Welcome to the Science and Practice of Yoga! Digital technologies, such as phones, tablets, and computers, are permanently integrated into our daily lives. We spend so much time on these devices that we are often unaware of how they impact us emotionally and physically. Researchers from the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge (LINK) Research Lab at the University of Texas at Arlington are partnering with the Free Life People™ School of Yoga have come together to introduce the science behind mind-body practice as well as ways to balance our digital lives with self-care and wellness.
In this course, you will learn how to practice yoga on the mat as well as in your everyday life using aspects of yoga that are immediately applicable to you. Having taught yoga to thousands of people just like you, we have reduced the practice down to the nectar of what really works.
This course is for anyone interested in learning the science and practice of yoga. No previous yoga experience is needed! We welcome those who are interested in learning the basics of yoga postures as well as experienced yoga practitioners or instructors looking to deepen their practice.
There are no pre-requisites for this course. You should expect to spend about 3 to 5 hours each week working on this course.
By signing up for this course, you will have the opportunity to meet and discuss yoga and meditation with people from across the world. Encourage friends, family, and colleagues to sign up with you!
Meet The Instructors
Stacy Dockins, 500 HR ERYT, co-founder Free Life People School of Yoga, co-founder The Yoga Project Studios
Dave Dockins, 500 HR ERYT, co-founder Free Life People School of Yoga, co-founder The Yoga Project Studios
Catherine Spann, Ph.D., Research Scientist at Link Research Lab
George Siemens, Ph.D., Professor and Executive Director of Link Research Lab
Instructor and TA Roles
This course will utilize several teacher's assistants (TAs) to monitor the forums and twitter hashtag. They will try to respond to concerns and questions as they can. Due to the large number of participants enrolled, they may not be able to get to each question immediately. Please be patient and also see if other participants might be able to help. The TAs will bring all issues that the instructors need to know to their attention. The instructors will also participate in the forums and Twitter discussion as they can.
New to EdX?
If you are new to the Edx platform, please take some time to go through the DemoX Course to become familiar with the EdX system. To get started with the course at any time, click on the "Course" tab at the top of the page.
Getting Started
To get help with the course, click the Discussion tab and post a question to the Help forum. To get help with a technical problem, click Help to send a message to edX Student Support.
Be sure to introduce yourself in the Introductions forum in Week 0.
Course Contact
Due to the high number of students enrolled, your instructors will not be able to reply to individual emails. You can also post questions in the Help Discussion Forum in Week 0 and we’ll do our best to address them.
Key Course Elements
- Instructor Lecture Videos
- Guest Interview Videos
- Supplemental Reading
- Discussion Forums
- One hour Video Yoga Class at beginning and end of course
- Weekly Video Yoga Pose Instructionals
- Weekly Video 15 minute practices
- Weekly Off The Mat Instructionals / journaling / reflection / life practices
- Pre-/Post-Course Surveys
- Problem Sets: Self-test questions after select videos and readings
Grading Policy
For learners that signed up to receive the official course certificate, you will need to complete all course activities in order to earn the certificate. This will involve:
- Weekly Check-Ins (35% of total grade)
These will be tests over the content of the YogaMOOC - Journaling (35% of total grade)
This will be your thoughts and reflections on Course Activities - Participation (30% of total grade)
Includes participation in the forums, replying to other learners' posts, and participating in weekly learning activities.
Rubrics for the journaling activities are attached to the assignment for each one. You must submit the artifact you want graded to the official grading area in each unit in order to receive a grade - even if you also chose to share those on your blog, twitter, or discussion forum. Please note that a link to your blog post will work fine for submissions.
For the participation grade, you will receive full credit if you respond substantially to at least two other participants on either their blog, the discussion forum, or Twitter. Less than two responses, or extremely short responses, will result in a loss of points on your participation grade.
All assignments to be graded are due on Sunday at 11:00 PM UTC the week that they are assigned:
- Week 1 Assignments: Sunday, October 29, 2017 @ 11:00 PM UTC.
- Week 2 Assignments: Sunday, November 5, 2017 @ 11:00 PM UTC.
- Week 3 Assignments: Sunday, November 12, 2017 @ 11:00 PM UTC.
- Week 4 Assignments: Sunday, November 19, 2017 @ 11:00 PM UTC.
- Week 5 Assignments: Sunday, November 26, 2017 @ 11:00 PM UTC.
- Week 6 Assignments: Sunday, December 3, 2017 @ 11:00 PM UTC.
If you are seeking certification, you will need to score a grade of 70% of more to pass this course and receive a certificate.
Main Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Define how the digital age impacts health
- Explain the science of well-being
- Practice physical yoga posture with alignment taught
- Approach a practice of mindfulness meditation
- Understand research on yoga’s effects on physical and mental health
- Explain the science of stress and mind-body connection
- Understand the link between yoga and interpersonal relationships
- Know how to take yoga off of the mat and into life
Course Material Availability
New course material will go live every Monday at 7:00 am (CST), beginning with week 0 on October 16th and continuing through December 3rd. All course material will remain available through the end of course.
Share Your Blog
All course participants are welcome to add their work to the course Learner Activity Hub. To have your work added, it first must be shared in a public blog. Then fill out the form on this page to have your blog added to the Learner Activity Hub. You can use either a blog dedicated solely to this course, or use an existing blog and create either a category or tag with the name “YogaMOOC” (you might want to start off with a test blog post using that tag or category before filling out this form).
Academic Policy
You will still be expected to perform your own original work in this course. Feel free to be inspired by other participants and resources, but make sure that you are doing your own work if you are working towards a certificate. Any direct copying, plagiarism, or cheating of any kind on any assignments is subject to an automatic "0" in the course, for those that are seeking certificates.
Discussion Forum Etiquette / Code of Conduct
All YogaMOOC participants are required to agree with the following code of conduct. Instructors and participants will enforce this code throughout the course. We are expecting cooperation from all participants to help ensuring a safe environment for everybody.
Our course is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion (or lack thereof). We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any venue, including discussion boards, blogs, Twitter and other online media. Course participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the course at the discretion of the instructors.
Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.
Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.
If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the instructors or other participants may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the course.
If you are being harassed yourself, or notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact an instructor or TA immediately.
Instructors will be happy to help participants assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the course. We value your participation.