Page 1 of 2

BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling Ed

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 3:32 am
by MegaMav
Welcome to the next big thing in bowling education, BowlingChat University.

What is it?
It is a directed, self paced, course based section of BowlingChat.net, designed for education and certification of bowling related disciplines. Right now we have a full certifcation for "Mastery of Layouts".
The eduction of layouts is a free service, and the certification test costs $10 each attempt.

Why should I take the classes?
This is much better than scouring the wiki for articles, and piecing your education together without direction.
You'll be tested and challenged, so you'll know exactly how your skills stack up.
You'll also be on the fast track to cutting edge ideas and technologies discussed in detail here on BowlingChat.net.

If you pass the certification exam you will receive a Certificate of Completion from BowlingChat.net and admission into a BCU Graduates Group. There may be advanced privileges related to this group in the future.
The certificate can be printed out, framed and displayed if you choose. It will be provided in PDF format and emailed to the email address associated with your BowlingChat.net account.

There is a custom rank for Mastery of Layouts graduates.
Image

Where is it, and how do I sign up?
All you need its a BowlingChat.net account to sign up.
There is a button at the top of each forum page now that says "BCU".
It looks just like this:

Image

Click that button above to visit BCU and get started!
Just sign in using your BowlingChat.net Forum ID and Password.
It will ask you to fill in a few additional fields including your name to be displayed on your certificate.

What happened to the IBPSIA group?
I decided to discontinue the IBPSIA group since keeping it updated was very difficult.
IBPSIA does not keep a record of members past the current year.
It was unfair for me to deny members only because they decided to discontinue paying their dues.
All members of the IBPSIA group were added to the Pro Shop group and their default group set to show "Pro Shop"

What else should I know?
This is a very new section to the website, so there may be a few hitches here and there that I didnt catch.
Please contact me if you have any problems.

Are you going to expand the course catalog?
I would really like to expand the course catalog to include Coaching, How to bowl, Pro shop skills, etc.
If you are a qualified and experienced person in one of those disciplines or another discipline that I didnt mention above, and you are interested in creating a course, please contact me to discuss your plan of action.

Special Thanks
I'd like to give a special thanks to Kelly TeHuna for helping me port the single sign-on plugin for this new version of the software. If it werent for Kelly helping me to figure out the issues with the old plugin, we'd all be creating new accounts. Another special thanks to the few testers I reached out to, for a preview of this section of the website, and the feedback I received.

This is a very unique section of the website, you're unlikely to find anything like this anywhere else on the bowling internet.
I hope everyone takes a moment to give it a look, I think its really worth your time and effort.

Please provide me feedback on this thread, good, bad or indifferent.

Thank you for supporting BowlingChat.net.
Lets keep bowling moving forward.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 1:56 pm
by moonlightPS
This looks awesome and I will be excited to go through the courses. I thought about taking the test cold, but there is always something to learn.

Thank you for all of your hardwork!
Kurt

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 1:58 pm
by Dustin
Great idea Eric.

I tried to log in and not having much luck. Says, "invalid login." Could it be the "?" I used in my username.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 2:13 pm
by MegaMav
Dustin? wrote:Great idea Eric.

I tried to log in and not having much luck. Says, "invalid login." Could it be the "?" I used in my username.
Yup.
Can I remove the "?" from your username?
The ability to sign up with any special characters has been deprecated since the wiki single sign-on.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 2:34 pm
by moonlightPS
Just finished Layouts101. Good foundation information and the test provided a good representation of the material without being redundant or tricky.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 2:38 pm
by Dustin
MegaMav wrote: Yup.
Can I remove the "?" from your username?
The ability to sign up with any special characters has been deprecated since the wiki single sign-on.
Works for me.
Thanks for your help.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 10:08 pm
by BCP27
Initial thoughts:

YES! I LOVE YOU! Digging through the wiki was always somewhat confusing. Free knowledge sharing is the greatest thing about the internet.

I'll post again after I get a chance to start BCU w/ more detailed feedback.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 10:08 pm
by guruU2
YES!!!!!

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 11th, 2014, 10:14 pm
by MegaMav
BCP27 wrote:YES! I LOVE YOU!
You may feel differently about me after you take the final exam. :)
Thanks for the kind words, I was hoping this would be accepted well.
guruU2 wrote:YES!!!!!
Thank you Gary!

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 12th, 2014, 1:15 am
by rrb6699
took 1st test from memory after going thru material for review. on to the next as soon as I can.

rr

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 13th, 2014, 6:49 pm
by EricHartwell
Mega, Awesome work putting together such a comprehensive layout course. Looking forward to future courses and chances to learn.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 14th, 2014, 3:56 am
by MegaMav
EricHartwell wrote:Mega, Awesome work putting together such a comprehensive layout course. Looking forward to future courses and chances to learn.
Thank you.
Congratulations on being the first person to complete the layout courses and pass the final exam.
You're proof, that if you know your stuff, you can make it through the gauntlet of questions and problems.

Kudos to you, and future grads.
This is a very demanding course, filled with problems that require intuition and creativity to solve, very much like REAL pro shop work.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 14th, 2014, 1:39 pm
by MegaMav
Congratulations to rmack for completing the courses and passing the final exam.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 14th, 2014, 4:39 pm
by pneumatic
What a great idea. I can't wait to start my courses and am looking forward to additional courses in the future!

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 14th, 2014, 5:31 pm
by MegaMav
Congratulations to user Arkansas for completing the courses and passing the final exam.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 14th, 2014, 8:24 pm
by Libra
Thank to all involved in the BCU a little more reading and the final exam will have to be done

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 16th, 2014, 4:10 pm
by MegaMav
I've gotten some good feedback from some of you via PM.
A few questions were massaged and a couple of questions replaced.
Anyone else have feedback on the new system?

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 18th, 2014, 2:38 pm
by MegaMav
Congratulations to user Dustin for completing the courses and passing the final exam.

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 18th, 2014, 6:41 pm
by RevZiLLa
Well done!

Re: BowlingChat University - The Next Big Thing in Bowling E

Posted: April 19th, 2014, 12:31 am
by MegaMav
Congratulations to user moonlightPS for completing the courses and passing the final exam.