a continuing course. Then she got us to do guided meditation twice in the session. This was a waste of time, and not well done (eg she asked us to imagine a safe place in detail, then started adding in things about the running water and the vegetation, which my imaginary place didn't have, so the illusion was broken). She let people kill time by umming and ahhing as their thoughts weren't clarified because she'd pounced on them before they'd had time to think, and when there was so little time this needed to be controlled better. She did things like read from the handouts that she'd sent round before the class, and the final straw was when she stent a good ten minutes showing us how to give her good reviews on google! There were more time wasting incidents, but you get the gist. I had gone with a question in mind (about whether it is ethical to write about other people's traumas) that the advertising blurb had suggested we could cover (we didn't), so I asked in the 'any questions' bit at the end, to be told that 'it's a free country, and people can write whatever they like', which was helpful .

It was a waste of £25 and of 2 hours, so if you are going to do something like this, my advice is to tread carefully, and don't pay for a raft of classes without getting a taster first. I have been to poetry workshops that are much better than this, so yesterday's is not typical.

I do like the sound of an Ottolenghi class, though.

[overthehill]

Thanks, Goat. I've looked at a few of the course trailers. It's good to find someone who has first-hand experience. I think I might treat myself to a year's membership and see how I get on.

[overthehill]

Oh god, Morgs. That sounds infuriating. I had a similar, though free, online 'teaching' experience earlier today. I'm in the process of setting up an online dressmaking class and, while researching Vimeo, came across a woman who was offering a free online workshop called "Course Creation Masterclass". It seemed like a genuine class but, of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch. All it was was an hour-long promo, assuring the viewer that they had all the skills necessary to make a 6-figure income teaching what they already knew. I got about 20 minutes in before I realised that there was unlikely to be any useful content, just a money-off offer at the end, if you signed up for one of her actual courses. An hour, though!

[Morganna]

Yes, it was disappointing, but they can work really well. I have one on Tuesday (the MA has been so cut back because of Covid that I'm keeping the momentum going by doing supplementary classes in the stupidly long vacation periods) and if last week's was anything to go by it will be good. The University ones are good too - there are just not enough of them compared to the on-campus programmes - so it is possible to get it right.

I'm thinking of doing something like it when I've got my MA, as I think a lot of people will not be used to doing things online and like not having to factor in travelling time and so on to do them. I'm going to compile a checklist of do's and don'ts between now and then .

[Froozy]

Does anyone have experience of Outschool? It keeps turning up on my FB timeline and there's a megalodon session that I think S would love. If it's any good!

[Morganna]

No, I haven't come across that one. The best ones I've been to have been independent ones. If you look on Eventbrite or similar you might find something suitable (I don't know what megalodon is, so can't be sure ). I just searched under 'poetry workshops' and there were loads. The good thing is that online classes can be anywhere in the world, so the scope is much broader than if he were going in person.