I appreciate that Edufire started out as a language site and is in the process of morphing into a more well rounded offering and I think tha for those people who are teaching things other than language and business there really needs to be something other than “Other”.
Would it help if we listed a suggested list of categories that might be added?
Maybe then they could be “just” dropped in and the PTB would not have to figure out what to include.
Let’s see if we can come up with a list of categories that could be placed into the edufire lineup.
I suggest:
Alternative Studies
Metaphysics
Computer Skills
Spiritual Studies
Religion
Philosophy
Life Skills

What can you guys think of?

Top of my head:

Personal Finances
Consumer Awareness
Greener Earth (ecology)
Gimp
Open Office
Hobbies

those are good… what is GIMP —
Open office almost seems too specialized…
maybe desktop publishing or word processing that way it would cover things like microsoft, open office, adobe and quark….and whatever else is out there….
Ecology seems good
Hobbies almost seems too general….but then again maybe not.
Cool … keep thinking…..

Science
with subcategories of
Biology
Physics
Chemistry

and
Mathematics
with subcategories of
Pure Mathematics
Applied Mathematics
Statistics

I would also like to see Ancient Greek added to the list of Languages.

GIMP is an open source alternative to PhotoShop. OpenOffuce is an open source alternative to Microsoft Office (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, database, etc.).

Hmmmm. I’d love to take a class on GIMP. Wink wink nudge nudge anyone…

@ Alaia: Yes, I was just throwing out ideas. They’d have to be organized in categories and sub-categories.

@Valerie: I have been thinking of teaching one. I think that, being self-taught, I could only teach pretty basic classes. Also, the Mac interface looks a bit different from the PC one.
There are so many things you can do with Gimp that it would be helpful to know what to teach in particular.

Thanks Agnes – What a resource yu are for the open source stuff?…. Is there perhaps an open source alternative for Pagemaker. It is the only think that I am having withdrawls from when I went back to mac. I had never heard of GIMP but I am hurrying right over to google and checking it out…. As for teaching I’m sure there are those of us who would be happy to learn even what you have taught yourself. I for one was never able to get my head around Photoshop really so maybe GIMP will be easier….
I am looking forward to a class from you.!

As for category names what about:
computers – Software
Computers- Hardware
I am trying to think of broad subject headings so that people looking for something can look under the big heading and possibly find what they need quicker than looking under “other”
I am sure the PTB don’t have time to create many subcategories and even if they did it might be counter productive because people might not look in that particular sub. Or a subject might not fit still and have to be placed in something close… then it could get really confusing sooo.
for example Mathematics could cover all the types of math… ie pure, applied, stats, and whatever else…. if it deals with numbers it would end up in that category. Software would cover all the types of software…. word, office, excell, open office GIMP pagemaker, CAD, PPT ant whatever.
Hardware would cover things like computer repair, networking your workspace, etc…Maybe a section on Alternative Medicine would cover such things as chiropractic, nutrition, accupuncture, naturopathy, homeopathy,
one on Medicine which would cover allopathic applications like Dr Vinny teaches, So out of this rambling I have so far:

Mathematics,
Computer Hardware
Computer Software
Alternative Medicine
Medicine
Spiritual Studies
Religion
Philosophy
Metaphysics
Life Skills
Consumer Awareness
Hobbies

This seems to be a step up from what we have now… any other broad categories any of you can think of….

http://www.scribus.net/ Scribus is a Pagemaker alternative and open source. I have not used it, so I can’t give an opinion. Available for Macs, Windows, and Linux.

Gimp: It would be helpful to me to know what you (collective you :)) want to accomplish. I can show you some basic graphic manipulation, how to work with layers, how to make an animated logo, and probably other things that I can’t think of right now.

I like the categories. Would you have crafts under hobbies or as a separate entry?

I would think that crafts would include hobbies… anything that you do with your hands so anything from model airplanes and woodworking to crocheting and scrapbooking. – to jewelrymaking to flower arranging…

Ok, so Crafts would be the category, hobbies coming under it. Sounds good :)!

There have been some good ideas tossed out. I would like to see….

writing
performance (music et all)

oh, yes! Music is a good one!
Hmmm…. how about theater or acting?

OK anybody else want to weigh in with a suggested category… I’m gonna try to nudge the PTB on Monday with a suggested list….
This is what I see so far

Mathematics,
Computer Hardware
Computer Software
Life Science
Alternative Medicine
Medicine
Spiritual Studies
Religion
Philosophy
Metaphysics
Life Skills
Consumer Awareness
Crafts
Performing Arts
Journalism

That looks good, Alaia. I’d still like to see a broad ‘writing’ category, though. There are categories of writing that people might study that wouldn’t be covered under journalism.

the reason I didn’t put writing that way was because when I did a search of how people viewed the word writing most viewed it as the formation of letters and such like calligraphy, script, fonts and what not and I know that is not what you meant. When I searched for what would cover most creative expression using written words…. the word that kept turning up was journaling and journalism. I thought It would be the most appealing to the widest group who may not have english as their native language. If we say Creative writing then the non fiction people will feel left out…. It’s a conundrum… If you can think of another way to say it with one word that is clear to many ….I’m open ;-)
Ultimately though it will be up to the PTB.

I think its a great idea to try to help with categories, but I suspect we need a bit more thought and clarification on what fits within what before we can present a top and second level list to the ptb (nice acronym btw). For example, this is the framework used by the Open University – it looks pretty comprehensive.

Top level categories would be:

• Arts and Humanities
• Business and Management
• Childhood and Youth
• Computing and ICT
• Education
• Engineering and Technology
• Environment, Development and International Studies
• Health and Social Care
• Languages
• Law
• Mathematics and Statistics
• Psychology
• Science
• Social Sciences
  You can see the second level categories in the link above.
  Maybe if we took a look around the world at some other university category lists we could condense something suitable for eduFire ….

I believe the PTB is actually working on a comprehensive list… What I am proposing is something that can be used while the larger item is being completed.
At this point we are stuck with “Other” while the deeper work is being done on the major rework. So what I am offering is by no means the final product… it is a temporary substitute.
I appreciate your reference to the site above and I am sure that eventually we will have something that is as complicated and comprehensive. Also I was looking at what we are currently offering.
Thanks for the link.
It also seems that if we have very broad topics people will “accidentlly” find interesting things on their way to what they are looking for sort of like the endcaps in supermarkets where they put other stuff in path of the essentials.
It is my feelings also that since we are such an “open” university that we not “look” so much like the brick and mortar ones that we just get lumped in with the “norm” we are after all UNIQUE ;-)

Any other suggestions….Can you think of other broad subject headings that have not been covered?

Did those get dropped:
Personal Finances
Consumer Awareness
Greener Earth (ecology)

Hi Agnes – they did sort of slip through the cracks…. however now that you mention it ….could

Personal Finance fit under Life Skills
Consumer Awareness and Ecology… under Environment, Development and International Studies…? It is a global issue…. If not…. I will include them as seperate topics…
Know that this is probably a Temporary list on the way to a more complete and sophisticated set-up later.

Maybe it needs to be established how broad ‘broad’ really is? Not all the OU categories that Mair listed may be applicable, but they are broad and easily accommodate, for example, computer software and computer hardware in a broad category of computing and ICT. In the same way that ecology can fit into environment.

As you imply, Alaia, the difficult bit is determining categories broad enough that can accommodate classes of interest that one might accidentally find. Yet they cannot be so broad that it is just a miscellaneous dumping ground, which is so overwhelming that no one bothers looking in there.

Having said that, there might be merit in having an ephemeral category for one-off classes. Usually we are creatures of habit and have particular interests, so are likely to only look within the broad categories that traditionally appeal to us. But we are more likely to be tempted into new subjects if a class is a one-off. It wouldn’t matter if the subjects listed in that category are diverse – what unites them is that they are not going to be repeated.

I think Mair’s idea is great. That way, it’s a lot organized. Everything has to fall under a category. If a particular subject doesn’t, it should still go to “other”.

@Alaia: that sounds good to me :).

@Mair: Those are good, but maybe a little too academic for us? For example, I don’t see a good (and obvious) place for cooking classes. Yes, it’s an art but if someone offers a simple recipe, does it really fit there?