Free Online Courses Research Articles

Open Educational Resources: The Role of OCW, Blogs and Videos in Computer Networks Classroom

This paper analyzes the learning experiences and opinions obtained from a group of undergraduate students in their interaction with several on-line multimedia resources included in a free on-line course about Computer Networks. These new educational resources employed are based on the Web2.0 approach such as blogs, videos and virtual labs which have been added in a web-site for distance self-learning.

Workplace Violence Prevention for Healthcare Workers—An Online Course

Workplace assaults against healthcare workers originate from many sources, but are predominantly committed by patients. Therefore, training in strategies for preventing patient-on-nurse violence is very important throughout a nurse's career. The online course described in this article presents prevention strategies from the institutional and individual levels. These are reinforced by video case studies of five real-life incidents with key learning points discussed. The physical and psychological consequences of workplace assaults can result in higher absenteeism, increased turnover, decreased job satisfaction, lower productivity, and a host of other negative outcomes. Preventing these negative outcomes is beneficial to the nurse, the patients, and the organization. This course provides a convenient interactive tool that uses units approximately 20 minutes in duration with stop and pick up where you left off capabilities. The free online course will be available starting in the summer or fall of 2012.

Harvard and MIT join forces to offer free online courses

Harvard and MIT join forces to offer free online courses

Prostate cancer charity relaunches free online course

Prostate cancer charity relaunches free online course

Free Online Courses for SPIE Members

Free Online Courses for SPIE Members

LEARNING CHEMISTRY ONLINE

ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY and a desire for greater access to and flexibility in education are driving growth in distance learning programs. According to a 2008 report by the Sloan Consortium, which follows trends in online education in the U.S., nearly 4 million college students took at least one online course in fall 2007, up almost 13% from fall 2006. President Barack Obama recently proposed a $12 billion stimulus package to aid community colleges that includes $500 million to develop free online courses for community college students. The investment, if it comes to pass, may be well worth it. A recent review of past studies of online learning, conducted by the research institute SRI International for the Department of Education, suggests that students in an online learning environment perform better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. Despite the growing evidence in favor of online education, the chemistry community has been relatively slow to adopt this form of ...

An online learning resource for stoma care

Nurse Learning, a UK-based charity providing free online courses for nurses through the website at CancerNursing.org , has recently collaborated with SecuriCare Medical Ltd to develop an e-learning course in stoma care. The course, entitled ‘Introduction to Stoma Care', is accessible free of charge via the internet and is designed to meet the learning needs of healthcare assistants (HCAs). SecuriCare, a private sector company specializing in the provision of stoma care services which has its own team of highly experienced stoma care nurses, developed the original course material.

Legislation Addresses LTC Workforce Shortage

Legislation Addresses LTC Workforce Shortage

Pain & Policy Studies Group Offers Free Online Course on Improving Drug Laws and Regulations

Pain & Policy Studies Group Offers Free Online Course on Improving Drug Laws and Regulations

Free Online Courses Available from PERI

Free Online Courses Available from PERI

Public Health Training Online: The National Center for Suicide Prevention Training

Suicide is a serious public health problem, and training in suicide prevention has not kept pace with recent rapid growth of the field. To address this concern, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and Education Development Center, Inc., launched the National Center for Suicide Prevention Training (NCSPT) with funding by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources Services Administration. NCSPT offers an online professional development workshop series for public officials, service providers, and community-based coalitions involved in suicide prevention. Using a public health framework of prevention, the three workshops implemented to date have drawn over 1200 participants nationally and internationally over the past 3 years. Workshop participants completing the post-test and evaluation show consistent improvement in their knowledge of suicide, rate their online training experience positively, and report that they would take additional online courses if offered. A barrier to objective evaluation of the courses, however, is the high attrition rates of the courses, an expected feature of free online courses. Online training is a valuable option to help meet suicide prevention training needs employing flexible, easy-to-use, and inexpensive Internet technology. With its growing presence in the field, NCSPT will continue to develop new courses to improve the ability of professionals and community-based coalitions to reduce suicide and its devastating impact on public health.