If you’ve never heard of them before, a MOOC sounds like a weird video game. But, the acronym actually stands for massive online open course. Unlike KinkLeaders (which is an online course, but neither massive nor open) these courses are often huge! They tend to be taught by faculty at Universities, some of which are the top-tier research institutions around the world. You can find courses on almost any subject! I’ve realized that there are often classes that may be pertinent to kink educators. The thing that makes these courses great is that they are open to anyone regardless of prior education, they are flexible in that you are accountable for only as much of the material as you personally wish to engage with, and they are FREE!
One of the most popular and active platforms for MOOCs is Coursera but there are several others as well. Here is a list of classes that are either currently available on Coursera or will be starting in the next few months.
I know that many of us are looking at teaching in the community and these classes represent a way to get at least undergraduate level training in a variety of subjects and disciplines. A cursory scan of the list reveals the following classes that might be interesting for kink leaders/educators:
- Social Psychology (has units on gender and sexuality)
- Introductory Physics (I’m thinking about suspension bondage)
- Contraception: Choices, Culture, and Consequences (I took this last year and learned a lot about how contraception works)
- Accountable Talk: Conversation that Works (useful information on education and communication)
- Going Out on a Limb: Anatomy of the Upper Limb (bondage again)
Those are just the ones that jumped out at me from scanning the list through the lens of my own interests. I’m sure you can find many more. There are a few of these that I might be interested in studying in a smaller group so if any of you are interested, please let me know.