Open Learning Free Short Courses

[studiot]

The Open University  (OU) lists over 900 free short courses in 8 categories.

In the Science category you can look at Babylonian Mathematics, Chemical in drinking water, antibiotic resistance, Toys & engineering materials, working on your own in mathematics, telescopes and spectrographs to name but a few.

Or you could learn/ brush up a new language in the language section

Something to do in theses Covid times for all ??

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue

[Area54]

The OU courses are of excellent quality, so these are well worth looking at. I was impressed by the range that was available. Thanks for the heads up.

[joigus]

Thanks a lot. Very useful. +1

[Phi for All]

Thank you, studiot. I'm pinning this one up on the Science Education fridge with a magnet in the shape of a bulging brain.

[paulsutton]

On 8/16/2020 at 11:45 AM, studiot said:

The Open University  (OU) lists over 900 free short courses in 8 categories.

In the Science category you can look at Babylonian Mathematics, Chemical in drinking water, antibiotic resistance, Toys & engineering materials, working on your own in mathematics, telescopes and spectrographs to name but a few.

Or you could learn/ brush up a new language in the language section

Something to do in theses Covid times for all ??

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue

If you are interested in Astronomy and Space I suggest  In the Night sky : Orion,   which is part of OpenLearn ( http://www.open.ac.uk/ ) from the OU, that covers a lot about stars, planets, star life cycles, and searching for exoplanets,  there is a lot of crossover with other courses,  which is sometimes a good thing,  But as this is longer then you will cover what is also in the shorter courses such as The Sun. 

And if you need to discuss something further you could always ask here on the forum.

 

Paul

[Qeser]

How effective are these courses?

[Phi for All]

32 minutes ago, Qeser said:

How effective are these courses?

I would expect the definition of "effective" to differ between students. Perhaps you can describe the effects you're looking for? 

[CharonY]

I would also add that effectiveness is typically more dependent on the student than on the lecture itself. Lectures generally gives you an idea of a topic with some examples. However mastery of the subject requires additional engagement with the subject. At least if you want to go beyond just the next exam.

[Ferased]

The effectiveness of the courses depends on 80% of the student. The teacher can teach him, give interesting tasks, use interactive teaching methods. However, if a student does not want to study, the courses will not be practical. Of course, not all people are like that. Some people need to spend several hours reading books and assimilating the material. When I was in college, I couldn't pass physics, no matter how hard I tried. Therefore, I went to a tutor for several months, whom I found on a website I'm not allowed to advertise here. First of all, see if the formed courses are suitable for you.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Phi for All
No advertising, please.

[CharonY]

2 minutes ago, Ferased said:

The effectiveness of the courses depends on 80% of the student. The teacher can teach him, give interesting tasks, use interactive teaching methods. However, if a student does not want to study, the courses will not be practical.

That is certainly true. Most students do not realize that a lecture is supposed to be a general guidance to the material, and is not the material itself.

[Phi for All]

8 minutes ago, Ferased said:

The effectiveness of the courses depends on 80% of the student. The teacher can teach him, give interesting tasks, use interactive teaching methods. However, if a student does not want to study, the courses will not be practical. Of course, not all people are like that. Some people need to spend several hours reading books and assimilating the material. When I was in college, I couldn't pass physics, no matter how hard I tried. Therefore, I went to a tutor for several months, whom I found on a website I'm not allowed to advertise here. First of all, see if the formed courses are suitable for you.

Then asking how effective the courses are seems like it's only going to be 20% effective. 

Also, you can't have two accounts here, especially if you're going to use one of them as a sockpuppet to comment on the other's posts, and doubly especially if you're going to use them to advertise crap websites. Decide whether you want to stay to discuss science, and which account you want to keep. Or I can spam-ban both, if you're not here for science discussion.

[Mehboob97]

On 8/16/2020 at 3:45 PM, studiot said:

The Open University  (OU) lists over 900 free short courses in 8 categories.

In the Science category you can look at Babylonian Mathematics, Chemical in drinking water, antibiotic resistance, Toys & engineering materials, working on your own in mathematics, telescopes and spectrographs to name but a few.

Or you could learn/ brush up a new language in the language section

Something to do in theses Covid times for all ??

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue

Thanks for sharing.

[Alex_Krycek]

https://www.edx.org/new/search  is a great resource also. 

Courses range from free, to low cost, to more expensive certificate programs.

[paulsutton]

On 12/3/2021 at 2:23 PM, CharonY said:

I would also add that effectiveness is typically more dependent on the student than on the lecture itself. Lectures generally gives you an idea of a topic with some examples. However mastery of the subject requires additional engagement with the subject. At least if you want to go beyond just the next exam.

I think quite a few of the courses have material that is contained within the longer Paid for OU courses,  or perhaps courses that have been retied but where the content is still relevant.

Worth checking out,  but check out the course learning outcomes. 

[CharonY]

Now that we have gone through it for a while, what we have seen in practice is that online teaching is even less effective as in-Person. The latter kind of forces at least a minimum level of student engagement, whereas online it is just very difficult to achieve, even if you throw in all the gimmicks there are at them (polls, questions, exercises etc.). Folks just check out mentally much faster in front of a screen as opposed to have someone right in front of them (and scowling at them).

[Peterkin]

9 minutes ago, CharonY said:

Folks just check out mentally much faster in front of a screen as opposed to have someone right in front of them (and scowling at them).

I suspect they're far more useful to adults refreshing their knowledge or broadening their education than for full-time students. Motivated mature learners have a much longer attention span.

[CharonY]

58 minutes ago, Peterkin said:

I suspect they're far more useful to adults refreshing their knowledge or broadening their education than for full-time students. Motivated mature learners have a much longer attention span.

I think motivated is the key point here. 

[paulsutton]

9 hours ago, Peterkin said:

I suspect they're far more useful to adults refreshing their knowledge or broadening their education than for full-time students. Motivated mature learners have a much longer attention span.

This was my main motivation,   I did an IOU certificate in contemporary science,  completed in 2012 so undertaking a few Open Learn courses just added to this,  fore example the How  the universe works module for the certificate had the Higgs boson as still a theory,  so  completing  a course post confirmation  updated that knowledge,   that may seem a small thing but the Higgs boson has been important going forward for physics.

On 12/3/2021 at 4:13 PM, CharonY said:

That is certainly true. Most students do not realize that a lecture is supposed to be a general guidance to the material, and is not the material itself.

I agree here,  it seems a lot of students are complaining about University level course not knowing that they are meant to do a lot of extra study between lectures.

[ameliaava]

In 8 categories, the Open University (OU) offers more than 900 free short courses.

You can look at Babylonian mathematics, chemicals in drinking water, antibiotic resistance, toys and engineering materials, working independently in mathematics, telescopes, and spectrographs, to mention a few topics, under the Science area.

Or you may use the language area to brush up on or learn a new language.