Free Online World Regional Geography Course from Saylor

I've written about the Saylor Foundation before and noted its mission to provide open textbooks, including one on geography. I found that Saylor.org offers free courses "built by professors" and one is titled Geography 101: World Regional Geography. It's a course where you work through the material on your own and take an exam at the end, so it's not a MOOC per se. Students who score 70% or higher receive a certificate. And a few schools will accept a certificate for credit.

World Regional Geography was designed by Ken Yanow, Professor of Geographical Sciences, Southwestern College. I know Yanow from his work at the GeoTech Center and on the Esri Education Advisory Board. Saylor hires professors to write the courses; there are about 300 courses currently available.

World Regional Geography relies on a few key resources:

• Sheppard Software: “Geography Games” (a click and find/locate game)
• World Regional Geography: People, Places, and Globalization (pdf) (the free geography text noted above) 
• iTunes U: University of Binghamton: Professor Mark Reisinger’s World Regional Geography Video Lectures (iTunes U) (other videos are used, too including WPSU's Geospatial Revolution and some Ted talks)

I don't know when the course was posted, but I see queries from May 2013.  Some queries on access to a reading from students from late last year were answered by a Saylor administrator on Jan 14, 1014.

Add this to your kit of free tools for teaching and learning world regional geography!