FutureLearn

History can offer us a unique insight into the public health problems, policies, and practices of the past, and is of critical importance to our understanding of healthcare in the contemporary world.

This online course will offer you an opportunity to bring the past into conversation with the present, enabling you to set the changing nature of public health in post-war Britain in context with changes seen today.

From the Tudors to the 20th century you’ll join expert historians, curators and food scientists from the University of Reading and Historic Royal Palaces, and indulge in the changing tastes of successive generations of royalty and experience the splendor of their palaces. We’ll take an intimate look behind the scenes at some of the most incredible palaces in England; Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace, Elizabeth I at the Tower of London, George I at Hampton Court Palace, George III at Kew Palace and Victoria at Kensington Palace.

Week 1: King Henry VIII and Hampton Court Palace... [-]

This course is designed to help refugees and asylum seekers get the information and the support they need to apply for and enter university in the UK. Follow Ahmad and Rassina as they guide you through the application process, helping you to understand where you want to go, and how to get there. The course is supported by a group of experts across higher education, refugee support networks, language assessment providers and refugees studying at universities.

This course is designed for refugees and asylum seekers looking to continue or start their Higher Education studies in the UK.

It would also be useful for anyone who supports or teaches refugees hoping to study at university.... [-]

How can we understand museums today? Who are museums for? How do we respond emotionally to museum objects and spaces? And how can museums play a role in the pursuit of social justice, human rights, or health and wellbeing? On this course, you will explore these questions through a range of inspirational case studies and thought-provoking ideas. Discover how modern museums seek to impact our contemporary world, learning with National Museums Liverpool, one of the UK’s leading museum services, and the University of Leicester, pioneers of museum studies for over 50 years.

This course is aimed at anyone with an interest in museums. You might be a current or prospective student, who wants to find out more about training in museum studies; a museum volunteer; or a museum practitioner. No prior knowledge or equipment is required.... [-]

From weather fluctuations to the spread of an invasive species, what problems can scientists address by analyzing these vast data collections? What are the potential benefits of business, research, and our daily lives?

Find out about possible career paths and gain insights from industry experts and research scientists working on a range of current projects. From urban planning to monitoring wildlife, explore the complexities of managing and analyzing big data to seek innovative solutions.

Week 1: Introduction to big data

This course is designed to help anyone teaching or supporting learning in the Vocational Education, and Training (VET) sector understand the benefits of blended learning and how to use technology effectively to support learners. Supported by a group of Digital Champions, you will connect with teaching and training professionals who understand the practical challenges of using blended learning. You will be aware of the importance of being able to blend digital methods into your teaching. These methods will help your learners become familiar with the digital workplaces they will be joining.

Cultural heritage is usually discussed in national or religious terms: we speak of Italian culture, Greek civilization, Islamic art, and so on. But today cities are creating their own heritage through museums, galleries, markets of artistic goods, and urban networks. Cities project themselves as cultural hubs representing and connecting entire regions, for example, Doha and the UAE, Singapore and Southeast Asia, Los Angeles and North America.

Using these and other examples, through this course you’ll explore exactly what is meant by urban cultural heritage and key concepts related to it.

Cultural Heritage in an Urbanising World

Are you interested in other countries? Do you want to study and understand other cultures? This free online course will take you on a journey through a number of periods from the medieval to the modern day, from Russia to Europe and all the way to Latin America.

Together we’ll explore eight countries by looking at some of the slogans, books, monuments, and images which emerged from them over different historical periods. You will learn about the following topics:

Technology is changing every aspect of how businesses and services, whether public or private, operate – a process known as digital transformation.

On this free online course, you will explore the impact of digital transformation and the issues arising from it, and learn how to implement digital transformation in your organization, especially where to begin.

Implement digital transformation in your organization

By the end of the course, you will:

Increasing populations and social changes are pressurizing our relationship with the environment. Property rights are embedded in power structures and land management. This course explores the different ways that nature is perceived by different types of societies and the impact of property rights on natural resource management.

This course explores three approaches to the hierarchy of property rights and applies these to environmental use and management around the world. It also includes advice on producing a policy brief for an environmental issue.

Whether you’re a budding animator or a fan of animation who wants to understand more about what happens behind-the-scenes, this free online course from the internationally acclaimed National Film and Television School (NFTS) will have something for you.

Over four weeks, our team of award-winning animators will take you through their approach to telling stories and demystify their own animation technique.

Each week, our contributors will use examples from their own work, as well as the animated films that have influenced and inspired them, to enable you to explore different forms of animation:

1 - Stop motion or stop frame animation.

2 - 2D or cel animation.

What will our future look like? Will we continue burning fossil fuels or will we live in a 100% renewable world? How can we address climate change and what policies do we need to implement?

We will provide you with model examples to make you familiar with aspects of economic modeling and state-of-the-art research on current debates in energy policy.

This online course explores these concerns, using models in environmental and energy economics. You will learn how to design models, how to interpret and use results to make informed decisions, and how to use models to assess energy and environmental policies.

This free online course will help anyone working with young people aged 5-19 to engage them in learning through simple filmmaking and animation. You’ll discover how film and animation can be used as powerful tools for encouraging active learning and enabling pupils to establish strong connections with any area of the curriculum.

Try filmmaking and animation in the classroom

During the course, you will:

What happens when a crime is allegedly committed in England and Wales? Now’s your chance to find out. On this course, you’ll follow a suspect through the journey of investigation, prosecution and adjudication. You’ll step inside the courtroom - discovering how criminal justice processes work - and learn about the criminal law and key institutions like the police and the courts.

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

Music is all around us: we listen to it while we are on our way to work, when preparing lunch or even while showering. Most people know that music has its own script – the notation. But seldom are they aware of the long tradition of this notation system.

In this course, we’ll travel back in time and explore musical notations from the Middle Ages. We will show you how to decode and transcribe early notational systems. And we will discuss the challenges and principles of music notation, referring to semiotic approaches and visual theory.

Music manuscripts and notations and their evolution through history.... [-]

Harnessing the power of the sun has been the dream of energy professionals for decades. Now, with solar photovoltaic technology becoming more and more affordable, scalable and accessible, that dream is getting closer to reality.

This online course looks at solar PV in depth, examining its potential for today and the near future, exploring the technical challenges, and assessing the commercial opportunities.

It offers you an unparalleled insight into the global solar power market and will give you the knowledge and practical details to shape and lead the future of solar energy.

What makes a great novel? How is a novel woven together? How can we best appreciate works of fiction?

Answer these questions and more with this course from The University of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

On the course, you’ll discover four of the main building blocks of modern fiction: plot, characterization, dialogue, and setting using examples from a range of texts including the four novels we shortlisted for the James Tait Black fiction prize last year. You’ll also explore the formal strategies authors use, how they came to be, and how they affect us as readers.

Are you wondering what skills you need for success in the IELTS Academic test? Maybe you want to know how IELTS examiners assess your level, or how to improve your band score? This course will help you find the answers, understand how to study for the test, and develop your academic English skills. You’ll interact with experts and learners around the world. You’ll also have the chance to try authentic IELTS practice tasks and learn what skills they’re testing and how they’re marked. IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge English Language Assessment.

This online astronomy course will change the way you see the night sky.

You’ll examine one of the most famous constellations Orion. Starting with its nebula, where new stars and planets are formed, you’ll take a look at the seven brightest stars that make up Orion using high-quality images, including from the Hubble Space Telescope.

You’ll learn about exoplanets and the secrets to life outside our Solar System. And you’ll think about the Milky Way, considering the history of the universe from the Big Bang to the present.

The course was produced with the kind support of Dangoor Education.

Process mining combines business process management with data science. Using process mining, you can analyse and visualise business processes based on event data recorded in event logs. For example, you could analyse how people use public transportation; verify whether a loan application is processed correctly by a bank, or predict when hardware parts are likely to fail. This online course will give you an introduction to this new and exciting field.

Process mining provides a critical, process-centric perspective on data, which is not available with classical data mining or machine learning techniques. For example, with process mining you can:... [-]

As extreme weather events continue to hit the headlines, it is clear that environmental issues are on the rise across the globe.

Get an introduction to sustainable development, and find out what we can do to help our environment, with this online course from Deakin University.

You’ll explore the different ways in which sustainable development can be understood, and examine the true impact of human activity on our planet.

You’ll find out about recent actions that have been taken to achieve sustainable development and the solutions that we may need to implement in the future.

Digital technologies have fundamentally changed how we learn. The web is no longer simply an information resource, but also a space for interaction, scholarship, and creativity.

In this world where knowledge is widely distributed, accessibility is determined by and dependent on the strength of an individual’s learning network. This course will equip you with the skills needed to succeed in education, in this networked age. You’ll explore our digital differences and how to address them and examine ways to grow and manage your own personal learning network.

Increasingly, we’re bombarded with all sorts of data about how society is changing. From opinion poll trends and migration data to economic results and government debt levels.

On this course from the Sheffield Methods Institute at University of Sheffield, we’ll look at ways of cutting through the confusion to decide what numbers reveal, when and why they (sometimes deliberately) mislead and determine what is ‘fake news.’

The dramatic events of the financial crisis in the late 2000s transformed the UK financial services industry. Long established institutions went out of business, others were forced into takeovers and only the intervention of governments worldwide - courtesy of eye-watering financial recovery packages - prevented the banking industry from implosion.

Now, nearly 10 years on from the crisis, it’s time to take stock and examine how the industry looks today. Most importantly, how is the industry now working for the consumer? What are the products? How competitive is the industry? Is regulation working effectively to protect consumers in the financial marketplace? Where can consumers go to get help and guidance in a changing financial environment?... [-]

The past decade has seen an explosion of new ways to understand and use location information in widely-accessible technologies. This Geospatial Revolution has created new consumer GPS tools, interactive web maps, and location-aware mobile devices. These advances make it possible for everyone to use, collect, and understand spatial information.

This online course brings together core concepts in cartography, geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial thinking, and uses real-world examples, to give you the fundamental skills to engage with geography beyond the surface-level.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:... [-]

This course looks at how to use free cash flow concepts to analyze and evaluate corporate performance in order to make better capital budgeting and acquisition decisions.

You’ll get an introduction to free cash flow and its components and learn about the cost of capital. You’ll also look at how free cash flow can be used in acquisitions, and explore some common implementation issues.

Week 1 - Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow components and the objective of the firm

Week 2 - Capital and Modified Free Cash Flow

The cost of capital, capital budgeting using free cash flow, and modified free cash flow

Week 3 - Evaluating & Integrating Acquisitions... [-]

This course looks in detail at the different ways in which mergers and acquisitions transactions are structured.

You’ll learn about legal structures, stock purchases, asset purchases, tax loss mergers and reverse mergers.

As you explore these different transaction structures, you’ll consider the legal and corporate documents involved and the tax implications for both buyer and seller.

Week 1 - Review, Documents & Legal Structures

Understand the documents like engagement letters, confidentiality agreements, term sheets, letters of intent and the structures that underpin M&A... [-]

This free online course will introduce you to the rapidly evolving world of digital marketing and the role it plays in driving awareness and sales for online businesses. We will go on a customer journey together, to discover how people use digital to search, engage, review and buy.

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never arrive, which is why you need a strategy to direct your digital marketing decisions. We will provide you with a step-by-step guide to creating your own digital marketing strategy, to keep you on the right track towards engaging and retaining your most valuable customers online.

Choosing the right degree and university may feel daunting enough, without worrying about what you’re going to do after graduation. But with the graduate job market becoming increasingly competitive, it’s vital to start thinking about your long-term career and employability now.

This free online course will show you how to make the most of the time you’ll spend in higher education, with the ultimate aim of improving your prospects when you graduate.

Over three weeks, you will:

Code Club is a global network of volunteers and educators who run free coding clubs for 9- to 13-year-olds.

This short course will give you the confidence and skills to run a Code Club for young people and inspire the next generation to get excited about computing and digital making.

You’ll get practical advice and tips from volunteers, teachers, and the Code Club team, and you’ll explore the free resources which Code Club provides.

Within healthcare, there are thousands of complex and variable processes that generate data including treatment of patients, lab results, and internal logistic processes. Analysing this data is vital for improving these processes and ending bottlenecks.

On this course, you will explore how process mining can help turn this data into valuable insights by looking at different areas of process mining and seeing how it has been applied. You will even get the chance to apply process mining to real life healthcare data.

Process mining provides a critical, process-centric perspective on data, which is not available with classical data mining or machine learning techniques. Applying process mining in the healthcare environment is extra beneficial since processes are complex, and costs are high.... [-]

This free online course explores the building blocks of our political views: freedom, community, peace, justice and choice.

These words mean different things to different people – such radically different things in fact, that individuals, protest movements and entire states often go to war to assert their understanding of, say, freedom over somebody else’s.

Over five weeks, we will explore how and why words come to mean such different things, across time and space. We will look at how we come to be political, and how political ideology and propaganda pick up on the words, images and symbols we use to express our own convictions and sentiments.... [-]

People have explored and depended on the oceans of our planet for millennia. During that time the geography of our world has changed radically as coastal regions have flooded and islands have risen, or been lost beneath the waves. With 70% of the world’s surface covered by water, an unparalleled, yet largely untouched record of human life has been left beneath the sea for us to discover, from our earliest ancestors right through to present day. Over the length of this Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds course we will learn about maritime archaeology together - exploring underwater landscapes from the ancient Mediterranean to the prehistoric North Sea, and consider Shipwrecks from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific coast of the Americas.... [-]

This course has been designed by UCAS to help you better understand the study and training opportunities open to you. The wide range of subjects, universities, and options available can be overwhelming. Exploring your choices and making decisions can be quite daunting. So we’ve put together a set of materials to help shape your thinking.

Choose the right subject and pathway for you

By signing up, you’ll discover more about your options and enhance your ability to make choices that are right for you. We’ll provide insight into choosing subjects and the different pathways that can be taken after school, through higher education or other training routes, to your chosen career path.... [-]

This online course from the British Council will provide international education agents, school counselors, and consultants with advice on all aspects of UK education. Further information is included around becoming a professional education agent for the UK if relevant for you. It will develop your knowledge of:

Making a film is a creative exploit, but just like any other business, the aim is also to make money.

The Business of Film has been created by The Open University, in association with Pinewood Studios – the leading provider of studio services to the global screen-based industries. The studios are where Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens and the 24th James Bond film Spectre were recently filmed.

Using the value chain concept and important independent film case studies, the course provides a practical and in-depth exploration of the key business decisions.

Why do films fail? Why are intellectual property and copyright important? Why do films get public funding? What is the relationship between marketing, box office returns, and overall film success?... [-]

Our homes provide shelter, sanctuary and comfort, but they’re also a source of wealth. So what makes some properties more valuable than others? Find out with this course.

You’ll unlock the mystery of property values, looking at the influences that inflation and interest rates can have on house prices; and exploring the differences between price, market and investment values.

You’ll also learn about the influence proximity to various amenities have on property demand and demographics, and interpret data on property prices.

Our homes provide shelter, sanctuary and comfort, but they’re also a source of wealth. This online course asked: what makes some properties more valuable than others?... [-]

This free online course will bring together learners and practitioners interested in how the mind works. It aims to build bridges between traditionally antagonistic approaches to understanding the mind.

What is a mind?

This question has perplexed philosophers, scientists, historians and ordinary people across time and cultures.

While advances in the medical understanding of how the brain functions can shed light on neurological functions and disorders, the essential question of what the mind is speaks to a different problem.

This problem cannot be answered by a purely scientific understanding of the brain, nor by a purely philosophical or psychological approach. Many disciplines have attempted to address the question’, resulting in multiple and sometimes antithetical answers.... [-]

In this course over the next two weeks, we look to answer the question: ‘What is leadership?’ In the first week, we explore two fundamental perspectives on leadership: leader as a person and leadership as a practice. In Week 2 we examine the difference between leadership and management so you can determine whether you are a leader in a management role, a leader without a management role, or a manager who needs to become a leader. By exploring sources of power and influence, and how perception shapes behaviour, you will be able to address important issues more effectively.

This thought-provoking course will help to discover more about yourself and others as we explore:... [-]

In the second course in this two-part series, you will learn about different theoretical models that seek to explain why migration starts and why it continues. You will explore migration as a structural feature of our societies and examine individual’s choices to migrate. You will consider the role networks and institutions play in the movement of people. You will also hear from international experts about how migration theories can help us understand cases of labor migration in different world regions.

Imagine a world without research, where governments carry out policy based on hunches and manufacturers release products without testing.

Research allows us to solve problems on a global scale and make evidence-based decisions.

During this course, you’ll get an introduction to what research is, and why it’s so important to us all. You’ll learn fundamental research concepts, meet leading researchers working on real-world problems, and identify an interesting area for your own research.

What does it take to be a spy? Strong critical thinking and communication skills, a firm grasp of logic, and a love of puzzles are all useful.

This course will help you develop those abilities while exploring the exciting world of espionage. You’ll learn about code-making and breaking, encryption, logical thinking and more as you find out whether you would make a good spy.

The Gallipoli Campaign was Australia and New Zealand’s first major military engagement in World War 1. The Anzacs went on to fight in Palestine, Egypt and the Western Front and suffered one of the highest casualty rates of any allied army.

This free online course is part of the 100 Stories Project at Monash University, commemorating the Anzac centenary and exploring the cost of war. The course will coincide with ANZAC Day on 25th April and suggests new and more inclusive ways of remembering.

In this course, you will be able to identify Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez’s narrative contributions to world literature through the study of three of the author’s obsessions: power, history, and love. You will have the opportunity to enjoy reading the following works: The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother (1972), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975), Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981), Love in the Time of Cholera (1985), The General in his Labyrinth (1989) and Of Love and Other Demons (1994).

You will explore the characteristics of “the dictator novel”, reaching a clear understanding of the particularities of the new historical novel. You will also reflect upon the relationship between history and fiction and understand the author’s literary influences.... [-]

South Korea is at a critical juncture, particularly from global perspectives.

From a geopolitical perspective, South Korea is located in Northeast Asia, a region from which almost all security tension in East Asia emerges. Consider, for example, the long-standing Sino-Japanese rivalry and the unresolved territorial disputes in the East China Sea. It is often said that the territorial disputes between Tokyo and Beijing have reached a ‘boiling point.’ Also, the persistent security threats posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and long-range missiles cannot be taken lightly. Most of all, the rise of China and the United States’ “rebalance” toward Asia is likely to generate a new dimension of global power politics.... [-]

Would you like to know more about what musicians do in rehearsals and performances?

Would you like to learn different techniques for listening to and understanding music?

This free online course provides a general introduction to how to understand a musical score and insights into what professional musicians do with the notation that these contain. You’ll learn how to connect the notation you see with the music you hear, from short familiar melodies to a full orchestral score.

Focussing on works by Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, and Mahler, we’ll introduce you to a pianist, a small chamber group and a conductor who will explain how they create memorable performances from the notes on the page.... [-]

This free online course is a collaboration between the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museums and the Department of History at Royal Holloway, University of London. It will introduce you to some of the major turning points in the history of Britain in the post-1945 era.

Guided by Dr Ross Mahoney, Aviation Historian, RAF Museum, and Dr Emmett Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in History, Royal Holloway, the course will examine:

What is academic integrity? Why is it so important in academia? And how can you, as a student at the university, achieve with integrity and honesty?

These are some of the important questions we’ll explore over the four weeks of the course. As we do so, you will hear from the lead educator as well as the perspectives of students like you.

Specifically, each week contains videos, articles, activities, and quizzes that will help you develop the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful and ethical learner. There will also be opportunities for you to discuss your ideas with other students on the course and learn from their experiences and points of view.

By the end of the course, we hope you’ll come to understand the meaning of academic integrity and how to avoid academic dishonesty, misconduct, and plagiarism but more importantly we hope you will also embrace the values associated with academic integrity as your own.... [-]

This course will bring you to the wizard level of skill in data mining, following on from Data Mining with Weka and More Data Mining with Weka, by showing how to use popular packages that extend Weka’s functionality. You’ll learn about forecasting time series and mining data streams. You’ll connect up the popular R statistical package and learn how to use its extensive visualization and preprocessing functions from Weka. You’ll script Weka in Python – all from within the friendly Weka interface. And you’ll learn how to distribute data mining jobs over several computers using Apache SPARK.

Leadership has been studied for centuries, although its examination in modern times has largely focused on the work of senior executives in private sector, profit-making organizations. In this free online course, you will learn more about leadership in the context of public service provision, by public sector organizations, community and voluntary groups, and political bodies.

You will explore the distinctive features of leadership in public service, including its increasing focus on the generation of public value and the negotiation of different forms of public interest. You will learn some of the key skills of public leaders such as political astuteness, working in collaboration and conflict handling. Throughout, you will look at different types of public leadership, exploring the different roles of elected politicians, public servants and community activists, and how each can contribute (or detract from) the public good. You will consider different levels and contributions of leadership – from frontline police officers or social workers through to prime ministers. Finally, you will have the opportunity to examine, through a series of interviews with key stakeholders, how awareness of these key facets of public leadership is helping to change the face of policing in Britain today.... [-]

Get an introduction to studying archaeology, exploring exciting discoveries in the Vale of Pewsey, near to Stonehenge and Avebury.

We’ll be showing you around our field school – a month-long excavation at the Vale of Pewsey, which is a relatively untouched site compared to its world-famous neighbours, Stonehenge and Avebury.

The Vale of Pewsey is an archaeological treasure chest and the jewel of its crown is Marden. Built around 2,400 BC, Marden is the largest henge in the country and one of Britain’s most important but least understood prehistoric monuments.

Every object has a tale to tell and we’ll investigate how archaeologists paint a vivid picture of what life was like in Neolithic times through the astounding assortment of discoveries made in this beautiful part of England.... [-]

Assessment for Learning (AfL) is a term that’s widely used in education but applied in ways that are variable in their effectiveness. This free online course - designed for STEM teachers in primary and secondary schools, and sixth form and further education colleges - will help you understand and use it more effectively. Understand Assessment for Learning in theory and practice Through this course, you’ll understand:

This course will explore how the mind of the parent influences the developing mind of the child, from conception through infancy and into later life.

We will take you on a journey that begins in pregnancy, exploring the importance of the ability of the mother-to-be to think about her baby while still in utero, alongside the impact of emotions such as anxiety and depression.

We will then explore what the research tells us about the way in which the parent’s emotional and cognitive mind, can shape the interactional context of the baby during the first two years of life, and the impact of this interaction on the baby’s developing the mind. This will include, for example, thinking about the parent’s ability to be ‘mind-minded’ in terms of being able to treat their baby as an individual with a mind of their own.... [-]

On this practical course, you will start thinking like a scientist, by carrying out experiments at home.

You will extract the DNA from fruit, observe osmosis in action, see how different liquids behave when frozen, and bake a potato to destruction.

As you carry out these experiments, you will develop scientific skills including observation, record-keeping, data analysis and experiment control.

The course was produced with the kind support of Dangoor Education. You may also enjoy Basic Science: Understanding Numbers.

Evaporation during heating, quantified by weight

This practical, hands-on course will help you to start thinking like a scientist, by using numbers to describe and understand the natural world.

It might be the size of the Greenland ice sheet, the number of molecules in a raindrop, or the latest set of mind-boggling numbers about climate change presented in the media.

No longer will you be put off by averages or percentages, and you’ll even learn to love negative numbers. You will understand and manage numbers like a scientist. The course will introduce all the main skills you’ll need to understand and communicate scientific numbers, relate them to the real world, and share your discoveries with other learners.

You may also be interested in joining Basic Science: Understanding Experiments.... [-]

The ‘digital citizen’ is a person who has developed the skills and knowledge to effectively use the internet and digital technologies, who uses digital technologies and the internet in a responsible and appropriate way in order to engage and participate in society and politics.

We live in a world where the use of digital technology has become the norm. Effective participation in our society increasingly requires our ability to engage online. This isn’t just a question of technical ability – just as with our physical society, there are appropriate and responsible behaviours we need to acquire.

In this course, we’ll investigate and explore the concept of the digital society. We’ll look at how personal values and ethical judgments shape our online participation, and how new technologies can be applied to solve some of the problems we might face. Through all of this, we will develop your digital capabilities, and your awareness of the cultural and ethical implications of using digital technologies, and we’ll seek to establish the skills required to become an effective and successful digital citizen.... [-]

Student assistants are valuable staff members at the University of Groningen. Currently, over 700 students take up teaching duties, support role functions, governing positions, and many other responsibilities.

But, how to prepare for a job as a student assistant? What is professional behavior? How to deal with challenging situations in the classroom? How to support first-year students? These and other questions will be covered in this course.

Most people change their jobs multiple times during the course of their working lives. Many make dramatic career shifts. Identifying your transferable generic skills is key to making the most of this agile employment marketplace.

This course looks at the current career environment. Using case studies and a series of unique audit tools, the course will challenge you to:

You will also learn about credentials – contemporary recognition, usually in digital form, of the skills and capabilities you have built during your life and career. Providing evidence of what you can do can often signify more than formal qualifications. This course will teach you how to document your cumulative work and life experience.... [-]

Have you ever wondered how mathematics can be used to solve big data problems? This course will show you how. Mathematics is everywhere, and with the rise of big data it becomes a useful tool when extracting information and analyzing large datasets.

We will begin by explaining how maths underpins many of the tools that are used to manage and analyze big data. We will show you how very different applied problems can have common mathematical aims, and therefore can be addressed using similar mathematical tools. We will then proceed to introduce three such tools, based on a linear algebra framework. These tools and the problems that they address are:... [-]

Many people have big data but only some people know what to do with it. Why? Well, the big problem is that the data is big—the size, complexity and diversity of datasets increase every day. This means we need new solutions for analysing data.

This course equips you for working with these solutions by introducing you to selected statistical and machine learning techniques used for analysing large datasets and extracting information. We also expose you to three software packages so you can develop your coding skills by completing practical exercises.

Biochemistry brings together all of the sciences to study the chemical and physical processes that occur in living organisms. It truly is the science of life.

As a scientific discipline in its own right, biochemistry has a major impact on all areas of the life sciences and biochemists are in high demand among employers.

This free online biochemistry course will outline the background and history of the field and its contemporary significance in the life sciences. It’s ideal if you enjoy biology and chemistry at school, and are thinking about studying or working in biochemistry as a distinct subject.

You may be aware of 3D printing or have seen low-cost 3D printers that can create plastic toys, replicas, and objects of your own design. But did you know that 3D printing is also enabling life-saving and transforming medical procedures, which were unthinkable a few years ago? The world of medicine and biomaterials has collided with advances in 3D printing, creating a new clinical paradigm in biomedicine: 3D bioprinting. This online course tells the story of this revolution, introducing you to commonly used biomaterials and bioprinting techniques.

This online course studies the incredibly disruptive potential of blockchain technology in the energy sector. You will look at how blockchain works and start to understand the background, value proposition and geopolitical context that brought it to the center of everyone’s attention.

The course will offer a clear overview of how and why blockchain will take over the energy sector, optimizing old processes and empowering the customers like never before. This will create a new paradigm, where users can buy and sell energy from and to each other.

Discover how money flows in personal and business environments and develop the basic skills to manage your finances with this course introducing you to bookkeeping and accounting.

You’ll master common terms, basic maths and gain the ability to put your knowledge into practice. After this course, you’ll be able to perfectly balance your books and understand how concepts of profit and loss lead to revenue or debt.

Develop ideas through conversation

This course is not facilitated. Learners are encouraged to support one another, share personal experience and knowledge, and see new perspectives.

In the near future, many of us will work alongside robots. Knowledge of robotics and autonomous systems will be a helpful skill for a surprising number of today’s careers.

On this course, we’ll look at current and future developments in the field of robotics that could shape many different aspects of our daily lives. We’ll build up a picture of the principles and the fundamental challenges of robotic design, and demonstrate how research here at The University of Sheffield is working to overcome some of these challenges.

This course looked at current and future developments in the field of robotics that could shape different aspects of people’s daily lives. It built an understanding of the principles and fundamental challenges of designing robots including:... [-]

When did you last do business with someone you didn’t trust? Or who broke a promise? Building a relationship with your customer involves time, communication and commitment, but the benefits are a sure way to help your business succeed and grow.

This free online course introduces the principles of relationship marketing, revealing long-term relationships as the way to unlock value for marketers, customers and other stakeholders. Even if you have never considered marketing to be relevant to you personally, the ideas shared in this course will reveal how you can benefit from it – at work or elsewhere.

You will explore how organisations choose the right customers to engage with, how they sustain such engagement, and how and why they disengage. As well as analysing how organisations implement relationship marketing, the course will encourage you to apply its ideas to your own role even if you have little or no direct contact with customers. You’ll also be able to use these principles with potential employers.... [-]

Faced with a daily deluge of information, we have never had greater need of clear communication skills. This free course offers you a practical grounding in using a range of communication media, which will boost your personal effectiveness, save you time and reduce your stress levels.

You will discover the principles of writing influential documents for work such as reports and proposals. As you learn simple frameworks for emails and meetings you’ll immediately put them into practice and increase your productivity. You will find new confidence in your ability to make convincing presentations and conduct productive meetings – whether virtual or face to face. You will develop communication approaches that are sensitive to cultural and personal difference and are tailored to the occasion, whether online, in print or face to face.... [-]

Networking is a fundamental skill, which will help you take control of your career. This free online course introduces the principles of networking as a fundamental skill to help develop your personal brand in the world of work.

You will craft, and receive feedback on, an elevator pitch, a short statement about your role and talents. You will learn how to analyze the value of your connections, whether you are looking for a new job or seeking ways of being more effective in your current position. The course will also cover strategies for self-presentation, keeping in touch with your connections and ensuring that your networking relationships are based on mutual benefit and trust. As well as honing your interpersonal skills in essential areas such as giving and seeking information, the course will cover the fundamentals of creating and managing your digital presence for networking on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook.... [-]

Whatever the type or scale of your project, delivering great results, on time and within budget, is always a challenge. This free online course introduces you to the essential skills and processes which support successful project management in a way that allows you to apply them to your own context.

Visualise, plan, manage and evaluate projects successfully

You will learn techniques to help you visualize, plan and manage key activities and events in your project, and make links between project management and related theories of innovation, change and people management.

You will be introduced to essential tools which support project management, as well as the fundamental personal skills of team selection, management, and evaluation. The course will also cover the stage of evaluating project performance and learning for the future.... [-]

Sustainability is an embedded practice in many businesses. It recognizes the long-term benefits of acknowledging the social and environmental impacts of production and consumption. While governments encourage responsible social and environmental action, implementation is often left to individual organizations and many of these are under pressure from shareholders driven by a profit-centered return on investment (ROI) model. And so, environmental and sustainable practices often become an HR matter - it’s people that must make the difference.

This course will explore what constitutes sustainability from both ecological and business perspectives. We will investigate the emergence of sustainable approaches to human resources, known as ‘Green HR’, and identify various types of sustainability models.... [-]

This course is part of the Business Futures program, which will enable you to gain insights into three emerging trends that are disrupting traditional business practices.

The sharing economy is a 21st Century phenomenon that has shaken the status quo in accommodation, transport, personal services, media, and entertainment sectors. This course provides an introduction to the sharing economy and examines its impact on economies, businesses, and consumers. The growth of the sharing economy in many industry sectors highlights the challenges and opportunities while providing a range of options to provide innovative consumer experiences.

We no longer only buy products or experience services in physical spaces. We now often buy in-store and online using a laptop, a phone and even a watch. This course demystifies the omnichannel experience and explores how omnichannel retail and supply chains have changed the production and consumption experience for both enterprises and consumers.

We trace the evolution of the retail purchase from physical acts or transactions through to multi-channel online purchasing. Today’s technology-driven virtual and physical worlds enable transactions anytime anywhere and to anyone. We will explore how the omnichannel world differs from multichannel retailing, and how businesses can adopt omnichannel approaches to the production of goods and services.... [-]

Organisations run many business processes. They underpin what gets done, when and how, allowing them to achieve their strategic goals. Do we begin by posing the question: How can we leverage knowledge of business processes to improve organisational performance in this complex, changing the world?

Business processes are around us everywhere and they play a key role in our personal and professional lives. Explore the benefits of systematically managing business processes through business process management (BPM), how this approach differs from related disciplines and the key phases of a BPM project.

In times of austerity and shrinking public services, the task of identifying and caring for vulnerable children has never been more challenging. In this free online course, we’ll help you explore some of the issues involved in undertaking this task.

We’ll consider what we mean by risk and vulnerability, as well as how we define good enough parenting. We’ll think about how children grow and develop, and how we can provide them with containment and security via meaningful relationships and attachments. And we’ll look at the particular skills involved in communicating with children and young people. We’ll go on to learn about the characteristics that define different methods of practice and how some approaches can help us to resist risk-averse thinking. We’ll consider different possible interventions and how, in Scotland, this is managed within the Children’s Hearing System. We’ll conclude by reflecting on the current politics of caring for vulnerable children in a context of budget cuts and increasing child poverty.... [-]

Young people today face mounting problems which make working with and helping them learn, more important than ever. This course will help improve your experience working with young people. On the course, we’ll use the latest research to investigate the causes of challenging behaviour and look at strategies, helping you build a toolkit to modify behaviour. Ambition School Leadership work with a variety of experts that offer empirical knowledge and learning from within different school settings, meaning their expertise is drawn from both research and people directly working with young people.

From religious leaders to heads of state, everyone is talking about economic inequality. What form can such inequality take in different countries? What impact does it have on society? And why should it matter to you?

Has the baby boomer generation had it all?

This free online course will explore the growing concerns surrounding rising inequality in income and wealth in developed countries. You’ll scrutinize claims that the baby boomer generation has had it all, in terms of pension deals and affordable houses, while social and political changes have left younger generations struggling to find security for their accommodation and retirement income.

You’ll examine the causes and implications of growing economic inequalities and what can be done about them, by individuals, communities, and governments.... [-]

Are you a technology optimist or a technology pessimist?

The amount of technology available to children today is greater than in any previous generation, and it is more specifically designed to capture their imaginations. There is heated debate as to how the digital influx is shaping children’s development and experience.

Are social media changing the way that children form relationships? How is technology changing the way that children think, and how will it shape the classroom of the future? This exciting new course pulls together the latest evidence from experts in the field to explore these and other questions.

Join us as we delve into the lives of children and discuss the potential benefits and limitations of technology in their lives.... [-]

This free online course aims to raise awareness amongst healthcare professionals of the role of Clinical Bioinformatics and Genomics in healthcare today. We will illustrate how the discipline of Clinical Bioinformatics provides an important bridge between the cutting edge science and the delivery of genomic medicine in clinical practice. By understanding the role of a Clinical Bioinformatician it will become clear how integral they are to ensuring the beneficial opportunities of genomic medicine are fully realised in patient care.

This is an exciting time. We are now beginning to sequence whole genomes in the clinic, the most personal information we can have on a patient. We can start to see how genome variants might impact on health and we can direct really precise medicine to individual patients. This is not without its challenges. The genome is a huge amount of information. Identifying the causative variant (the part in the genome that can cause a change in health) is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But what does this phrase actually mean? This course will take you into the world of a Clinical Bioinformatician and show you what they do behind the scenes when finding that needle in the genomic data. It will also show you what happens next and the important contribution Clinical Bioinformatician’s make to the patient’s journey.... [-]

Many social enterprises are becoming more commercial, adopting the techniques, funding or governance more usually associated with for-profit ventures. In this online course, social enterprise and microfinance experts from Université Libre de Bruxelles and their guests will shed new light on this trend. They will ask how commercialization affects the management and operations of social enterprises, and which avenues could or should be used to avoid mission drift.

Why social entrepreneurs innovate The motivations behind starting a social enterprise; new data related to inequality and happiness; the link between financial exclusion and poverty; and how social innovation has tried to tackle these problems. Microfinance practices The basics of microfinance, covering its historical roots and evolution, and the current provision of financial and non-financial services. When a not-for-profit becomes a for-profit organization How institutions evolve beyond the not-for-profit structure; case studies exploring the impact, both internally and externally, of such a transition; and the concept of mission drift. Sources of financing, mission drift and zoom out How different sources of financing impact the social mission of microfinance institutions; the different strategies and practices to avoid mission drift in social enterprises; and what is specific to the commercialization of microfinance and what is common to all social enterprises.... [-]

The importance of compassionate care in health and social care has been brought to the fore in recent years by high-profile public inquiries into the mistreatment and sometimes deaths of patients at, for example, Morecambe Bay and Mid Staffordshire hospitals.

This free online course will explore the issue of compassionate care in relation to the key points from these investigations, and from other theoretical perspectives. This includes the need to create a common, person-centred culture across organisations. This person-centredness is not limited to patients but extends to the way organisations treat staff and to the culture within the organisation itself.... [-]

Apple, Facebook, and Google are three of today’s most vibrant companies. And they have something in common: they understand that the value of their business is built on what they know about their business and their customers, and this gives them their competitive advantage. Information is the key to contemporary business success.

Deakin University’s Business School is a global leader in business and management education. Its online MBA is ranked in the top 20 in the world, and the School is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). A hallmark of excellence, AACSB accreditation is awarded to business schools that meet strict standards of quality, academic and professional excellence, and the most recognized form worldwide of professional accreditation an institution and its business programs can earn.... [-]

Concurrent functional programming is increasingly important in providing global-scale applications on the internet. We combine the theory of concurrent programming with the practice of how that works in Erlang. You’ll get the opportunity to reinforce what you learn through practical exercises and more substantial, optional practical projects. Functional programming has been a strength the University of Kent for the last 30 years. Throughout the course, you’ll learn with Simon Thompson – co-author of one of the standard introductions to Erlang, O’Reilly Media’s Erlang Programming.

Contracts are fundamental to all business activities and relationships are fundamental to all contracts.

This free online course will help you understand contract management processes; give you the confidence to develop new contracts; and help you build successful relationships to implement contracts effectively.

Manage contracts and relationships successfully

The course has been developed by the University of Southampton, in association with the Crown Commercial Service, UK Cabinet Office, Civil Service Learning and the International Association of Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM).

Over three weeks, you will realise the importance, complexity and challenges of designing and delivering good contracts. You will learn how your objectives and those of your customer/client can be achieved in an effective way, to minimise possible threats or failures.... [-]

This three-week free online course explores practical cybersecurity including privacy online, payment safety and security at home.

In the modern world, information security has an influence on all of us: at home, at work, online and in life in general. Like many inventions that have gone before, the internet and the web, the cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT) bring with them many advantages, but also open up new possibilities for criminal activity. So should you avoid all contact with this brave new world? This free online course presents an alternative, providing you with the knowledge to make informed decisions.

Almost daily we hear about cyber attacks on large organisations, but we rarely hear much about similar attacks on small and medium enterprises. This doesn’t mean that they’re not happening.

In this course, you’ll explore some of the common cyber threats facing small and medium enterprises, what a cyber attack means, and what practical tools and strategies you can put in place to prevent them.

We’ll start by looking at the recent Panama Papers leak to find out more about cyber threats, the methods that hackers use, and what the consequences of cyber attacks can be for small and medium enterprises.

Explore strategies for protecting your organisation against cyber attacks After viewing a simulation of a cyber attack in action, we’ll then take a look at some of the tools and preventative strategies that you can put in place to protect your organisation.... [-]

Today’s world generates more data than ever before! Being able to turn it into useful information is a key skill. This course introduces you to practical data mining using the Weka workbench. We’ll dispel the mystery that surrounds the subject. We’ll explain the principles of popular algorithms. We’ll show you how to use them in practical applications. You’ll get plenty of experience actually mining data during the course, and afterward, you’ll be well equipped to mine your own. Weka originated at the University of Waikato in NZ, and Ian Witten has authored a leading book on data mining.

Organisations around the world are collecting more data than ever. They are talking about big data, data science, business intelligence, analytics, data mining and data visualisation.They want to extract insights from data about their worlds and make predictions to inform their decisions.

This is an introduction to statistical data analysis and data visualisation for those new to the subject as well as those wanting a fresh perspective. We focus on the exploration of data and discovery, the limitations of data, avoiding being misled, and learning to think like a statistician.

Leaders must be able to act in a complex world and under uncertainty. This course is the first step to develop yourself into one of the future’s key decision makers or to enhance your decision-making skills.

First, this course will address what complexity is and will define uncertainty. Next, we cover a number of tools and methods to understand and be able to navigate through the complex and uncertain world.

The need for a multidisciplinary approach will be emphasised throughout the course. Guest lecturers from different faculties will explain, provide applications and examples from their respective fields of study for a more comprehensive understanding of the different elements of complexity. For example, complexity can be beautifully explained by the use of insects and brains and many other naturals and social phenomena. The same ideas can be applied to economic and financial systems.... [-]

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the natural evolution from the well-established notions of IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional intelligence). Good leaders need all three to lead effectively.

CQ is the ability to cross divides - whether country, generation, gender, sector or background - and to thrive in multiple cultures. Developing your CQ will enable you to work with people who are different from you, and lead in your organisation, community, business or place of study.

This free online course will introduce you to the concept of CQ and explore its evolution and relevance for leadership.... [-]

The course is intended for anyone who is currently undertaking or planning to undertake a piece of academic research, be that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), International Baccalaureate Extended Essay, Welsh Baccalaureate Individual Project, coursework or a piece of independent scholarship. The course is running in March, June, September and October 2017 so you can choose the start date that suits you.

Curiosity is one of humanity’s most important characteristics. It has enabled us to make the unknown known, to break barriers and to shine a light on all aspects of life, from our day to day hobbies to the exploration of the stars. Our innate desire to explore is responsible for many of our proudest achievements. This course will help train you to harness your curiosity and use it to undertake your own research projects in a scholarly manner.... [-]

Digital Leadership is aimed at the top and middle management in any type and size of the organisation, and in any industry.

Whether you’re a CEO or someone involved in improving business competitiveness through digital technologies, this course is for you. We don’t expect you to have any prior knowledge of management theory or hands-on technical skills to get started.

Representatives of both profit and not-for-profit organisations will benefit through a better understanding of how to plan, manage and implement new digital technologies.... [-]

Digital technology now touches almost every aspect of our lives, including work. On this course, you will explore how you can build a successful career in the digital age. You’ll get a closer look at the meaning of digital, and how it has changed the way we work.

You’ll also explore the different paths you could take to grow your career, and what role digital can play in these. Plus, you will also learn about the key skills we all need to thrive in this new environment, and how you can find support and keep learning to reach your goals.

Does your business need to use social media? Find out why social media is relevant for businesses today and how you can use it to establish and improve your brand.

You’ll learn about the key steps in promoting your brand through social media, including setting campaign objectives, identifying the target audience and the right channels, creating engaging content and managing your presence. You will also look at examples of different social media channels, tips for using them and how to measure success and improve your campaigns.

Week 1

Work with a disability to enable a good life for yourself and others Today we recognize disability as a part of human diversity. But what does it mean to work with disability in a way that enables a good life for ourselves and others? In this course, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with some of the big issues facing disabled people, governments, and societies. You’ll explore human rights approaches to disability and critically examine the concepts of inclusion, access, and support. You’ll also learn about disability politics and policy, advocacy and activism, and consider how to work with a disability at multiple levels to enable a good life for all.

Learn about the role that radiation and greenhouse gases play in our understanding of atmospheric chemistry. As levels of CO2 in the atmosphere increase, you will discover the solutions scientists are exploring to reduce levels. And discover how missions to other planets and moons in our solar system are revealing extraordinarily diverse atmospheres. Explore how an exponential increase in the discovery of new exoplanets is helping us learn about the evolution of our own atmosphere.

This course is part of the Discovering Science program, which will enable you to learn about the extraordinary world of everyday chemistry, and earn 10 credits from the University of Leeds. For centuries natural materials have been used by people to meet their daily needs. Discover how scientists are using their knowledge of the molecular structure of naturally occurring compounds to develop new and exciting materials. From clothing to tooth enamel, the possibilities are endless. You’ll also consider the chemistry behind the development of everyday consumer, and consider the ethics behind the products you use.

Without science writing, science could not really exist. By recording experiments and publishing the results of studies and discoveries, scientists can share their important work, and find an engaged audience. Science writing takes many forms: from press releases to video scripts. You’ll learn about different types of science writing, and look at the factors which you need to consider to write a story. You’ll discover how to gather accurate information and relevant opinions as well as tips on how to conduct a successful interview.

Millions of children around the world are excluded from access to education because of a disability - robbing them of their potential and diminishing our society. On this course you will learn about inclusive education, understanding what barriers there are to learning and how to challenge them. Over six weeks you will learn from a range of people with experience of disability, discovering practical ways to create a more inclusive learning environment that you can apply in your own area. Join us and help create a world where learning is for all children.

By the end of the course, you'll be able to

eHealth refers to the use of technologies to improve well-being, health, and healthcare. It is an umbrella term that captures concepts about the health context, technology, and people. In this free online course, we will provide you with insight into the domain of eHealth, describe methods to develop eHealth, and explain theories that enable behavior change and facilitate implementation. You will also understand how eHealth technologies are developed and used in practice, using a variety of case studies, assignments and examples. This course pays attention to the perspectives of the eHealth developers, patients, healthcare professionals and healthy people who want to improve or maintain their health and wellbeing. These perspectives are applied to the three main topics of this course: During Weeks 1 and 2, we will introduce eHealth and show you how eHealth technologies are used to enable or improve self-care and prevention, supportive care, and societal health. Weeks 3 and four will focus on design. You will learn how to design eHealth that fits the user and the context and can seduce or support people into changing their behavior. In Weeks 5 and 6, we focus on the diffusion and evaluation of eHealth technologies within the intended context, and among users and other relevant stakeholders. After finishing this course, you will have new knowledge about eHealth, acquired relevant eHealth skills, and gained insight into the use of eHealth in practice.... [-]

In recent decades there’s been increasing global concern about the sustainability of our use of fossil fuels and nuclear power, which has led to increased interest in more sustainable renewable energy sources.

These ‘renewables’ have been utilised for centuries, in water mills, windmills and wood stoves, but in recent years we’ve developed the technology to utilise these natural power sources on a much larger scale.

During this free online course, we’ll study renewable energy using the four Greek elements as our weekly themes:

The British Empire was the largest empire ever seen. It ruled over a quarter of the world’s population and paved the way for today’s global economy. But British imperialism isn’t without controversy, and it continues to cause enormous disagreement among historians today. This free online course will help you understand why.

Over six weeks, we’ll explore the British Empire through six themes - money, violence, race, religion, gender and sex, and propaganda. You’ll get to hear the stories of the fascinating individuals who contributed to both its rise and fall.

Along the way, you’ll be able to debate the questions these themes raise with learners from around the world and draw your own conclusions.... [-]

The discovery of the skeleton of Richard III in a Leicester car park - and the recent revelations of an infidelity within his family’s bloodline - have made headline news around the world.

In this free online course, a team of scholars from the University of Leicester address a broad set of themes about the England Richard would have inhabited in the 15th century and look back at his rediscovery and reinterment.

The political scene in the 15th century was dominated by savage dynastic warfare – the Wars of the Roses - in which allegiances and power shifted among an aristocratic clique, with devastating outcomes.

The century also saw the abandonment of many villages through general population decline and a shift towards greater use of the land for pasture farming. But demand for labour meant that the prosperity of working people rose, and towards the end of the century, the introduction of printing transformed access to literacy and books.... [-]

As universities work to become globally competitive courses taught in English are expanding. Those working in Higher Education are often thrown into producing academic work in English – either as teachers or researchers – without training in English language or intercultural skills. This course aims to remedy that, giving you a thorough introduction to English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI). You’ll learn about current EMI practice, and increase your confidence in using English, you’ll also work to grow your intercultural skills. Join us and get prepared for the global classroom. What topics will you cover?

This course is for people who are learning English and who are interested in developing English language skills for employability and workplace contexts. It will help job seekers and young professionals with the English they need.

Each week, we’ll focus on key aspects of English for the workplace. You’ll watch videos and listen to audio recordings of people searching and applying for jobs, preparing for interviews, taking interviews, starting their new job, and working with new colleagues. Our experienced tutor will examine some of the language used and will draw your attention to useful points that will help you improve your English in workplace contexts.

The course does not follow a language syllabus but takes workplace English as its starting point, and offers functional language phrases and real, authentic workplace scenarios. Short quizzes and discussions will help you measure your understanding and practise your English.... [-]

How do very young children best learn English as an additional language while they’re still learning their mother tongue? How and why do children learn best through play? What can parents and practitioners do to enable children to get the most out of a learning experience?

This free online course for parents and practitioners will explore how young children learn English and investigate many more aspects of early childhood learning and development.

British Council educators will share their insights and experiences so that you can learn how to best talk to young children; how to create the best environment for them to learn English as an additional language; and how to monitor their progress most effectively.... [-]

This course is part of the Environmental Challenges program, which will enable you to explore how people and nature interact and earn 10 credits from the University of Leeds.

Complex patterns in ecology are not always causal and predictable. Populations have their own dynamics that can be independent of external environmental conditions. In this course we look at the way that natural systems are organised; although living systems are complex, there are also some fairly constant patterns and relationships.

This course explores three approaches to the causality and dynamics of environmental systems, and how humans are involved and affected by these systems worldwide. It also includes an introduction to correlation and the limitations of statistical testing.... [-]

War and conflict can severely disrupt the governance of the environment. What is the impact on both people and the environment? This course is part of the Environmental Challenges program, which will enable you to explore how people and nature interact and earn 10 credits from the University of Leeds.

The human conflict has both short and long-term effects on the natural world. The environment is directly impacted by pollution and explosions and can be used as a weapon of war. In the longer term, sustainable environmental management is disrupted when conflict destabilizes social systems and people are denied access to natural resources. As resources become scarcer, it might be expected that people come into conflict about access to natural resources. This course explores three aspects of conflict and resource scarcity and applies these to explore decision making and negotiation skills.... [-]

The world faces challenging environmental problems. They are challenging because different people typically contribute differently to environmental change and because its effects will be felt differently by different people in different places.

Understand environmental injustices

This free online course will help you understand how injustice is a common feature of many environmental problems. Over 5 weeks, we’ll look at deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change and other environmental issues, asking questions such as:

Who runs your city? What makes your city liveable? Using stories from cities around the world, this course will introduce you to the importance of ethics in civic leadership, planning, and business, and citizen engagement. Explore the problems that cities face, and understand the concept of an ‘ethical’ city On the course you’ll look in depth at the challenges facing cities - considering your own city, or the one nearest you. We’ll ask you to share your stories so you can connect with other learners and compare your experiences in order to recognize and understand the problems cities face. You will explore the power of various entities in your city and examine how they help solve or exacerbate local problems. You will delve into the notion of the ethical city and how it adds value to professionals and citizens - especially in terms of how it may help to improve the quality of urban life. In doing this you will also get a sense of the broader context of issues like social justice, corporate responsibility and ethical practice at the city level. Get practical insights into sustaining an ethical city Through the course we’ll introduce a range of new ideas, tools and techniques (including practical examples, video stories, expert interviews and other resources) to inspire you to:... [-]

You will be introduced to the human abdomen and its many complex structures through stimulating discussions on common surgical scenarios and current research. Each week, we will focus on a specific area of the abdomen; starting at the anterior abdominal wall and be able to detail the anatomy of numerous organs including the stomach and liver. Specialists will come together to compare and discuss contrasting surgical techniques. This will help you to apply your understanding of basic anatomy to common clinical scenarios and introduce you to research being undertaken at the University of Leeds.

Have you ever thought about how a composer or a writer make a living? Or how they make money to live their daily lives, just like other people? This course will explore the process of creators becoming professionals: how a marketplace and an industry have grown thanks to inventions like the 15th-century printing press.

You’ll learn that this process began with the idea that artistic work is the property of creators and how this idea inspired a new industry based on copyright. You’ll also explore the various aspects of this process - looking at how technological enhancement, creativity and the legal dimensions of copyright are all closely linked.

Medieval to modern: understand how copyright has evolved... [-]

The next generation faces uncertain economic prospects. This online course explains why.

You’ll get an introduction to the global economy, how it experiences spikes and dips in economic growth and how this affects prosperity worldwide.

We will look at reasons to be optimistic and reasons to be pessimistic. We will discuss to what extent the next generation can expect to be better or worse off than the current generation.

You’ll get to share your views on what’s more likely and hear how prominent economists and other scholars can have different views on this question.

This course is for people who are learning English and who are interested in finding out more about British culture and improving their English language skills.

The course will use short videos to present a different topic each week, including English as a global language, the environment, entrepreneurship and literature. Filmed in Great Britain, these videos will help you to develop your listening skills as you watch authentic examples of people speaking English. Our experienced tutor will examine some of the language used in the videos and will draw your attention to useful points that will help you improve your spoken and written English.

The course does not follow a language syllabus but takes authentic English in context as its starting point. Short quizzes and discussions will help you measure your understanding and practise your English throughout the course. At the end of each week, you will be asked to describe your own feelings and experiences about that week’s topic in a short piece of writing.... [-]

This free online course will look at the life and works of William Shakespeare and take you from his birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon to the Globe Theatre in London, from where he secured his central place in English literature.

We will look at five of Shakespeare’s plays with the help of actors and experts from around the world. They will explain and explore the universal themes Shakespeare addressed in his work.

The plays are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest and Macbeth.

Our video tutor will guide you through the course and look at some of the words and expressions that Shakespeare introduced to the English language.

Short quizzes will check your understanding and you’ll be asked to share your ideas and opinions on the topics Shakespeare raises.... [-]