Free Learning

littlestar1981

After being slightly freaked out after watching Dispatches tonight (about unemployment), I figure I should probably make do with my well paid but painful job for now and concentrate on learning new skills and acquiring more knowledge/qualifications so that when the economy is more stable I am well/better placed for my desired career change.

Courses in general can be very expensive particularly when like myself you have already had some experience of higher education. Anyway I came across the following link, which on the surface (I haven't looked properly yet) looks really really good! I also thought it made a change from all the spam and dodgy sites we're used to seeing on this subject!

http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/home.php

HTH...and sorry if it's already been mentioned!

Liz_the_Whizz

Certainly Open University offers many advantages over other higher education providers in terms of flexibility of learning.

And while its offerings may be more worthwhile than some commercial training courses, it's important to note that it is NOT free - though they do provide financial assistance for households with an income below £30k.

As with everything, research all the options - if you are looking to enhance your employability, make sure a training course it is going to make a real difference before you shell out your money.

littlestar1981

Sorry Liz can you tell me why they are not free? I wasn't referring to the OU in general, I was making particular reference to the link I posted which offers free online courses from what I can see. I would make use of them if I wanted to learn about a general skill, get back into the throes of learning or if I just had a general interest in a subject.

Liz_the_Whizz

Oops, littlestar - for some reason, the link didn't work and I ended up elsewhere on their website.

Apols all round, openlearn is certainly FREE. Having now had a proper look, it offers some nice tasters for their courses.

Hope my friends who work at OU don't find out - it's not sabotage, honest:o.

Oldernotwiser

littlestar1981 wrote: »

Sorry Liz can you tell me why they are not free? I wasn't referring to the OU in general, I was making particular reference to the link I posted which offers free online courses from what I can see. I would make use of them if I wanted to learn about a general skill, get back into the throes of learning or if I just had a general interest in a subject.

Openlearn is an excellent scheme for the things that you mention, but as courses aren't assessed you won't actually get a qualification from it, which is sometimes necessary.

LittleVoice

It is also a way of deciding whether you want to do the full course before forking out real money for it. That is what I have done and it also meant I could get a head start on the taught course too.

Beanynut2

Have you tried http://www.vision2learn.net/channels/index.aspx run by the Learning Skills Council, they provide a range of free training to give people skills for work eg in computing, job, life and sports skills

All you need is internet access and self-motivation - you are linked to a local college and given an personal tutor. You do everything over the internet, although I also had to take an exam at the college but I don't think you need to do this with all of the courses.

Its well worth a look

littlestar1981

Beanynut2 wrote: »

Have you tried http://www.vision2learn.net/channels/index.aspx run by the Learning Skills Council, they provide a range of free training to give people skills for work eg in computing, job, life and sports skills

All you need is internet access and self-motivation - you are linked to a local college and given an personal tutor. You do everything over the internet, although I also had to take an exam at the college but I don't think you need to do this with all of the courses.

Its well worth a look

Looks good... but it's worth noting that you have to pay for the nationally recognised qualifications (e.g NVQ) if you already have any higher ed qualifications, which can be expensive.

Beanynut2

littlestar1981 wrote: »

Looks good... but it's worth noting that you have to pay for the nationally recognised qualifications (e.g NVQ) if you already have any higher ed qualifications, which can be expensive.

I already had a HND level qualification (NVQ4) before I started the vision2learn course but didn't have to pay for my NCFE3 (NVQ3) exam at the end of the course - so I'm not certain whether they always charge??

I thoroughly enjoyed the training - which took me 9 months but I could have completed it faster if I'd have wanted too. I found the tutor really helpful and knowledgeable and it definately helped me at work. I'm a manager and I studied on the Practical Emotional Intelligence at Work course - a fascinating subject about getting the best out of yourself and other people, it covered many of the subjects that you get from commercial management/professional training. It is definately one that I could recommend.

Mind you - open learning isn't everyones cup of tea, my friend dropped out quite early on, you need to be quite strict with yourself about studying.

Jill

littlestar1981

Ooh!! TBH I was only going off the fact that a local college came into work the other day offering NVQ level 3, but because I already had a level 4 qualification (a DipHE in something entirely different) they said I had to pay £200!

In that case I'm going to apply, if they do try to charge I'll just say no, Thanks x

piggeh

Is there any funding available (if you're unemployed) to do professional qualifications? Such as purchasing (CIPS), MCSE courses, etc? Or a reduced rate?