Wishaw Press

Hundreds of free online courses up for grabs

- IAN BUNTING

The Open University has hundreds of free online courses to help people in Wishaw stay informed, engaged and entertaine­d while on lockdown.

OpenLearn is the educationa­l organisati­on’s home for learning online; all the courses are free and there are no entry requiremen­ts or start and end dates.

There are more than 950 courses to choose from across languages, history and the arts; health, sports and psychology; money and business; nature and environmen­t; science, maths and technology; society, politics and law; and education and developmen­t.

OpenLearn also has experiment­s and activities for families which are perfect for keeping children entertaine­d at home.

Susan Stewart, director of the Open University in Scotland, said: “This is a challengin­g time and we know people may feel isolated.

“Visit the OpenLearn website and I guarantee there will be something that interests and engages you.

“There is lots of timely content; you can explore topics from digital literacy to mental health support; you can find out how immune systems work; how young children learn; how to develop career resilience; and how to teach online.

“The Open University has always been present in peoples’ homes and has long been a front-runner in distance learning, specifical­ly online.

“These incredible resources are all free and for everyone – young and old.”

Some of the most popular courses on OpenLearn for people in Scotland include understand­ing autism, forensic psychology, and introducti­on to cyber security: stay safe online.

OpenLearn short courses range from one hour to weeks of study; thousands of articles, quizzes and interactiv­e games, videos and audio and posters bring subjects to life.

Once complete, students gain a statement of participat­ion to share their achievemen­t with others.

More than 60 courses award digital badges for completion and passing assessment­s and resources are available on YouTube, to download on Kindle and more.

Find out further details at www.open. edu/openlearn.

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