|
|
Post by zed on Jun 16, 2012 11:25:36 GMT
Have any of you taken any online craft courses/workshops? How did you find them? Were they week by week courses where you got access to new info or sent a new pdf etc? How did you find them? Were they value for money, poor quality? And if you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay? Have you bought a craft e-book? Was it for an e-reader or downloadable/printable etc? Were they as good as printed craft books in their content, or maybe even better? Did you find them value for money? What were the pros and cons? Have you ever ran an online course or written an e-book? Did it work out well? And lastly, if you haven't tried a course or e-book, what would you look for? What would be the benefits to you or advantages of one over the other? Thanks in advance for your help  |
|
|
|
Post by pamd on Jun 16, 2012 13:11:00 GMT
Hi Zed,
I can give opinion on some of the questions you have posed.
"Have any of you taken any online craft courses/workshops?" No
"How did you find them? Were they week by week courses where you got access to new info or sent a new pdf etc?" There are some courses offered on the pintangle website, I believe, as well as some courses on Craftsy. I've looked at many over the past year or two and basically they seem to give information once a week and make paperwork available for printing or downloading and many have a discussion board where you can then ask questions and commune with your fellow class members. To me they seem really expensive, $50 and up, some up to $700, but that was some sort of guild in the UK, I think. $50 wouldn't be so bad if one could tell whether it was a good class or not - maybe like a sample class free.
"How did you find them?" I searched for online classes in whatever subject.
"Have you bought a craft e-book?" Yes
"Was it for an e-reader or downloadable/printable etc?" I have purchased both
"Were they as good as printed craft books in their content, or maybe even better?" I don't think they were better, necessarily, but I do think they are as good. What is great about them is their immediate availability.
"Did you find them value for money?" Yes
"What were the pros and cons?" The cons would be any book that you would need a pattern from. I don't usually use patterns even if they are available, but if that is what you want from the ebook, then it isn't going to work.
"And lastly, if you haven't tried a course or e-book, what would you look for? What would be the benefits to you or advantages of one over the other." I will just answer to the courses, since I haven't tried one. The benefit is availability, since there are very few craft courses where I live. To go to a wool festival where courses seem to be available, I would have to pay around $400 to fly somewhere, get a hotel for the duration and pay for my food, plus the cost of the course. An online course even with the drawback of not being physically present is a great alternative, if I could find one on a subject I am interested in learning, which I haven't found yet.
If you are planning on teaching online courses, please make one on hats, felted clothing, etc. I think just seeing someone do something specific like a dress or jacket would be worth whatever the charge would be.
|
|
|
|
Post by lyn on Jun 17, 2012 0:00:51 GMT
Hello Zed, I've never taken an online course or workshop - only ever done 'real' ones. But I would be willing to take one if I found one that appealed.
The advantages would be: The cost of the course would probably be a little less and I wouldn't have travel costs or time.
The disadvantage would be not getting to mix with like-minded people - that can be wonderful.
With regard to content, I think there are good and bad books in both printed and 'e'.
(By the way, I really dislike books that are high on impressive photos and low on 'how to' because I find them unsatisfactory - too many unanswered questions.)
My preference for a real book could have something to do with my advanced years - young 'uns seem quite happy with electronic text.
If you have a laptop or ipad etc that you can place in your working area, then the digital version of a book is just as easy to use as a paper one.
My daughter and I sell an ebook. We've had very good feedback and customers have commented on good value for money which is lovely to hear.
I think the biggest advantage of selling our book online, rather than in print, is quick, easy, worldwide availability.
With the rising costs of publishing and distribution, ebooks need to be taken seriously.
|
|
|
|
Post by zed on Jun 17, 2012 12:06:55 GMT
Thanks, Pam and Lyn Heh, I realised from your answers, that it looks like I asked 'How did you find them?' twice, which I did, but the second time I meant 'what was your opinion of them?' (I know, we don't half talk weird up here  ) Can you zoom in on an e-reader, Pam? I think one big advantage of an e-book is the ability to zoom in on the photos on the computer. Lyn put me onto Craftsy and it does look like a good place for hosting/taking part in workshops. What kind of pattern did you mean, and why wouldn't it work? I saw a £600 course, I think that was City and Guilds feltmaking, there were 4 levels and I don't know if that was for all 4, there wasn't enough information. I'd like to have 'known' qualifications, but not if I'm paying for stuff I already know. Lyn, my biggest problem with printed art/craft books that are meant to be informative/instructional is the photos. 'Arty', angled or close up shots are all very nice, but they don't really tell you anything do they? And though the colours they use look great, often what they're trying to show is lost. The online courses I've seen generally seem to be for one thing, ie a fabric and stitch collage, or a nuno felted scarf, fabric and stitch wallhanging etc. And at £30 to £60 seem to be quite expensive for one thing compared to a whole book worth of info for £10 to £15 It seems like e-books are invaluable, but individuals just can't compete with the 'power' of publishers for advertising or availabilty. It's hard to know what people are interested in and what isn't available if that makes sense? Kind of like the opposite of supply and demand, is there a demand but no supply ie a niche waiting to be filled or does the lack of availability prove no interest? |
|
|
|
Post by pamd on Jun 17, 2012 14:45:04 GMT
Zed, you can zoom in on an ereader if the author makes that ability available. I purchased one ebook - can't recall what kind, but I am thinking embroidery - and the ability to zoom wasn't available and therefore you really couldn't see what was being explained. I returned the ebook. Most of the others I have purchased have had zooming available. There is a free felting ebook available at Amazon today. Looks to be like an introduction to felting, but I thought it would be interesting to see how it's done. Here's a link if anyone is interested in taking a look. www.amazon.com/Feltmaking-Basics-ebook/dp/B00826QGLQ/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1339944225&sr=1-9&keywords=felting(I was wondering about the "how did you find it" twice, but now that you point it out, I see your meaning clearly.) |
|
|
|
Post by MTRuth on Jun 17, 2012 21:33:05 GMT
Hey Zed - I have taken several online courses. I will answer this question in full when I get home. It is hard to type on this Kindle.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shepherdess on Jun 18, 2012 11:39:15 GMT
How did you find the free book Ruth? I am goin gto repost it in a new post. I will worn its a limited time offer.
|
|
|
|
Post by pamd on Jun 18, 2012 13:02:00 GMT
Ann, every morning there is a link on the Kindle forum showing all the free books for the day. I think yesterday there were over 500. Though I rarely go through them, yesterday I did and saw this one. I still haven't looked at it, but will today.
|
|
|
|
Post by jufergu on Jun 18, 2012 14:22:46 GMT
I have not personally taken any online classes or workshops. I have heard from friends who have. The reviews are mixed. From fabulous to disappointing. However I purchased a DVD called "Bead It Like You Mean It." by Lyric Kinard and it was wondeful. I watched it and paused it, as I worked along with her. I would easily buy another one from her. I purchased it on Amazon.com. Under 30 dollars with shipping.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shepherdess on Jun 19, 2012 2:21:35 GMT
Can you share the link to the right forum please Pam. google found me lots of things but not anything that had a link to free ebooks.
|
|
|
|
Post by pamd on Jun 19, 2012 12:25:26 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by MTRuth on Jun 20, 2012 22:38:17 GMT
I have taken several online courses. I have been satisfied with most of them but I do really think it depends on the teacher. Most have a forum that students can participate in and give out "lesson plans" in PDF format on a weekly basis. It's nice to get the PDF's in case you fall behind and don't have time to do the course when you signed up for it. At least you'll be able to go back and get the information from the PDF. I have found that you learn a lot from the forums because students ask questions, sometimes of things you wouldn't have thought of to ask. And you get to see other students work as well. The two classes I took were 6 week classes and if I remember correctly were $60. Both had lots of information and were a good investment. One was about making hand made books and you learned how to make a different book each week. The other was on using a studio journal and had information about design and some design type exercises.
I also have subscribed to Workshop on the Web for a long time. It is a quarterly publication that has at least 6-8 PDF's each time on different fiber art subjects. It costs 30 pounds I believe and is done by a woman from the UK. You can also buy back issues. The workshops are sometimes good and sometimes not so much. Again, it depends on the author. It is hard to tell ahead of time what you are getting for your money.
I haven't tried any e-books yet so have no information there.
I think there are many niches that might not have been filled but figuring out what they are is a challenge. I do think there is demand for better instruction out there but getting the marketing taken care of etc. is difficult for individuals as opposed to marketing spent by publishers. It's hard to spread the word to the right people.
|
|
|
|
Post by zed on Jun 21, 2012 9:07:41 GMT
Thanks for that, Ruth One thing I've been wondering about is formatting e-books for kindle or e-readers, for sale on sites like amazon. I haven't looked into it too much, but saw there are certain file types that are used and it seems like a fairly simple case of conversion. One of the main difficulties I've thought of is size, a pdf with the same content as a 120 page book is going to be huge in MB, so the method of delivery could be limited. Of course, it could be split up into a 6 week workshop and offered for 6 times the price |
|
|
|
Post by MTRuth on Jun 21, 2012 16:02:56 GMT
Most of the sites I have looked at give specific information about self publishing and what you need for submission. I have not spent a lot of time looking into it. The reason that I think people like the classes is the forum option and being able to interact with the teacher and other students. I think that's why they are willing to pay more than they would for a book.
|
|
|
|
Post by zed on Jun 24, 2012 9:27:00 GMT
I wonder if it's something we might be able to do on the studio site in the future? We can add passwords to pages and could always create an extra part to the forum.
|
|
)
