It was a Wednesday afternoon in December, when the students of La Trobe’s Bachelor of Food and Nutrition put on their graduation gowns, preparing for the handover of their long-awaited prize. Family and friends buzzed around the campus grounds, laughing, shaking hands and offering endless supplies of heartfelt hugs.
There’s few prouder days in a person’s life than graduation day – the culmination of years of hard work and dedication. Nobody said university would be easy, but this group of young students pulled through. A number of them are planning postgraduate study, with their sights set on a career in dietetics. The atmosphere was overflowing with optimism and excitement for the future.
The Bachelor of Food and Nutrition is available exclusively online through Open Universities Australia, and only started running a few years ago. These graduates are the first to gain this degree, paving the way for future online students, whose lifestyles call for a more flexible study arrangement, but with the same high-quality learning. While online study may have felt foreign in the beginning, the students embraced the technology, and came out on the other side, successful, and equipped for the workforce.
To these bright young graduates, we say congratulations, and best of luck. We’re confident that you’ll bring into the health industry your expertise, commitment and passion.
Author: Stephen Somerville, MD, Government & Employers at FutureLearn
This month, FutureLearn hosted its inaugural Employment Breakfast Briefing with a focus on how we — collectively — can bridge the skills gap. Last year, a Bloomberg Next and Workday survey asked if business and academia were meeting the skills gap challenge, and what areas they might need to refine or rethink to improve outcomes. The research incorporated the views of 200 senior-level individuals — 100 each in academia and business — focusing on four primary themes: preparedness, skills, collaboration, and planning. The results identified a number of issues. A majority of respondents said new hires are not well-prepared to perform at a high level in a professional environment, primarily because of insufficient soft skills. In addition, a surprising number of organisations were found to lack formal plans and budgets for addressing the impact of emerging technologies; and business and academia were not thought to be collaborating as actively and effectively as they could be in preparing students for employment and reskilling individuals already in the workforce.
Part of the challenge comes in the form of some pretty big — almost philosophical — questions; the answers to which might not be universally agreed on. What, for instance, is the purpose of education? Is it solely a vehicle to getting people a job? And does responsibility for preparing people for the workplace primarily fall to educators or employers? Then of course comes the question: what is it that employers actually want? Do they think any skills are particularly lacking? Or hugely important?
Considerations around bridging the skills gap can produce more questions than answers. But one thing that can be agreed upon is the shared responsibility of this task. There are some fine examples of this joined-up approach to tackling the skills gap that we can look to for inspiration. The National Centre for Computing Education, for example, is a £78 million DfE-funded project, that will be established and run by a consortium comprising Raspberry Pi Foundation, Stem Learning and the British Computer Society. The centre believes that through a combination of online and face-to-face training for teachers, we can realise the ambition of “every child in every school in England having a world-leading computing education.” FutureLearn, for its part, will be the destination for all of the initiative’s online learning, with plans afoot to create 35 courses aimed at upskilling teachers on the frontline of computing education.
The Institute of Coding (IoC) is another good example. Counting FutureLearn among its partners, The IoC is a collaboration between the UK Government, more than 60 universities, big players in the tech industry, SMEs, industry groups, experts in non-traditional learning and professional bodies. Led by the University of Bath, the world-leading consortium aims to strengthen the UK’s position globally in computing and IT, address the UK digital skills gap and create opportunities for more computer science graduates.
From the point of view of educators, perhaps at least part of the challenge stems from the fact that the skills shortage we are now faced with doesn’t have a natural remedy within traditional education. ‘Soft skills’ — so long thought of as the poor relation to hard skills — despite encompassing things like: team-working skills; coordinating and collaborating with others; analytical reasoning/critical thinking; complex problem-solving; agility and adaptability; ethical judgment and decision-making; aren’t necessarily taught in schools or universities. Equally, and with the best will in the world, it is hard for conventional curriculums to make provision for all the latest developments in technology when advancements are taking place at such speed.
Then of course there is the more longitudinal view and broader societal changes. Last year, for instance, it was reported in The Guardian that more than six million workers are worried their jobs could be replaced by machines over the next decade. The finding prompted Yvette Cooper MP, to outline the collaborative approach needed between politicians, unions and business, to ensure “everyone benefits” from the proliferation of automation. Government and business certainly have a role to play (as we’ve seen from the above), but so too do educators, who must be part of the conversation. In many ways, online learning provides educators with the perfect platform.
Indeed, with the examples of soft skills and digital upskilling in mind, we see the advantages of online learning crystallising. FutureLearn, for example, has a whole suite of courses dedicated to soft skills, which can be viewed here, and a number of partners providing digital skills courses that can count towards employees’ continuous professional development.
There are no quick fixes and the conversation needs to be ongoing, but if we are to get people ready for the workplace and help plug the skills gap in the process, we’re going to need a collective effort from educators and employers. One that begins in schools and continues throughout a working life committed to continuous professional development.
Estimates vary about how many people speak English worldwide, but some believe English-speakers are likely to number in the billions. English crosses cultures, countries and industries. It’s often used as a ‘common tongue’ if neither person is a native speaker. This means teaching people English can be truly rewarding: students of English have many new opportunities and doors open to them thanks to their skills.
The internet is English
About half of homepages on the internet are in English and as of 2016 the English edition of Wikipedia contains the most articles. If you want full use of the web (without lots of translation work), English is key. Plus internet use is now an important and necessary part of many jobs (and much of daily life). Helping people learn English means helping them take full advantage of the power of the web.
English can take you to amazing places
As well as opening up exciting new avenues for students, being able to teach English can also offer language teachers new opportunities. With TEFL qualifications teachers can travel far and wide sharing their knowledge and exploring new corners of the globe, with places like the UAE, Dubai and China offering high salaries as well as new cultures.
Do you want to improve your English language teaching? Take a look at our courses to help you teach English or browse all Teaching courses.
Hair colourist Shaun Pulfrey was mocked by senior business figures when he appeared on British TV show ‘Dragon’s Den’ with an unusual looking hairbrush designed to detangle hair painlessly. Each of the business leaders on the show turned down his request for investment. Unfortunately for them, almost a decade later, Tangle Teezers are sold in over 70 countries. In 2015, the company reported a turnover of over £23 million.
Computer science can often seem opaque, putting potential coders and engineers off what could be a rewarding and interesting career. Luckily Amy Bibwo is on hand to help demystify computer science. Her ‘zines are aimed at people who might not have considered coding before. Using clever stories and hand drawn art these zines break down typically complex concepts, to help get young people, particularly young women, excited about computer science.
Primarily known for her writing, Naomi Alderman might seem like an unlikely addition to our list, but she’s also the co-creator of the running app (and phenomenon) Zombies! Run! The app improves your fitness by having you run away from zombies through all sorts of different storylines. It tapped into people’s desire to improve their fitness in a fun (and scary) way – when it launched it became the the highest grossing fitness app on Apple’s app store.
Continuing on the running theme, next up we having the founder of a worldwide grassroots sports movement Paul Sinton-Hewitt, creator of Parkrun. Parkrun is a free, timed 5k run that takes place in parks all over the world. Sinton-Hewitt founded it in 2004 looking for a more easy-going alternative to club running. 10 years later, Parkrun has a community of over a million runners and happens in 543 parks worldwide. You can read more about how it got started here.
Most of us like to think our powers of memory are fairly good, but in reality giving an accurate witness statement is very difficult. There are a whole host of factors that affect recalling a situation perfectly, including what psychologists refer to as ‘inattentional blindness’ – the inability to attend to something fairly significant that happens right in front of you. For instance, not seeing the moonwalking bear in this video.
Did you know that Spanish is spoken by 575 million people around the world, as a mother tongue or foreign language? And that more than 80% of all Spanish speakers live across the Americas? You know the Americas – the two continents made up of rich cultures and heritages. Put simply – isn’t it time you learnt some Spanish?
Disclaimer: you will probably learn far better coded messages than “the eagle has left the nest” on the World of Spies course. In fact you will test your logic abilities as you explore encryption and code-making and breaking, and find out whether you’re cut out to be a spy.
Explain how there’s “Lots of stratus and cumulonimbus today, even some katabatic drainage!” with Learn About Weather
Talking about the weather is almost a national sport in the UK. But what if you could actually explain why the weather is so hot? Or why that cloud looks a bit like a hippo? What if you could tell your nimbus from your stratus? Or explain why only some places get freezing rain? You could take weather small talk to the next level.
Norwegian has three extra letters than the English alphabet. It also has plenty of interesting sounds to master (including plenty of rolled ‘rrrs’), making it a challenging but rewarding language to get your tongue around. Luckily we’ve got the experts from the University of Oslo to help you. As they say in Norway you’re… “Å være midt i smørøyet”, literally translated “To be in the middle of the butters eye”, not-literally translated “right in the best spot”.
Parliament can often seem far removed from daily life, and shrouded in mystery (and wood-panelling), but it’s here that changes to UK life are forged. Did you know that “lobbying” is regularly done by groups and individuals to get politicians interested in a certain issue or support a certain campaign?
In this post, find out about the exciting things we’ve been up to recently at FutureLearn, including new features, new partnerships and new courses.
Customize your interests
You can now customize your interests, to tell us what subjects you’re interested in and see suggested courses on your interests page. Here’s how it works:
Find the right course by filtering with topics
On some of our category pages, you’ll now see topics. These help you filter courses within a category even further, so it’s easier to find the exact subject you’re looking for.
Celebrate your achievements with new celebration steps
We’ve introduced a new step at the end of each week of your courses. This new step is a celebration of the hard work you’ve done that week and makes it easier for you to share your achievement on social networks.
We’re working with the UK government to help teenagers learn cyber security skills
There’s a big skills gap when it comes to cyber security, so we’re excited to be working with the UK government on the Cyber Schools programme (along with Sans, BT and Cyber Security UK) to help teenagers pick up vital cyber security skills. Read more on Wired.
*To celebrate the program’s first full year on Coursera, new learners can launch their career in IT support with their first month of learning free. Enroll in the Google IT Support Professional Certificate today to get started.
It’s been one year since the launch of the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, and thousands of learners have enrolled to jumpstart their career in IT. This program is designed to help you become ready for an entry-level IT support role in about 8 months, with no prior experience needed to get started. Courses are taught by Google employees, hands-on assessments prepare you for work in the real world, and a video series on resume building and interview prep ensures that you shine in the job search process.
The Google IT Support Professional Certificate program has signed on over 30 top employers –– including Home Depot, Cognizant, GE Digital, H&R Block, Hulu, Intel, Sprint, Walmart, Google, and more –– that are interested in considering those who complete the program for open IT Support jobs. After you earn the certificate, you can share your information directly with these employers.
“I started the Google IT Support Professional Certificate program while I was interviewing with Cognizant Technologies. I believe all the training from the program has helped me better understand IT concepts as well as strengthen my confidence and knowledge, which in turn helped me pass my interviews, secure the job, and grow within the company.” – Gonzalo O.
In 2018, the Google IT Support Professional Certificate also expanded access to the program through community college collaborations throughout the US. For learners looking to continue their learning journey, the University of London and Northeastern University now offer university credit towards an online bachelor’s degree for learners that complete the program. In an effort to provide greater access to the IT Certificate, Google.org has provided grants to leading nonprofits, including a grant to the USO to support transitioning military personnel, military spouses, and veterans.
Now that you’ve learned about the various ways you can access the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, you might be wondering, “What does success look like after completing the program?” Take a look at how other learners who earned the Google IT Support Professional Certificate found careers doing what they love.
Daniel: Night security guard transitions into daytime job as IT Specialist
After completing the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, Daniel went from working night shifts as a security officer at a community college to landing his first job as an IT Specialist. Watch the video to hear the story directly from Daniel:
Konstantin: Recent graduate gains first job as a system administrator
”The Google IT Support Professional Certificate helped me get a system administrator position because the interviewer was specifically looking for someone who understood networks and active directory.”
Konstantin got a job as a system administrator for a supermarket chain in Russia. He now manages the IT infrastructure for two of its stores. Read the full story>>
Piper: A competitive swimmer finds a new lane
“The certificate wasn’t just the foundation for me learning IT — it was the foundation to starting a whole career.”
As a lifelong athlete, Piper never considered a career outside of sports. That changed when six years of school left her with two degrees but no meaningful job opportunities. Without a clear path, Piper decided to take time to explore other options. She took a job in the shipping department of a chocolate factory in Bellingham, Washington, which gave her some exposure to IT. She often had to figure out the company’s shipping software on her own, and the more she experimented, the more she realized that loved working with computers. Piper started searching for online courses to boost her credentials and found Google’s Professional IT Certificate program. The courses expanded her computer knowledge, helped her understand high-level concepts, and gave her experience through hands-on labs. Just two months after finishing, Piper’s new credentials along with her team spirit led to her first job as a lead engineer at an IT staffing company.
Xavier: History major looks to the future with IT Support job at Google
“I don’t know what my career trajectory would have been without the certificate program. It opened up a cornucopia of possible options in a field that I love.”
Despite studying a wide range of subjects in college, Xavier wasn’t sure what career path to pursue after he graduated. He decided to return to one of his first passions as a kid: technology. He had always been good with computers, but had never really considered technology as a career possibility. After starting Linux and Python courses at a community college, he heard about Google’s IT Support Professional Certificate. Seeing a path to an interesting career, he applied for financial aid and enrolled in the program. “It was like a fire hose of knowledge,” Xavier says.
Within two weeks of earning his certificate, a Google recruiter reached out and encouraged him to apply to Google’s Information Technology Residency program. He used what he learned to ace his technical interviews and landed the residency. Xavier is now five months into his new job in IT support at Google’s Ann Arbor office.
The annual Open edX Conference is taking place next month in San Diego, and the conference agenda is now available.
Open edX is the open source software that powers some of the largest MOOC platforms, including edX and the Chinese platform XuetangX. National MOOC platforms such as France’s FUN and Israel’s Campus-Il use Open edX, as do many companies, government entities, and institutions. While the organization is unable to maintain records on how many users have accessed Open edX on all the instances that are operating around the world, current estimates run in the neighborhood of 40 million.
The annual conference offers a chance for the developers, instructional designers, university administrators, and professors who make up the Open edX community to learn from one another in a series of workshops, plenary sessions, and talks. Once again, Class Central will be attending the conference as a media partner.
Keynote speakers at this year’s conference include edX CEO Anant Agarwal, Director of Learning Science at Amazon Candace Thille, and Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. As in previous years, the conference includes both practical workshops for developers, as well as talks of interest to all kinds of stakeholders. This year, the talks are grouped into five distinct tracks: Community and Collaboration, Extending, Learning Ops, Pedagogy, and Platform. The conference organizers created a robust and balanced agenda, in which all of these topics are addressed in multiple sessions.
In addition to providing a forum for partners and users to exchange knowledge, Open edX uses the conference as an opportunity to share what’s new and offer insight on the direction of the organization. One item that is sure to be on Open edX’s list this year is the launch of its new marketplace.
Screenshot of Open edX’s new marketplace
At Class Central, we think of Open edX as the WordPress of course management systems, both because it is free to download and use, and because it is the software of choice for organizations interested in offering a MOOC experience. However, setting up an Open edX instance is not quite as easy as starting a WordPress blog. Several companies now specialize in helping organizations to get Open edX instances up and running. Open edX created its new marketplace to facilitate connections between these companies and would-be Open edX users.
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University of Naples Federico II – Italy | May 20 – 22, 2019. Call for papers now open
Google recently declared that it’s launching an intense learning program to particularly initiate online course provider Udacity (MOOC).
Intense learning is a progressively more admired category of AI (artificial intelligence). Speaking, in general, it entails guiding artificial neural systems on heaps of data — for instance images — and acquiring them to create inferences regarding fresh data founded on what they understand.
One of Google’s chief scientists and technological head of the Google’s Brain team, Vincent Vanhoucke, is instructing the program, which is an element of Udacity’s Nanodegree course for machine learning engineer. The team presses forward the organization’s core intense learning expertise, which can be utilized within numerous Google products.
Undeniably, Google utilizes intense learning in a lot of of its applications, counting, Inbox by Gmail, Google Voice Search, Google Translate and Google Photos.
In November, Google launched TensorFlow, a significant part of intense learning software offered by Google Brain team. Also, not surprisingly, the Udacity program will include TensorFlow, in addition to complex neural networks, continual neural networks, and long term and temporary memory networks, Vanhoucke cited in one of blog posts on the bulletin.
Vanhoucke mentioned that the overall objective of creating this program was to offer the machine learning aficionado a direct and quick path to resolving factual and fascinating problems with intense learning system, and they were extremely thrilled to share what they had created.
Just similar to TensorFlow software, the program is free of cost.
Udacity’s adversary Coursera provides a machine learning program from deep learning celebrity Andrew Ng (former member of Google Brain team).
Separately, Google stated in a blog post that roughly a million people have already registered for Google’s Developer Training programs offered through Udacity.
To assist students looking forward to making the most of their learning time and achieving brilliant grades at school in the coming session, we composed a list of 10 tips that can help your study better.
Make Study Goals: The most essential foundation to studying effectively starts with setting study goals. You won’t know where you are headed if don’t have any destination to reach. Set your goals. Set realistic goals. That are doable and yet challenging. Assess if you need to buck up to achieve them. If you are content with the goals, proceed to the next tip.
Prepare Study Plan: Heard of, ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail’. Unless you thrive on cramming the day before the exam, create an organised study plan to utilize your time effectively. You have goals to look forward to, so design a study schedule such that all subjects receive equal attention. Calculate the time you have in hand after school (or tuitions, if any) and divide it neatly into a plan accommodating study and practice time.
Adopt Novel Technologies: The handwritten study technique holds immense importance for every student but one must explore other options of learning such as online tools and study apps. These novel technologies are user-centric and infuse fluidity in monotonous study regime. It would be better though, if you abstain from hogging social sites.
Take breaks: Bear in mind, to maintain an adequate concentration level, you must take small breaks in between your study hours. Take a walk, hit the gym, call a friend or gulp some refreshing fluids. Taking breaks increases concentration and improves productivity. Remember to get back to studying once your break is over.
Learn lessons like stories: Stories have the power of entertaining and teaching even the smallest details effortlessly. Apply this to studies by knitting main facts into a story. Make it ridiculous or compose acronyms to remember boring formulae.
Positive attitude: Your learning process is as good as your attitude towards studies. If you’ve accepted that you can’t pull it off, committing to studies or attempting to learn is like fooling yourself. Instead, focus on your strengths and keep a positive attitude towards your goals. When students think positively, their brains display enhanced activity, thereby reducing their nervousness and exposing them to fresh ideas.
Team study: If you keep company with mates who can motivate you to study well, then team study is a great idea. Not only will they encourage you, but help solve doubts or problems in case you get stuck. Also, our minds works better when faced with a competition and your team mates can be your best competitors. We are talking about a healthy competition here, not otherwise.
Testing times: Even had a nightmare of forgetting all your hard learned concepts the moment you see the question paper. Nothing but timely revisions can take away the fear of going blank at the sight of examination hall. Beat the stress of remembering formulae, dates, names, and facts by testing yourself through quizzes. The more you revise and take regular tests, the better are your chances of faring well.
Strike a Healthy Balance: Struggling to get enough sleep or losing out on nutrition! To study better, one has to strike a perfect balance between physical and mental strength. Next time your mom reminds you of eating on time, take her seriously. Eating right and apt will boost your mental vigour besides preparing you to endure exam stress and follow your study plan more effectively.
Study location: Your study location must be quiet and away from distractions. You can try sitting at different places and see which one works for you.
There’s few prouder days in a person’s life than graduation day – the culmination of years of hard work and dedication. Nobody said university would be easy, but this group of young students pulled through. A number of them are planning postgraduate study, with their sights set on a career in dietetics. The atmosphere was overflowing with optimism and excitement for the future.
