2012 was described by some as the year of the MOOC, or Massive Open Online Course and as part of the Learning at Work day activities CLT are going to be at the Learning Cafe on Thursday 23rd May from 3pm in the Bean Counter, 32 Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
There is a lot that has already been written about MOOCs (for example. see this recent Guardian article about MOOCs as the scourge or saviour of higher education), but essentially this blog post is aimed at staff at LSE and provides some useful links to MOOCs you may wish to explore as part of your learning and development at work. There are many MOOCs you may wish to do to further your knowledge outside of work, so why not check out this list of over 300 MOOCs from elite universities. There is also a list of MOOCs in all shapes and sizes on the Open Culture website. You’ll see some of these courses offer some form of certification, although you may need to pay a fee for that. You may also wish to browse the list of courses offered by Coursera, Udacity or keep an eye on developments from FutureLearn.
However we’ve tried to pick out some interesting courses which might be useful for LSE staff, who wish to develop their knowledge, skills and competencies in some key areas.
Communication Skills
There are a whole series of courses available via Coursera on Teaching and Learning, such as this course on Learners and Learning. The University of Washington are also offering this course on an Introduction to Public Speaking.
Management and finance skills
If you want to learn more about leadership and critical perspectives on management, this course on Coursera may appeal to you. There is also a course entitled Introduction to Finance starting in June and provided by the University of Michigan. Another course this time from the University of Pennsylvania covers Operations Management teaching you how to improve and analyse business processes.
Technical Skills
Interested in finding out how to set up a blog then how about this course provided by San Jose University on Web Development. Or this one on Programming Languages. The University of Washington are offering a course on Building an Information Risk toolkit. There is also another course by the University of Washington starting next week on Computational Methods for Data Analysis.
Creativity
Closer to home the University of London are offering a six week course in Creative Programming for Digital Media & Mobile Apps. There is also a 7 week course starting next week entitled Introduction to Art offered by Penn State University. And if you are interested in Creativity, Innovation and Change, this course again from Penn State may appeal to you.
Whatever you choose to study, whether it’s for personal or professional reasons, they say no knowledge is wasted. But as Albert Einstein said “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” So why not explore the world of MOOCs!
Hi,
I have a degree, a masters and a DPhil. I won the Northedge Prize in 2001 and my doctorate is in the British Library. My interests are in the fields of IR and Political Theory. Unfortunately I am now disabled. However, my mind is still active and my thirst for knowledge undiminished. Moreover, time ways heavy on my shoulders. As you can imagine my finances are not unlimited, but I did spot these MOOCs. My problem are they designed with someone like me in mind? Could you please advise on this or other options.
Thank you,
C.S Hoadley