Labor Day weekend often marks the “Back to School” season
with sales on pens, pencils, tablets, markers and other supplies. Like other
genealogists, I often take advantage of those sales to load up on supplies.
Yesterday I picked up a white board at the dollar store to practice and
experiment with mind mapping. But “Back to School” means more than stocking up
on supplies!
In this case I am the one going back to school! I have
discovered the wonderful world of “Virtual Education”. For many years I have tried to educate myself
in the best practices in genealogy research by attending national conferences
like the Southern California Genealogy Society’s annual Jamboree, Roots Tech,
the Federation of Genealogical Society’s annual conference and on various
genealogy cruises. They are all wonderful ways to learn and network with other
genealogists. Cruising is really fun because you are also traveling and seeing
other parts of the world.
As travel becomes more difficult and expensive, I have begun
to find alternate means of education and communication. Last winter I
discovered the website Future Learn. There I took a beginning genealogy class
through Scotland's University of Strathclyde for free from the comfort of my home. It
was an interactive class and lasted six weeks giving a thorough exposure to beginning genealogy. I had previously taken a class with Future Learn on Irish
History around the time of the “troubles” (1914-1925). Then I wanted to
understand what was happening in Ireland at that time as my grandparents were
frequently returning to their homeland.
In the spring, I took a virtual class in “Intermediate
Research” through the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. It was a ten-week
college level class with two 75 minute lectures every week and about ten hours
of homework. It included intense emphasis on creating source citations, and
exposure to research in many areas including law research.
Recently I took a class in Genetic Genealogy in Practice to
prepare me for the Genetic Genealogy class I will take at Salt Lake City when I
travel there for a week in January 2020.
I haven’t given up traveling altogether, but the virtual
classes will help me stay current in the meantime.
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