• Why does the past matter today?
• What is the significance of photographs as historical artefacts?
• How does the language of history determine how we view our world?

Do you want to find out the answers to these historical questions and more? Then Learning from the Past: A Guide for the Curious Researcher is the right course for you.

In this free online course you will learn how to understand the past to explain the present. Furthermore, you will develop the skills to discover and critically analyse the records of the past. As the course progresses you will get to know the amazing sources and resources of the British Library. In the first week of the course you will look at written texts and how language evolves. In Week 2, you focus on image and artefacts, while Week 3 lets you explore other types of historical material such as sound and digital sources.

This collaborative course was co-created with academics at the University of Birmingham and experts from the British Library. You will learn with leading academics from the University Of Nottingham. So, Maiken Umbach is Professor of Modern History and Dr Dean Blackburn is a lecturer in modern history.  Finally, Ian Cooke of the British Library will guide you through the hidden treasures of their collections. Ian is Head of Contemporary British Publications at the Library. This team is here to help you develop your own research skills, and form your own, independent judgments about the past and the present.

This three-week course starts on Monday 3 September 2018.

• Find out more and enrol on Learning from the Past.

The post How does the past explain the present? appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

Join us from Monday 8 May to find out about modern slavery and what you can do to help end it.

You can enrol now on the second run of Ending Slavery, the world’s first ever online course about contemporary slavery. In this free four-week course you’ll learn from experts at the cutting edge of human rights research. You will investigate the complex systems that sustain slavery today.

One of the lead educators is Professor Kevin Bales, who was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the Queen’s New Year Honours this year. Kevin has advised the UN and governments of multiple countries, and is the world’s leading expert on modern slavery.

What will I study?

Around the world nearly 46 million people are enslaved: forced to work against their will for no pay. This course explores the contemporary antislavery movement that is showing us a world without slavery is possible. Can we end global slavery by 2030? It’s a huge challenge to achieve this so learners will be involved in developing strategies to end slavery. If you join the course you can help to make a difference to this major human rights issue of our time.

On the course you will explore the size and shape of slavery today, brainstorm together new solutions for ending it, and listen to the voices of enslaved people to learn from true lived experience.

The course, delivered on the FutureLearn platform, is free and open to anyone; no prior knowledge is necessary. All you need is around three hours a week and an interest in ending contemporary slavery.

How do I enrol?

Register and find out more about Ending Slavery here.

The post Help end modern slavery on this online course appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

It’s only 10 days till our free online course on politics and economics starts. You can enrol on the course now and start connecting with other learners in the welcome area.

You will find a fascinating range of learners are already in discussion in the welcome area. This includes people from all around the world, including Kenya, India, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Myanmar, Greece, Canada, Mexico and South Africa, as well as the UK.

You can also use #FLEconomicsPolitics to find and contribute to discussions on social networks.

Who are my educators?

You will learn from Sir Vince Cable and a team of leading experts at the University Of Nottingham. Sir Vince Cable is a former MP and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and he studied economics at university. Our lead educator, Cecilia Testa, is Professor of Political Economy.

What is the course content?

In week one of the course we will be looking at the most significant economic events of recent times: the financial crash of 2007-09. That crash forced economic policymakers to think afresh about their economic theories, and its impact is still being felt in our world today.

Over the three weeks of the course you will consider how economics impacts on politicians, and how politicians impact on economics. You will explore these links by looking at the work of seven major political figures, including Franklin D Roosevelt, Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher, and the key economic ideas they adopted.

Sign up and find out more about The Politics of Economics and the Economics of Politicians here.

The post Free politics and economics course starts Monday 20 March appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

Join Sir Vince Cable and leading experts at the University Of Nottingham to find out about the connections between politics and economics in our free online course.

The Politics of Economics and the Economics of Politicians explores the work of major political figures and the economic ideas they adopted. The course is run by experts in the School of Economics at the University, and fronted by Vince Cable – an Honorary Professor of Economics at the University and former Coalition Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. The lead educator is Cecilia Testa, Professor of Political Economy.

This three-week MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is delivered on the FutureLearn platform. The course starts on Monday 20 March, and is open for enrolment now.

Find out more

On the course, you will look at some key issues of contemporary economics such as responses to the financial crisis of 2008, and study some of the political figures from around the world who have changed economic history. The economic policies and practices of these major figures, including FD Roosevelt, Margaret Thatcher and Deng Xiaoping, are still having an impact on our world today.

Sign up and find out more about The Politics of Economics and the Economics of Politicians here.

The post What are the links between politics and economics? appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

The second run of the University of Nottingham’s Designing E-Learning for Health MOOC starts on Monday 13 February.

The 5-week course, hosted on the UK’s multi-institutional FutureLearn platform, is open for registration now. In this free online course, students learn how to translate real-life experiences into effective e-learning. They will be introduced to a methodology that they can use themselves to design their own e-learning objects in all sorts of contexts, not just health. We guide students all the way through the process – from deciding on a learning aim to getting ready to develop their resource.

By the end of the 5 weeks, students will have created their own storyboard and specification for a high quality piece of e-learning, which they can then develop further after the course.

The course is free to access and open to anyone, regardless of educational background or level of knowledge in the area. All you need is about 3 hours per week and an interest in e-learning.

Sign up and find out more about Designing E-Learning for Health here.

Lead educator on the course, Professor Heather Wharrad, said: “The course is based on an accessible approach to creating high quality e-learning resources that we have been using and developing over the last 10 years. We have used it to develop over 200 resources that are now being used worldwide.”

HELM e-learning resources (Resuable Learning Objects or RLOs) are used by educators, students, service users, clinicians and many more across over 50 countries and are available from the HELMOpen platform.

The HELM team look forward to welcoming you onto the course and hope to see you in February.
Follow HELM on Twitter
www.twitter.com/Uon_Helm
#FLelearninghealth

The post Register for our Designing E-Learning for Health MOOC appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, has set up a task force to coordinate the government’s response to contemporary slavery. Funding of £33m will be targeted at tackling the routes of the people-trafficking trade in countries such as Nigeria. There is estimated to be between 10,000 and 13,000 victims of slavery in the UK.

As the Prime Minister says “this is the great human rights issue of our time”. Here at the University Of Nottingham, we are looking at how to end slavery worldwide in our online course, Ending Slavery, which is open for registration now. In this four-week course starting on 17 October 2016, you’ll learn from experts at the cutting edge of human rights research, and you’ll investigate the complex systems that sustain slavery today.

Currently, nearly 46 million people around the world are enslaved: forced to work against their will for no pay. Enrol for the course to find out how you can help to make a difference to this major international issue.

Register and find out more about Ending Slavery here.

#flslavery

(Image courtesy of Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department)

The post British government sets up taskforce to fight against modern slavery appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

The world’s first ever online course about contemporary slavery is open for registration now. Ending Slavery is a four-week course starting on 17 October 2016. You’ll learn from experts at the cutting edge of human rights research, and you’ll investigate the complex systems that sustain slavery today. Professor Kevin Bales, one of the lead educators, has advised the UN and the governments of multiple countries, and is the world’s leading expert on modern slavery.

Around the world nearly 46 million people are enslaved: forced to work against their will for no pay. This course explores the contemporary antislavery movement that is showing us a world without slavery is possible. Can we end global slavery by 2030? It’s a huge challenge to achieve this so learners will be involved in developing strategies to end slavery. If you join the course you can help to make a difference to this major human rights issue of our time.

You will investigate what sustains slavery today, explore the historical context of slavery and antislavery, and debate strategies for ending slavery at the local, national and international levels.

The course, delivered on the FutureLearn platform, is free and open to anyone; no prior knowledge is necessary. All you need is around three hours a week and an interest in ending contemporary slavery.

Register and find out more about Ending Slavery here.

#flslavery

The post Ending Slavery free online course starts 17 October appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

There is now less than a month to go before our Designing E-Learning for Health course starts on 15 February. The course is open for registration now.

Over 3,500 people have already signed up for the course and started making connections with each other on the Welcome page. They are a diverse group. The Health E-Learning and Media Team (HELM) is pleased to see learners posting from all around the world, all with fascinating back stories and careers. So far, learners from over 50 countries have joined in the introductory discussion, with countries represented ranging from Mexico to Myanmar, Italy to Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia to Canada.

Some of our learners are already experts in e-learning for health, some work in other areas of e-learning or in various health fields, while others have careers as diverse as meditation teacher, journalist and social anthropologist. The course is constructed in such a way that it benefits learners with all these different levels of knowledge – the only requirement is an interest in designing e-learning. While the focus in on health, the course and methods are transferable to many other contexts and sectors.

There is still time to sign up and find out more about Designing E-Learning for Health here.

HELM e-learning resources (Resuable Learning Objects or RLOs) are used by educators, students, service users, clinicians and many more across over 50 countries and are available from the HELMOpen platform.

The HELM team look forward to welcoming you onto the course and hope to see you in February.

Follow HELM on Twitter
www.twitter.com/Uon_Helm
#FLelearninghealth

The post Networking is underway on Designing E-learning for Health MOOC appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

Sarah Stubbings writes: Did you know that one in five mammals, one in eight birds and nearly one in three amphibians worldwide are threatened with extinction? And this is largely due to what we humans are doing to our environment.

This damning statistic is one of the many insights into the natural world that you can find in the Western Soundscape Archive. This stunning resource features thousands of audio recordings of birds, frogs, toads, reptiles and mammals in their environments across the western United States.

You can use the Western Sound Archive in so many different ways: as an educational resource in schools or colleges, to explore the articles and recordings for your own personal interest in ecology, or to unwind at the end of a long day by listening to the sounds of nature. Feeling more contemplative? Then, take the Western Sound Archive as a sounding board to make you think about what is out there in the natural world, and what we are in danger of losing.

Some of the audio files are downloadable so how about trying:

• One of them as your alarm clock. For example, you could be waking up to the sounds of Ironwood Forest at dawn
• A herd of bison as your new ring tone
• Or California elephant seals as the soundtrack to your meditation

And surely the Elk bugle call should be this year’s Christmas number one?

If this has spurred your interest in the environment, there’s still time to join us in the MOOC Sustainability, Society and You, our free online course on the FutureLearn platform. Take a look at this page about culture and sustainability that includes a mention of the Western Soundscape Archive. 

The post Discover the Western Soundscape Archive appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.

Sarah Stubbings writes: Sustainability, Society and You is bringing you a hotseat live from the Paris Climate Change Conference. On Wednesday 2 December from 3.00-500pm GMT, Nick Blyth, Policy and Engagement Lead for the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), will be answering your questions on carbon reductions. Are some tonnes of CO2 better than others? And what do businesses need to transform?

If you haven’t already registered for Sustainability, Society and You, then you still have time to join. This free online course looks at the major global issues of sustainability and how we can all have a real impact on our own futures.

Take a look at the carbon reduction discussion and post your questions for Nick Blyth now.

The live session will get you thinking about:

• Are all tonnes of carbon (saved) truly equivalent?
• The challenges faced by businesses and the barriers and drivers for change
• The mix of opportunities for energy and carbon reduction available to businesses in their strategies and approaches
• Issues and risks associated with compensation approaches such as carbon offsetting and the purchase of green electricity tariffs – as well as their potential positive contribution
• How the IEMA’s Greenhouse Gas Management hierarchy works as a tool to help professionals approach this challenge
• The importance of longer term policy signals and developments needed to help businesses to transform

Have your say, ask your question, join in the debate.

Image: © https://www.flickr.com/photos/antonfomkin/5243218781 (CC BY 2.0)

The post Join our Carbon Reductions Hotseat Live from Paris Climate Change Conference appeared first on Nottingham’s Massive Open Online Courses.