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Top 10 courses for new managers

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Top 10 courses for new managers

If you’ve recently been promoted to a management position for the first time, you’re entering an exciting, challenging, and important phase of your career. 

Managers play a crucial role in any organisation, and taking the time to learn how to be a good manager will benefit both you and your team.

Being a good manager involves everything from learning how to delegate effectively and how to prioritise your workload to developing emotional intelligence and building effective working relationships.

Understanding what makes a good manager and improving on the abilities required for your new position will develop your skills and confidence ahead of more senior roles in the future. 

We’ve put together a range of courses, from leading business schools and experts, that will help you learn how to develop your management skills and become a better manager.

Learning how to manage people is at the heart of what makes a good team leader. This course from CIPD will teach you the key principles of people management, and guide you on your journey from new manager through to developing teams and individuals under you.

You’ll explore a variety of common issues faced by new managers, including how to deal with absences, best practice in recruitment and inductions, and how to approach performance issues amongst your staff. 

The course will also give you the skills to assess current market conditions and what that might mean for your organisation.

Working remotely brings both benefits and challenges to organisations. It’s vital for managers to understand how to thrive in this changing working dynamic, and this course will provide you with the collaborative skills to do that. 

You’ll explore the management tools and technologies that can unlock the potential of working from home and have a positive impact on your organisation. 

You’ll also discover techniques to help you manage workloads and how to collaborate effectively with those in your team who might also be working remotely.   

This course is part of the popular Digital Skills for the Workplace collection from the University of Leeds and the Institute of Coding.

Whilst understanding and appreciating cultural diversity is an important skill in any walk of life, it’s also a valuable asset for a manager within the workplace. Many organisations will have a multicultural workforce from a variety of backgrounds, bringing with them different approaches. 

Understanding how to work through challenges and ultimately benefit from different opinions is crucial for any manager. 

This course from Deakin University will explore global perspectives on the importance of cultural diversity and provide you with the skills to take what you learn into your own workplace. 

Learning how to build a team and lead it effectively is an important part of being a good manager and leader. 

This course from the Open University Business School will take you through the stages involved in building an effective and happy team.

This course is specially designed for new managers or those who want to build their qualifications. You’ll discover how to write a business plan that meets your stakeholders’ needs and, importantly, learn how to identify exactly what those are. 

The course is part of the Management and Leadership, Essentials from the Open University Business School and the CMI (Chartered Management Institute). 

Ever wondered what emotional intelligence really is? This course will help you understand the origins of emotional intelligence and how it influences so many of our own decisions.

Emotional intelligence in the workplace can improve performance and harmony within teams and is a valuable skill to master for any new manager. 

You’ll get to explore how it can be measured and learn how to use your emotional intelligence in a workplace context.

Human resources (HR) performs a crucial role for any organisation because it is solely focused on their most valuable asset; employees. 

HR itself covers a range of skills, from how to recruit to people and employee retention to broad workforce planning. 

As a new manager, you may now be more involved in recruitment for your team, so being familiar with the key principles of recruitment strategies and human resource management will be key. 

This course will also give you a better understanding of the importance of setting career goals, both for yourself and your team. 

Learning how to be a good manager is a gradual process, and its a journey you’re on from the moment you become a manager to the day you retire. 

This course will guide you through the early stages of growing as a manager and give you a better understanding of key management areas like stakeholder management, decision-making, and leadership.

The course is part of the Management and Leadership, Essentials from the Open University Business School and the CMI (Chartered Management Institute). 

This course from Purdue University is designed to develop your knowledge of diversity and inclusion and will provide you with the skills to put that knowledge into action in your workplace. 

Being able to understand the different factors that make up your team’s identity and how this impacts their work will improve how you engage, interact, and support your team. 

This a great course for new managers who are looking to build more inclusive working environments, especially those managing culturally diverse teams. 

Personal development, professional development, personal development plan

Personal development is a lifelong process and will be extremely important to your success as a manager.

This course from the Open University Business School and the CMI offers you the chance to discover new opportunities for your personal and professional development, including producing and implementing your own personal development plan.

The modern workplace is changing all the time. This change has brought challenges but also a greater sense of employee empowerment. 

Remote working, flexible hours and a focus on work-life balance are just a few examples of modern workplace empowerment in action. 

On this course, you’ll discover more about this empowerment and the key role that human resources and managers play in it.

The course will build your knowledge of empowerment in the workplace and help you engage in empowerment discussion in your organisation.

For more courses for developing yourself as a manager, take a look at our full list of management and leadership courses and super-charge your managerial skills today. 

6 Reasons Now’s the Perfect Time to Commit to Coding

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6 Reasons Now’s the Perfect Time to Commit to Coding

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on all of us. Millions have lost their jobs or been furloughed, and others are dealing with the struggles of self-isolation. To support those whose work has been affected, we recently launched a program to donate Codecademy Pro to 100,000 impacted workers. For every Pro membership purchased, five memberships will be donated to workers that have lost their jobs or been furloughed.

We believe that learning a new skill during this challenging time can provide a sense of empowerment and so much more. Here are six reasons to take the plunge and learn to code while you’re at home.

Set yourself up for future career success

Coding is a great skill to add to your resume, whether you’re looking to start something new or simply advance in your current role.

Want to fully change careers and become a programmer, data scientist, or web developer? Our Pro Career Paths guide you through everything you need to get there. Being home with extra time on your hands is a prime opportunity to get started.

Want to learn new skills to help you excel in your current role? Coding isn’t just for programmers. It can be used to analyze data, build chatbots, tweak your business website, and more. Take this time to invest in yourself. Use coding as a springboard for providing value and advancing in your career. Check out our Pro Skill Paths to discover new skills to master.

Track progress towards a goal

Self-isolation is tough. Being home day after day means there aren’t a lot of things to help you keep track of the progression of time. If you’re feeling like you’re trapped in the movie Groundhog Day, you’re not alone. Learning to code can serve as a way to break out of the routine.

Progressing through a Skill Path or Career Path — available with a Codecademy Pro membership, learning a new language, or adding days to your streak brings a sense of accomplishment. And seeing all you’ve learned can help you maintain a positive mindset, too!

Find a sense of purpose

In addition to the sense of accomplishment you’ll get from learning a new skill, learning to code can also help you feel a sense of purpose. This holds true especially for those whose work has been affected by the pandemic.

Alan, a factory worker from Mississippi, has been using Codecademy Pro while quarantined. “Emotionally, it is a challenging time with the future of the factory uncertain at this time and the full economic implications of COVID-19 still unknown,” he told us. “My wife (who works in the restaurant business as a chef) also lost her job the day after I was asked to quarantine. Having access to Codecademy Pro is helping to give purpose to my days during this time of uncertainty.”

During quarantine, Alan shared that he tried to make a little progress each day, working through a module or two. “I have always had a desire to learn more about coding and to expand my skills; having the time and access to Codecademy Pro is giving me hope that I can strengthen my coding skills.”

Learn skills to build that thing you always wanted to build

Is there something you’ve always wanted to build? Maybe you’ve wanted to build a website or learn Swift so you can design a mobile app. Learning new skills takes work and time. But there’s no time like the present to start developing the foundational skills you need to build the thing you’ve always dreamed of building!

Connect with friends — and make new ones!

You may be stuck at home, but there’s a thriving online community of people learning to code, just like you. You can find them on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or in the Codecademy Pro community.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out the Codecademy Community on Facebook. With over 30,000 members, this Facebook group is a great place to find out how to get started and get coding help. Plus, you’ll meet new people and get the support you need to stay motivated. You can also check out the Codecademy Forums for code help.

You may also be surprised by just how many of your friends are currently learning to code, or have in the past. So share your goals and what you’re working on with your own friends on social media, too!

Learn a new skill and help others at the same time

For a limited time, we’re matching every Pro membership purchased with 5 memberships donated to people that have lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19. So if you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge, now is a great time to start learning to code and help provide a coding education to five people in need. Learn more here.

Watch: How to Find a Job, Interview, and Start a Job From Home

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Watch: How to Find a Job, Interview, and Start a Job From Home

The coronavirus pandemic has left millions of people unemployed and searching for new jobs. Finding a job is always challenging, but doing so entirely from home can feel even harder. That’s why we put together a live event all about searching for a job, interviewing, and starting a job remotely.

Here at Codecademy, we’re passionate about helping people learn the skills they need to advance at work — and even start new careers. With so many people out of work due to COVID-19, we’re doing what we can to help. In addition to this event, we also recently launched a program to provide a coding education to up to 100,000 impacted workers. Learn more about that program here.

If you’re currently searching for a job from home — or thinking about looking — check out the full recording of our Interviewing From Home event.

Hosted by Codecademy community manager Alyssa Vigil, this Learn From Home Series event features members of the Codecademy People Team, diving into tips for searching for a job, interviewing for a job, and starting a new job from home. Plus, we meet some Codecademy community members who share their own experiences with working from home.

Read on for a rundown of just some of the wonderful tips shared in our live event.

Preparing to Find a Job Online

Codecademy VP of People, Randal Vegter, opened the event with a keynote. Then, Senior Technical Recruiter Madison Olson and Technical Recruiter Mia Biscaia kicked things off with a look at how to prepare to find a job online. Starting around the 16-minute mark, Madison and Mia share tips for getting ready to look for a job online.

Step 1: Prepare your resume

Before you start applying, make sure your resume is up to date. Be sure to include the following items, focusing on experience that shows why you’re a good fit for the job you’re applying for.

  • Name & Contact Info
  • Work Experience
  • Education
  • Skills (Optional)
  • Volunteer Experience (Optional)
  • Awards (Optional)

Try to keep your resume to one page. As for the font, don’t go too small. You want to make sure your resume is clear and easy to read.

Step 2: Prepare your LinkedIn

LinkedIn can serve as a nice supplement to your resume. More and more recruiters are visiting LinkedIn in addition to your resume, and some are even using it as a replacement for your resume.

Plus, having an updated LinkedIn profile makes you more discoverable. This means it’ll be more likely that recruiters or hiring managers will find you when searching on LinkedIn for candidates for roles they’re working on.

Here’s a quick checklist for LinkedIn:

  • Ensure your information is up to date.
  • Add a quick summary about yourself.
  • Expand on your experience where you may not have had room on your resume.
  • Add additional sections for volunteer experience, skills, and endorsements.
  • Ask previous colleagues for recommendations.
  • Add a photo if you feel comfortable, but this is optional.

Searching for jobs online

Ready to look for jobs but not sure where to start? In this section, we’ll dive into where to look for jobs, as well as share some tips that’ll help you make your job search more effective.

Where to look for jobs online

Here are a few places to start looking for listings:

How to look for jobs online

Here are a few tips that can help you make the most of your online job search:

  • Set up a time each day to look for new job postings.
  • Keep a record of the companies and positions you’ve applied to. Keep notes on who you’ve heard back from, interview confirmations, and other information.
  • Reach out to LinkedIn connections at companies you’re interested in applying to. An intro is a great way to get your foot in the door.

Interviewing From Home

Jeffrey Wolfson, our Director of Talent Acquisition, and Senior Technical Recruiter Emma Loftus, shared tips for interviewing from home in a segment starting around the 51-minute mark. They provide some great tips for interviewing in general. Plus, some tips for adjusting to online interviews specifically.

If you haven’t interviewed before, you can likely expect a few different rounds of conversations. Different companies do things different ways, but a pretty typical process includes a phone screening by a recruiter and then by the hiring manager, followed by a series of “in person” interviews. These in person interviews are now likely to be conducted over Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, or another video conferencing platform.

Preparing for your interview

Before the interview, you’ll want to be sure you’re prepared. Jeff and Emma shared some dos and don’ts.

Dos:

  • Research the company
  • Find the company values and prepare questions
  • Re-read the job description
  • Re-read your resume
  • Research your interviewers
  • Practice

Don’ts:

  • Forget to prepare questions
  • Set a calendar reminder for 15 minutes before the interview
  • Hesitate to ask the recruiting team if there’ll be a break
  • Forget water, coffee, or tea!

Virtual interview tips

A virtual interview can come with its own unique set of challenges, so the following tips can help set you up for success:

  • Practice your answers.
  • Dress the part. Wear a top that strikes a professional note and matches the vibe of the company where you’re applying.
  • Test the tech. If you’ve never used Zoom before, give it a try before your interview so you know what to expect.
  • Think about the lighting in the room. Try facing a window or putting a light in front of you for the best picture quality.
  • Turn off notifications. You don’t want any distractions.
  • Breathe.
  • Talk about something personal.
  • Smile!
  • Don’t stress. Online interviews are new for everyone. It’s ok if the dog barks or your screen gets frozen.
  • Don’t be afraid to take notes or ask questions. It’s also totally fine to ask the interviewer to repeat the question.

Starting a New Job Online

Getting set up: Before you start

  • Ask your onboarding team for advice. What can you expect on  your first day?
  • Set up any hardware so you’re ready for your first day.
  • Find out what software the team is using and familiarize yourself. What video conferencing tool are they using? Take it for a test drive.
  • Set up a designated workspace at home. Make sure you feel comfortable in your space and that there’s limited noise or distractions.
  • Think about what’s in the background before joining a video call. If your bed is in the background, make sure it’s made. Virtual backgrounds can help to hide any distractions in the background.

Getting started: First few days

  • Embrace the challenge. We’re all in the same boat. So, while getting started remotely may feel awkward, everyone is getting used to the challenges of working from home.
  • Be prepared to troubleshoot. It may take awhile to familiarize yourself with all the software, your internet connection, and more.
  • Be ready to talk about yourself. You may be asked to share an interesting fact about yourself in an intro meeting. Be ready with a few things to share.
  • Make connections with IT and HR. They can help answer important questions!
  • Get to know your stakeholders. You’ll be setting up intro meetings with a lot of new people. Set up meetings with the people that you’ll be working the most closely with first.
  • Come prepared with questions for your new manager.

Getting settled: First few weeks

  • Ask your team for help or advice. What did they wish they’d known when they started?
  • Keep learning about the company. Take every opportunity you can to learn about the business.
  • Join in on social and networking opportunities. Things like virtual happy hours and game nights are a nice way to get to know the team better while working remotely.
  • Check in with your manager on progress and expectations. Ask for feedback.
  • Share feedback on your own experience, too!

Have you interviewed or started a job from home? We’d love to hear about your experience. Drop a comment below!

Word + Quiz: harridan

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Word + Quiz: harridan

: a scolding (even vicious) old woman

_________

The word harridan has appeared in five articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 30 in “They’re Mad as Hell” by Ruth La Ferla:

Still, for a generation brought up to smile in the face of almost any affront or risk being tarred as a harridan, older women’s indignation seems ripe for reassessment. Small wonder, then, that with careers, social constraints and family obligations mostly behind them, some have seen fit to go rogue.

“What’s being loosed,” Ms. Tunney said, “is the tendency to let her rip.”

No need to remind Karla Wright, 76, a retired lawyer living in Greece, “When I was younger, I needed people to like me even though I didn’t particularly like them,” Ms. Wright recalled in an interview. “Now if they like me or not, who gives a damn?”

_________

How Much Do You Know About Myanmar?

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How Much Do You Know About Myanmar?

Can you find Myanmar on a map? What else do you know about this Southeast Asian nation with a population of more than 50 million people?

Lesson of the Day: ‘New York and Boston Pigeons Don’t Mix’

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Lesson of the Day: ‘New York and Boston Pigeons Don’t Mix’

Elizabeth Carlen, a biologist at Fordham University, wanted to know if the pigeons that live in the Boston-Washington corridor, which includes cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Providence, are all one interconnected population. In other words, do the birds in all these cities interbreed?

To answer this question, Ms. Carlen caught pigeons with a net gun and took their blood samples during a series of road trips across the region.

Make a prediction about what her findings reveal. Do you think the pigeons from all these cities are members of one pigeon supercity? Or, do you think these pigeons just stay in their home city and don’t mix? Why?

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. The biologist Elizabeth Carlen and a co-author published a paper that presents the idea of a “distinct pigeon supercity” and identifies two such places. Where are they?

2. Why are there two pigeon supercities between Boston and Washington, D.C., and not one big one? What evidence suggests that they are separate entities?

3. How did the new study challenge previous studies’ findings about pigeons? What, according to Ms. Carlen, could explain why the pigeons in certain East Coast cities are genetically similar?

4. What is different about the Washington-Baltimore-Philadelphia-New York area as compared to New York-Boston? How might this explain why the pigeons in Providence and Boston are different from those in the other cities?

5. Joshua Sokol, the article’s writer, includes cultural references to cities named in the article, along with some rivalries between them. Reread the article and identify them. What do these references add to the reader’s experience? How do they affect the writer’s tone?

Ms. Carlen was curious about pigeons, so she designed an experiment to determine how closely related pigeons on the East Coast were. In fact, her research results challenged her original hypothesis.

Think about an animal or plant near where you live — perhaps one you see every day — and develop a research question about this organism’s behavior. Then come up with a possible hypothesis.

Next, design a research study that could find answers to your research question. Ms. Carlen collected and tested blood samples from pigeons living in different cities. What data could you gather in your proposed study?

Present your question, hypothesis and research design to your class to get feedback. Do your classmates and teacher feel that your proposal will produce data that will help answer your research question? Why, or why not?

What’s Going On in This Picture? | April 27, 2020

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What’s Going On in This Picture? | April 27, 2020

Students

1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:

2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.

4. On Thursday afternoons, we will reveal at the bottom of this post more information about the photo. How does reading the caption and learning its back story help you see the image differently?

Coronavirus courses for keyworkers

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Coronavirus courses for keyworkers

Since the coronavirus first made headlines in November 2019, it has grown to impact almost every aspect of our daily lives in the UK and around the world.

At FutureLearn, our goal is to provide everyone with access to learning, no matter where they live or what their circumstances. This has never been more important than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From providing continuity for students moving to online learning to understanding how to improve testing capacity for suspected COVID-19 cases, sharing evidence-based knowledge and working together as a global community is key to overcoming the virus and its effects. 

This post collates all of our course resources for learning more about coronavirus and coping with its impact.

Whether you’re a healthcare professional looking for support in responding to COVID-19 at work or a concerned member of the public interested in how coronavirus is impacting our lives and health,  you’ll find support through the courses on this page.

Courses for healthcare professionals

We know how hard healthcare professionals are working to save lives and deliver much-needed care in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

In such a fast-moving situation, it’s important health workers receive the latest training and that anyone who wants to can access up-to-date information regarding COVID-19.

Alongside global healthcare experts and organisations, we’re offering free courses made by healthcare professionals, for healthcare professionals.

These courses are specifically designed to support frontline clinical workers in the fight against COVID-19 and have been created by healthcare institutions that are leaders in their field.

COVID-19 Critical Care: Understanding and Application from the University of Edinburgh and The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 

This course has been created by the University of Edinburgh, one of the world’s top universities and globally recognised for research, innovation and high-quality teaching. 

Edinburgh designed the course in collaboration with The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. RCPH set the specialty training standards for physicians in the UK and have been enabling doctors to pursue careers in specialist internal medicine through medical examinations, education and training for over 300 years. 

Their critical care course is for health workers who need to learn the principles and practice of treating critically ill patients during the coronavirus. 

Many health workers are moving from roles in other areas of healthcare practice and may not have recent critical care training. The course will support those refreshing critical care knowledge and skills, as well as newly qualified doctors, those who are upskilling, and those returning to acute clinical services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Professor Andrew Elder, said of the course, “There can be little doubt that this resource will help to save lives in many parts of the world.”

As well as covering how to apply critical care principles in practice, this learning resource offers strategies for looking after your emotional wellbeing in a high-stress, high-risk environment. The course also advises on the correct PPE equipment for anyone working in critical care.

COVID-19: Diagnostics and Testing from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine with the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM)

With testing acknowledged as crucial to outbreak control, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has also joined forces with FIND and ASLM to design a coronavirus diagnostics and testing course. It examines how to improve testing capacity, particularly in low-income settings.

This course explores the latest recommendations on COVID-19 testing and will provide you with up-to-date information on the performance of tests and how best to deploy them. 

You’ll learn the global recommendations on the use of COVID-19 diagnostics and testing strategies, and explore how different countries are scaling up testing capacity.

The course is for anyone involved in the testing and diagnosis of COVID-19, from Ministry of Health officials to laboratory technologists and technicians.

Managing COVID-19 in General Practice from St George’s, University of London

For those working in primary care, St George’s, University of London’s General Practice course explores how to respond to the pandemic as a frontline clinician dealing with a large volume of coronavirus patients.

St George’s is the UK’s only university dedicated to medical and health sciences education, training and research.

The university has three research institutes that focus on biomedical and scientific discovery, advancing the prevention and treatment of disease in the fields of population health, and heart disease and infection – three of the greatest challenges to global health in the 21st century.

This course will teach you what you need to know and what you need to do in relation to COVID-19 in primary care.

With practical advice from industry experts, you’ll learn how to complete a safe assessment of a suspected COVID-19 case and discover the best protocol for protecting yourself from the virus whilst doing so. 

The information covered will be relevant to healthcare practitioners around the globe, though the course will be based around guidance from UK public health bodies.

Airway Matters from UCL (University College London) and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH)

Endorsed by the Difficult Airway Society, this course is designed for any health professionals who need to provide airway support to patients, or care for patients with a compromised airway.

In partnership with UCL, UCLH is one of only five comprehensive biomedical research centres in the UK. They exist to support the delivery of top-quality patient care, and world-class education and research.

The course explores how to ensure human and technical resources for safe airway management are best utilised in crisis. 

You’ll learn how to undertake the extremely challenging and complex task of managing a person’s airway and will develop strategies to improve patient safety in your area of healthcare practice.

This course covers all aspects of airway management and has been updated with the latest guidance on airway management in patients with COVID-19 and the relevant PPE.

COVID-19: Effective Nursing in Times of Crisis from John Hopkins University and School of Nursing

Designed for nurses and healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients, this course covers how to provide quality care with limited resources. 

The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is a globally-recognised leader in nursing education, research, and practice and is ranked number one internationally for its master’s programs.

The course will help you respond to the impact of coronavirus in your own context. Using the experience of nurses in crisis zones, you’ll learn how to work effectively with low resources.

You’ll discover how to lead as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, understand what palliative care looks like at this time, and consider how healthcare systems will recover. 

Courses for teachers moving to remote teaching

Although coronavirus is impacting almost every industry, with schools, universities, and colleges being shut around the world education is one of the hardest-hit sectors.  

Though most are continuing to offer teaching through online means, quickly switching to online teaching is extremely disruptive to both teachers and students. We’ve dedicated an entire to courses that will help ease the transition to online teaching.

Whether you’re teaching primary students or university graduates, with courses from experts in digital education like the UCL Institute of Education, Cambridge Assessment English and the National STEM Learning Centre, you can discover digital tools to make teaching online easier, as well as methods to align your offline and online teaching approach.

The Open University has also created a course for anyone who wants to get to grips with the basics of online learning and make the most of its benefits. You’ll discover the skills required for online study and evaluate your own study skill set.

With nearly ten years of experience in online learning, and in response to COVID-19, our expert learning design team have created a free course for teachers to provide continuity for students moving to online learning. 

You’ll make practical steps towards online teaching and student support, and be able to share your stories and approaches with a global community of educators who’ll help you to get started and keep going.

Courses for coping with and understanding the impact of coronavirus

As well as creating free courses for health workers, frontline clinicians and keyworkers, we’ve created free coronavirus course resources for members of the public who want to learn more about responding to the evolving situation. 

COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s course on tackling the novel coronavirus lays out all we currently know about the disease itself and is designed for anyone who‘d like an in-depth guide to the virus and its worldwide implications.

LSHTM are world leaders in research and postgraduate education in public and global health and their mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide.

Their course covers how and where the outbreak emerged, how it has spread, and the global health measures and impact of the pandemic going forward.

COVID-19: Pandemics, Modelling, and Policy from The Open University and UNESCO UNITWIN Complex Systems Digital Campus (CS-DC)

Designed for anyone looking to make sense of the conflicting information around COVID-19, this course explores the scientific modelling of the coronavirus outbreak.

Using the accepted facts and statistics of COVID-19 like the incubation period, recovery time and reproduction rates, you’ll learn the role forecasts and computer models play in understanding pandemics.

Once you understand the concept of scientific modelling, you’ll learn how to critique models, and explore how they can support policymakers in times of pandemic crisis. 

The course is a collaborative effort from Unesco’s Complex Systems Digital Campus (CS-DC) and the OU. CS-DC is an international network of individuals and more than 100 universities and institutions who work together to share resources and promote research and education in complex systems science. They work to bridge the back between academia, civil society, local communities, research and policy-making.

Panic-Buying During Crisis: How Do Food Supply Chains Cope? from EIT Food

The fallout from the movement restrictions imposed due to coronavirus saw many supermarkets out of stock and being forced to impose limits on how many items customers could buy at once. Although less acute as lockdown has gone on, there has been a clear increase in food stockpiling, and there are concerns about how the food supply chain will cope.

This course explains the challenges faced by different members of the food supply chain and the steps they have to take to ensure food security. 

Created by EIT FOOD, leaders in food education and research, this course explores how crises affect how and what we eat, and highlights innovative digital food services and solutions.

COVID-19: Helping Young People Manage Low Mood and Depression from the University of Reading

In an unprecedented time of upheaval and change, the mental health of many young people is vulnerable.

This course for young people and their parents, carers, or teachers provides helpful and practical techniques to cope with low mood and depression during the lockdown period and beyond.

You’ll learn the value of structure, diet, and sleep, and how to keep up positive family communication about your young person’s worried thoughts and feelings. This course will help young people and their families build the lasting habit of resilience, at a time when it’s needed the most.

Thrive in Trying Times Teach-Out from the University of Michigan

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging individuals, communities, and businesses across the globe to work together like never before.

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Word + Quiz: badinage

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Word + Quiz: badinage

: frivolous banter

_________

The word badinage has appeared in two articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Jan. 22 in “The Death of Chintz” by Penelope Green:

When Mario Buatta died in 2018, a few days shy of his 83rd birthday, he left no will. Which is not to say that he didn’t leave anything behind. “I am the original hoarder,” he would tell you.

He had a ferocious appetite for collecting that started when he was 11 and bought an 18th-century lap desk for $12 on layaway and continued until just months before his death. (There are invoices to prove it.)

… Yet shopping for Mr. Buatta was more than just “filling the Grand Canyon of the soul,” said Todd Romano, his friend and former assistant. It was both sport and distraction. The bidding and the badinage was “his own form of daytime cabaret,” said Angus Wilkie, an antiques dealer.

_________

What Are Your Favorite Games?

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What Are Your Favorite Games?

In “Classic Board Games With a Touch of Tech,” Catherine Newman writes:

From November of 1955 to September 1957, my father played two games of chess with his friend Sam Frankenheim. My dad was in the Army, Sam was in the Air Force, and they mailed postcards back and forth detailing their moves. (Oh, to write the word “checkmate” before popping a triumphant card in the mail!)

Playing games with people at a distance has a long history — and now is as good a time as any to try it, given how badly we want to stave off boredom and bridge the distance between our islands of isolation.

Digital gaming is an obvious path; my own son plays raucous online poker with vast groups of his friends. But there is something so grounding about rolling a handful of noisy dice, clacking our pieces around a board, and seeing each other’s dear, missed faces (even if those faces are trash talking us about buying Park Place). To that end, my family has been experimenting with ways to play traditional, real-life board games with people who are sheltering in different places. With a bit of patience and some video conferencing, games can help virtually erase the miles between children and isolated grandparents or teenagers missing their friends.

Here are three recommended games from the article along with some necessary hacks to pull them off:

Battleship

The classic naval-themed deduction game is a natural for videoconferencing, since you’re not even supposed to see each other’s board. Make sure to yell “You sank my battleship!” at the appropriate moment, or else why were you even playing in the first place?

Maximum number of players: 2

Requirements: A video conferencing platform (although you can actually play over the phone). Both players need to have the game, or you can download public-domain game sheets here to play a similar pen-and-paper version.

Special hacks: None.

Pictionary

Zoom Pictionary is not the least chaotic game you’ll ever play, but it’s totally worth it for the zany factor. (“Sarcophagus!” “Wait, no. Cable car?”) We’ve played over multiple time zones and generations, and recommend splitting up teams over households to keep the energy and engagement high.

Maximum number of players: 8

Requirements: A video conferencing platform. Thick pens (such as Sharpies) for drawing. Only one household needs the game — and, honestly, not even that: You can use a random word generator for drawing prompts.

Special hacks: Ideally, each household joins from both a laptop and a phone: angle the laptop toward your face(s) and balance the (muted/sound off) phone on something high (say an upended tissue box) to show your well-lit drawing surface. Eliminate the too-tumultuous “All Play.” We also scrapped the fussy board: draw a card, roll the die, and pick the word on the card that your number corresponds to (six is wild); alternate play between teams and score one point for each correctly guessed word; play to 15 or 20. The drawer in a household without the game can generate a word randomly, or you can pick a card for them and hold it up while everyone else looks away.

Monopoly

The game itself is fun, of course, but one added bonus of your kids playing with their friends right now is that your home will fill with those badly missed voices.

Maximum number of players: 8 (over no more than four households)

Requirements: A video conferencing platform. Each household needs the game.

Special hacks: Ideally, each household joins from two devices: one to show people; one (muted/sound off) raised up on something high to show the board. Mirror the other households’ moves on your board. Mediate multi-household financial transactions — such as the paying of rent — through each household’s bank. Remove properties from your game’s stash as other households buy them and sort them by owner (we write each person’s name on a Post-it) so you know who has what.

You don’t have the board games or the technology? Deb Amlen provides some games that can be played in your house that require no equipment and little or no touching in “Running Out of Games? Remember These Old-School Favorites.” Here are a few:

20 Questions is a guessing game in which people try to identify a person, place or thing the leader is thinking about in 20 questions or less. Group members ask “yes” or “no” questions until the mystery item or person is guessed. It’s stationary, meaning there’s no running around or mess and it can be played in small groups. A similar game is I Spy.

Animal Alphabet asks players to think of an animal that begins with the letter A (like ant). The next person has to think of an animal that begins with the last letter of the last animal thought of within a certain time limit. For example, after “an(t)” someone could volunteer “(t) urtle.” Continue the pattern until someone fails to think of an animal.

Make Me Laugh is great for cheering up the housebound. Choose one person to be on the “hot seat.” Set a timer for 90 seconds. The rest of the group has one simple goal, which is to make the person on the hot seat laugh without touching them. (No tickling!). Laughs, smiles, giggles and snorts can create disagreement, so one simple rule applies: If you show your teeth in the hot seat, you are out, and you join the group trying to make someone else laugh in the next round.

Students, read ONE of the articles in its entirety, then tell us:

  • What are your favorite games? Which games are you playing now during a time of self-quarantine?

  • Do you ever feel “cooped up” these days? If so, what are you doing to relieve the boredom and isolation? Are you playing more games to stay sane?

  • Do you like old-school board games? If yes, which ones? Do you agree with Ms. Newman that “there is something so grounding about rolling a handful of noisy dice, clacking our pieces around a board”?

  • Have you tried video conferencing to play games with people who are sheltering in different places? Does it sound appealing to you? What hacks have you used to make game playing successful during social distancing?

  • Which of the recommended games from the two articles do you most want to try? What other games would you suggest for peers and why?

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