Online courses directory (801)

This free online Diploma in Media Studies introduces you to the theories of modern media studies. This course begins by introducing you to the evolution of both media and culture over time, before examining mass media and popular culture. You will look at the development of convergence and established cultural values. You will also gain insight into researching media, and examine some controversies surrounding the field.<br /><br />The course then introduces you to print media such as books, newspapers and magazines. You will learn about the historical origins of each of these, and how they have evolved over the last century. You will also examine the impact which books, newspapers and magazines have had upon culture, the trends and the issues which affect these media types.<br /><br />You will look at different music genres, the impact each genre of music has had on culture, trends in the music industry, and the impact which technology has had upon the music industry. You will be introduced to the radio industry and how broadcast radio has evolved and is adapting to technological advances. You will also look at the impact which movies have had upon culture throughout their history. This course will also teach you to examine some of the issues and trends which have been prevalent in the movie industry.<br /><br />Finally, you will look at electronic games, the Internet, and social media. The historical origins of each will be discussed, and the controversial issues which surround some of their content. You will look at the blurring of the boundaries between games and other types of media. You will look at the evolution of the Internet and gain insight into social media and Web 2.0, and the impact of globalization on culture and communication.<br /><br />This free online course will be of great interest to professionals working in the areas of media or culture, and would like to learn more about the field. It will also be of interest to learners would like to learn more about entertainment and broadcast media.

It is estimated that one in four adults experience some form of mental health problems during their lifetime. Therefore, mental health is becoming an increasingly important aspect of health provision in health systems around the world. <br /><br />Anxiety, depression and severe mental problems affect not only the individuals concerned but also their families and friends. Mental health problems result in reduced quality of life and possibly loss of life. It is therefore important to understand mental distress and the ways it can be treated. <br /><br />ALISON's free mental health diploma course will help you understand mental health and mental illness, as well as mental health practice and care in the community. It will tackle the issues of stigma and discrimination, explain why the promotion of mental well-being is important and give a history of institutions and segregation. <br /><br />The course also reviews suicide and preventative treatment measures, how to manage violent patients and outlines the complex area of substance abuse. Understand defining characteristics of normal and abnormal behavioral tendencies. The range of personality disorders, phobias and neurotic behaviors are discussed together with the associated signs and symptoms. The personal and occupational impact of burnout and depression are discussed along with the causes and identifiable signs and symptoms. <br /><br />This free online course will be of great interest to professionals in social and health professions, for anyone who has personal experience of mental health problems or anyone with a general interest in this growing matter.<br />

The free online course Diploma in Modern Human Resource Management describes the principles and practices used by HR professionals and managers in the areas of recruitment, selection, training and employee motivation strategies. It also describes methods used to both successfully communicate with and also evaluate and interpret communication from employees. The course first introduces you to the seven main roles that HRM plays in business. You will learn about key concepts such as strategic planning, the employment cycle and multiculturalism, and why the HRM function is key to success. The course then introduces you to the main points in the recruitment process and how to develop a job analysis, a job description, and job specifications. Next, you will learn about the steps involved in the selection process such as criteria development, application and résumé review, test administration as well as the major categories of employment tests. Different interview styles and techniques are reviewed, as well as how to choose the right type of interview for the job and the formal and legal steps involved in making an official job offer. The course introduces you to the concepts involved in compensation planning and development such as providing the basic salary, holiday pay, health benefits and retirement packages. You will also learn about applying specific retention strategies to include in HR plans, while keeping the company budget in mind. Next, the course introduces the steps involved in training an employee. You will learn about the goals of orientation, the benefits of in-house versus external training, and how to design an effective training program. The course then describes the main points in the employee retention and motivation and you will gain an understanding of motivational theories and the application of them in the development of retention plans. You will learn about the different types of management and communication styles and strategies that are used to communicate successfully with employees. Next, you will learn about the steps involved in designing a performance appraisal and the reasons why a systematic performance evaluation system should be implemented. You will also learn about the goals of performance evaluation. Finally, the course introduces you to workplace safety laws, how they apply to specific industries, such as IT, the service industry, and construction. This free Diploma course will be of great interest to all HRM professionals who would like to learn more about modern human resource practices and procedures. The course will also be of great benefit to managers, supervisors and anyone who may have to take on HRM responsibilities as part of their duties within any business or organization.<br />

The free online course Diploma in Modern Project Management Theory and Practice is designed for anyone who wants to learn about contemporary project management. With organisations looking to deliver projects faster and cheaper project management has evolved continuously since the 1980’s to help address these needs. Using the Project Management Institute's Book of Knowledge, along with other core theory, this course describes in detail the modern theory and best practices of project management. The course begins by introducing you to essential topics such as profiling projects, the phases and organizational structures within a project, and the tasks performed in a project. You will then learn how the role of project managers needs to shift emphasis; project managers need to move from managing the tasks to taking a leadership role. As projects become more complex project managers need to get a good understanding of what the clients' expectations are. They also need to know how decisions are reached, how information is communicated, and how and why changes are made to the project plans. The essential element of project management is about getting projects completed on time and within budget. In this course you will learn how a project, with its associated goals and processes, must be definitively established by a project manager. You will also learn how a project schedule covering both the team members and equipment needs to be drawn up, reviewed and approved. The course then describes why rigorous implementation of quality control is a very important aspect of project management, and why the project manager and the project team must be risk aware during each phase of the project. You will also learn about how the project manager has to oversee the procurement process by ensuring that the relevant contracts with suppliers are in place and that each supplier meets all the necessary requirements. The final part of the course explains how a project manager oversees the successful closure of a project, from gathering all the key statistics and summarising them, to closing out the supplier contracts, and archiving all the key documents. This free Diploma course will be of great interest to all professionals working in the area of project management or those who have become involved in a work project or learners who just want to be able to manage personal projects more effectively.<br />

This free online Diploma in Multimedia Development course covers the skills and techniques needed to create professional-looking videos, visual effects, motion graphics and animations. The course offers a rigorous exploration of key multimedia tools including Adobe Photoshop, Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Flash, Audacity, Director MX and Adobe After Effects. <br /><br />The video-based tutorials are delivered in a non-technical and step-by-step manner by the award-winning multimedia teacher Russell Stannard. The Diploma course is ideal for those who want to gain a thorough knowledge and understanding of multimedia development tools and techniques and who want to enhance their career prospects in the process.<br />

The daily responsibility for the care of patients in a health care setting rests primarily with the nursing team. The modern nurse is a highly trained professional and can work in a wide variety of areas from community nursing to surgery. <br /><br />ALISON's free online nursing diploma course provides an overview of the skills and techniques required in areas such as advanced patient hygiene procedures, environmental health and safety awareness, the role of the nurse in diet therapy and how to ensure patient safety and comfort in the adult care setting. Advanced principles of hygiene provides the learner with an overview of the functions, methods and techniques applied in providing adult patient care with particular emphasis on the daily bath, oral hygiene and the benefits of a back massage in patient comfort. <br /><br />ALISON's certificate in nursing online course provides you with an overview of the vital role of the nursing professional in supporting both the patient and physician along with the procedures and techniques applied when performing the physical examination, the physical assessment, specimen collection and measurement of patient vital signs. <br /><br />This free online nursing ALISON course will be of great interest to all health care professionals who would like to learn more about good nursing practices and techniques that help protect and maintain the health and safety of both nursing professional and patient in any health care setting. The course will also be of great interest to any learner who is planning a career in the area of nursing or other areas of the health care sector.<br />

The essential role of the nurse as caregiver is well recognised but the modern nurse can also be a team leader and healthcare teacher. This free online nursing course provides an overview of the varied dimensions associated with the practical nurse as team leader within the healthcare setting. The course also provides the learner with an overview of the skills, techniques, and approaches required to effectively treat a diverse range of patients. You will also learn about transcultural nursing and how it addresses the issues encountered when providing medical care to diverse cultural groups, or those from cultures different from the nursing professionals. Nursing staff provide essential support during all phases of the surgical cycle, which encompasses the peri-operative, pre-operative, intra-operative and recovery room phases. In this free nursing course the learner is introduced to the vital roles performed by the medical team throughout the surgical experience. This free online nursing course will be of great interest to all health care professionals who would like to learn more about good nursing management practices and techniques that help protect and maintain the health and safety of both nursing professional and patient in any health care setting. The course will also be of great interest to any learner who is planning a career in the area of nursing or other areas of the health care sector.<br />

The free online course Diploma in Occupational Hygiene introduces you to the basic principles associated with occupational hygiene such as the fundamentals of toxicology, human physiology and industrial diseases, and hygiene standards.<br /><br />With the increase of industrial activity, more and more employees are becoming exposed to hazards in the workplace. It is important to know how to monitor and assess different hazards to ensure their health and safety. <br /><br />The course begins by introducing you to human physiology and industrial diseases. You will study different organs of the body and how each can be affected by chemical and physical hazards. You will then learn about the fundamentals of toxicology and hazardous substances, and about chemical and biological hazards and the diseases that can arise from these hazards. <br /><br />You will learn about measuring airborne contamination and the main sampling techniques and equipment that are used to obtain a quantitative estimate of the exposure to substances hazardous. You will learn about the different types of hygiene standards for chemical agents, physical agents, and biological exposure indices, and the importance of health surveillance in the workplace.<br /><br />Next, you will be introduced to physical hazards in the workplace such as noise, vibration, heat/cold and lighting. You will learn about the effects of excessive exposure to these and how to evaluate and control excessive exposure to them in the workplace.<br /><br />This free Diploma course will be of great interest to professionals working in occupational hygiene, health and safety, and workplace safety. It will also be of interest to all learners who are interested in a career in occupational hygiene or related areas.

In this free online course Diploma in Operating Systems you will learn about operating systems (OS) and how they manage computer hardware and software resources and provide common services for computer programs.<br /><br />The course begins by introducing you to operating systems, where an OS sits in a computers system, hardware abstraction and resource management. You will learn about processes and system calls, the structure of an OS and how different CPUs work. The course reviews memory management methods such as virtual memory, and how memory functions when booting up a computer system. <br /><br />You will be introduced to processes, how they are stored in the computer system, how new processes are created and what happens when they are terminated. You will learn about the different types of interrupts and about programmable interrupt controllers for hardware interrupts. You will learn about system calls and CPU context switching. <br /><br />Next, the course covers the two different types of processes for scheduling. You will learn about different scheduling methods for single CPU systems their advantages and disadvantages, about scheduling for multiprocessor systems and about scheduling methods for Linux systems. The course covers how processes communicate and share data with each other, also known as Inter-process communication (IPC). You will learn about different software techniques for IPC and the different ways hardware works with IPC. You will learn about deadlocks and threads in an operating system. <br /><br />Finally, you will learn about different security goals for an operating system. The course reviews access control techniques and the components for developing an access control system. You will also learn about information flow policies, leaky states, and the Biba and Bell-LaPadula models. <br /><br />This free Alison course will be of great interest to computer science students and computer engineers, and anyone who wants to learn about computer operating systems.<br /><br />Perquisites: The learner will need an understanding of C programming and an understanding of computer organisation and architecture. <br />

Operations management is important to any organization, whether they are manufacturing companies producing physical products or organizations offering services. ALISON's free diploma in operations management online course reviews a wide variety of topics from the development of operations management, to the role of the operations manager, the transformation model, planning and scheduling methodologies and practices, and inventory and quality management. <br /><br />The Diploma in Operations Management will give you a thorough understanding and knowledge of operations management and its organizational and managerial applications. <br /><br />The course is ideal for anyone who would like to contribute to the development of an organization in the area of operations management.<br />

ALISON's free online Diploma in Outdoor and Physical Education Studies course gives you the opportunity to gain a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of key topics in outdoor adventure and physical education. The course covers topics such as coaching and training, physical fitness, outdoor activities and adventure. This Diploma is ideal for anyone interested in a career in outdoor activities, adventure activities, the health and fitness industry, or physical education and training, and will greatly enhance your career prospects.<br />

The free online course Diploma in Physical Fitness provides you with the knowledge and skills to develop and maintain your physical fitness and core strength, and remain injury-free while doing so. The course begins by introducing you to the basics of exercise physiology – the branch of science which studies how the body responds and adapts to physical exercise. You will then study the cardiovascular system, examining how it functions and supplies oxygen-rich blood to the active skeletal muscles during exercise. The course then introduces you to three forms of physical activity that will help you develop physical fitness and core strength: running, swimming and strength training. You will gain an understanding of how to use each form of exercise to develop overall strength and fitness. You will also learn about precautions to take in order to remain injury free while exercising. You will examine the importance of warming up, stretching, using the correct equipment and proper technique. The course then introduces three other forms of physical activity that can be used to develop muscular strength, speed and power: flexibility techniques, calisthenics and plyometrics. After separately studying each form of physical activity, you gain an understanding of the effect that each can have on the body. You will then examine sample exercises and stretches, helping you to develop a program to improve strength, flexibility and fitness using various stretches, calisthenics and plyometrics. The course then concludes by covering how to train safely in extreme environments and avoid injury. You will learn about training techniques for three different environments: extreme heat, extreme cold and high altitude. You will learn the necessary precautions that must be taken in order to ensure that you train safely in each environment. Finally, you will examine the most common injuries experienced by those who engage in regular physical activity and learn how to identify, prevent and treat them. This free diploma course will be of great interest to professionals who work in the health and fitness industry, individuals who may be interested in pursuing a career in the health and fitness, or any individual who would like to improve their physical fitness and strength.

The Diploma in Plumbing Studies is a free online course which is designed for anyone who wants to learn about modern-day plumbing. Plumbers are responsible for installing safe and efficient plumbing systems, which reduces the spread of diseases and improves sanitation. In order to do this, a sound understanding of plumbing pipes, tools, and materials; knowledge of the trade and the current practices it promotes is an essential requirement. Divided into two sections, the first section of the course begins with an introduction to plumbing, where a brief history of plumbing from the ancient to the modern times is discussed. This is followed by topics such as safety practices, hazard communication, plumbing tools, and drawings. The second section of the course looks into the materials that are used to make plumbing pipes and fixtures. It discusses the features and the advantages as well as the disadvantages of using materials such as plastic, cast iron, carbon steel. This section also covers the topics on drainage systems and water distribution systems. This free online Diploma course will be of great interest to professionals who want to learn about plumbing. Learners who are interested in knowing how plumbing systems work and the advancements made in the trade will also benefit from the information provided in the course. <br />

This free online project management professional certification course from ALISON offers a comprehensive review of project management such as methodology, tool sets and documentation, and the project life cycle including analysis, planning, design and evaluation. The course also includes a project management case study. <br /><br />With project management in great demand internationally, the diploma in project management course will greatly enhance your career prospects.<br />

ALISON's free online Diploma in Psychology is an engaging course, and is packed with features to help you understand and evaluate classic and contemporary psychology. These online psychology courses are ideal for those who want to gain comprehensive understanding of the main elements of psychology, and will be of great benefit to students in their career progression.<br /><br />Topics covered include classical conditioning, learning theory, the biological basis of behavior, visual perceptions, memory, and cognition.<br /><br />The Research Methodology section allows you to cast a critical eye on the research process, to explore the nature of psychology as an evolving science, and understand some of the ethical issues faced by psychologists.<br />

This free online course Diploma in Public Relations guides you in a step-by-step manner through the practices and theories relevant to the field of public relations. You will study relevant case studies throughout the course as examples of these theories in practice. <br /><br />This diploma course begins by walking you through the basics of public relations, including the historical origins of the PR field. You will also learn about the importance of strategic public relations practices. <br /><br />You will be introduced to the organizational theory surrounding public relations, and learn how to differentiate and prioritize both publics and stakeholders. You will also examine the importance of research to PR, and look at the different types of research and data collection. <br /><br />You will learn about the importance of the RACE process, and look at the practices associated with PR in order to develop a strategic PR plan. You will also examine the ethics, moral analysis, and leadership to public relations, and discuss the best practices to ensure excellent public relations.<br /><br />This free online course will be of great interest to professionals working in the area of public relations, management and communications, and would like to learn more about the practices and theories in PR. <br />

In this free online course Diploma in Python Programming you will learn about the concepts of programming using the Python language. You will learn about creating variables and storing different types of data in them. You will learn about working with dates and time, making decisions with your code and using loops. You will learn about saving and reading files with your program. You will learn about creating functions and handling errors with your code.<br /><br />The course begins by introducing you to the concepts of programming. You will learn about creating your first Python program with Visual Studio. You will learn about commenting in your code and displaying text on screen. You will learn about how Python accepts multiple ways of containing a text string. You will learn about variables and the rules and guidelines for creating variables. You will learn about manipulating variables using built in functions, and briefly what functions are. You will learn about Visual Studio’s IntelliSense feature and its helpfulness when programming. <br /><br />Next, you will learn about storing numeric variables and their difference to string variables. You will learn about performing mathematical operations in your code. You will learn about formatting numbers and converting string variables to numeric variables. You will learn about working with date and time, displacing dates and getting today's date using functions. You will learn about formatting dates and importing libraries to help with the formatting. You will learn about working with time and how to reuse the same functions to format time as you did dates.<br /><br />Next, you will learn about how you code check conditions and make decisions with the if statement. You will learn about the constraints for checking an if statement and how there are generally two different ways to write every if statement. You will learn about using the elif statement for checking multiple conditions. You will learn about combining conditions using logic operations and nesting if statements.<br /><br />Next, you will learn about the concepts of loops, and using the turtle library to draw on screen. You will learn about creating and using for loops. You will also learn about creating and using while loops, and the differences between for and while loops. You will learn about common mistakes made when using loops. <br /><br />Next, you will learn about using and creating lists to store multiple values. You will learn about how to modify and delete from your list. You will learn about searching a list and sorting it. You will learn about creating and writing to files. You will learn about closing the file after your finished using it. You will learn about opening files and reading data from them. You will learn about csv files and what they are. <br /><br />Finally, you will learn about what functions are and how to create functions. You will learn about passing parameters in to your functions and why you should use functions. You will learn what types of errors can occur and how to handle errors. You will learn how to use the try/except statement to handle possible errors and get information on errors that occurred. You will learn how to save functions in a separate file and import them into your main program file as you need them.<br /><br />This free Alison course will be of great interest to those learners who wish to get started in programming and improve their ability to write programs using the Python programming language.

Quality management is an integral component of many businesses and organizations, both small and large. Of all quality management system regimes, the ISO 9000 family of standards is probably the most widely implemented worldwide. <br /><br />ALISON's free online diploma course will introduce you quality management standards such as ISO 9000 and its specifications and costs. Topics such as &quot;&quot;Cost of Quality&quot;&quot; and what tools are used in &quot;&quot;Total Quality Management&quot;&quot; (TQM) are covered in more detail. The &quot;&quot;Cost of Quality&quot;&quot; is a term that's widely used and widely misunderstood. It isn't about the cost of creating a quality product or service, rather it's the cost of not creating a quality product or service. Popular TQM tools include Checklists, Fishbone Diagrams, Histogram Charts, &quot;&quot;Plan-Do-Check-Act&quot;&quot; (PDCA) Cycle and Pareto Diagrams. Any business with high service quality will meet customer needs while remaining economically competitive. <br /><br />In this free online course you will learn what service quality means and how it can be applied within service industries. You will learn more about the practices and procedures that can be used to improve customer satisfaction. <br /><br />This free Diploma course will be of great interest to all quality management professionals who would like to learn more about the application of quality management within an organization, and to all learners who are interested in developing a career in the area of quality management.<br />

The free online course Diploma in Risk Management covers the key topics of risk management and will provide learners with an in depth knowledge of the field. All successful organisations take risks in order to survive and grow, and now more than ever, they need competent people to manage those risks. Throughout this course you will study the nature of risk management and the tools used by risk professionals to mitigate risk. In section 1 you will study the theory of risk management. You will learn about the various forms of risk that risk professionals protect their customers against and the fundamental tools that they use to do so. You will also learn about the various forms of insurance that offer protection against risk to their customers. You will study the process that insurers follow when deciding whether or not to insure a new customer. In section 2 you will study more specific areas of risk. You will learn about property and liability risk. You will study the various risks that property and liability owners face on a daily basis and the manner in which they mitigate such risks. You will then learn about the three life cycle risks that all individuals face, mortality, longevity, and health and disability. You will study the methods by which these risks can be mitigated. This free online Diploma course will be of great interest to anyone working in the area of risk management, those who wish to gain an insight into the industry, and anyone wanting to pursue a career as a risk manager The course will also be of interest to small business owners who wish to learn more about mitigating the risks that they face on a daily basis.<br />

The free online course Diploma in Sales Management provides detailed information about the principles, practices and tools involved in all aspects of the selling process. The course begins by introducing you to the role of sales in everyday life and how selling is vital in all aspects of business. You will learn how Internet-based tools, such as forums, social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, along with web sites, live chat and other interactive features allow customers to participate in the modern sales process. You will learn about customer relationship management tools and how they are used to organise all of a customer's interactions, as well as adaptive selling, which allows you to listen to customers, understand their needs, and adapt your conversation and presentation accordingly. The course then introduces the role of ethics in sales and business. You will learn about the application of ethical behaviour in a business environment and how ethical businesses abide by laws and appropriate regulations. The main factors in relation to customer prospecting are covered in detail. You will learn about the tools used, such as direct marketing and cold calling, as well as the pre-approach, a critical step that helps you earn the customer’s trust. You will learn about the sales approach and the six Cs, which will help you make a good impression when you contact your prospect, as well as techniques like preparation, research, establishing credibility and customisation of the sales approach to the individual customer. You will gain an understanding of the main types of objections that you may encounter in sales and the six strategies that can help you handle virtually any objection. You will also learn about the process for preparing your sales presentation, how you can stay focused on the outcome and how to adapt your presentation to your prospect’s needs. Finally, you are introduced to entrepreneurial selling, and how to research the viability of a business idea by identifying the size of the market to determine if the idea is compelling enough to meet a need. This free diploma course will be of great interest to learners who wish to gain employment or start a career in the sales sector, as well as professionals working in sales and entrepreneurs interested in starting a business.<br />