Online courses directory (801)

The free online course Risk Management - Managing Property and Liability Risk is the third in a series of Risk Management courses and this course is designed to expand your knowledge and understanding of the risks that property owners are faced with, and the various forms of liability which exist today. The course begins by describing the range of risks that property owners face, and you will learn about the most common actions taken by risk professionals to mitigate such risks. In the technological world which we now inhabit, property risk is no longer confined to the physical homes that we inhabit and the items which we possess. We now face a much wider range of risks from the use of computers and the Internet. Through the use of case-studies, you will learn about companies who have fallen victim to such risks, and you will then learn about the most effective means of mitigating the risks that we face online. You will also learn about the risks that global corporations face when conducting business across multiple borders and the means by which they mitigate such risks. The course continues by discussing liability. By examining the nature of liability from a wide range of perspectives, you will gain a greater understanding of how liability is defined and determined. You will examine the major sources of liability that exist within society and the manner by which risk professionals aim to mitigate them. This free online course will be of great interest to professionals working in the area of risk management who would like a greater understanding of managing property and liability risk. The course will also be of interest to small business or property owners who wish to learn more about identifying and mitigating the risks and liabilities that they face on a daily basis.<br />

This free online course touches on most aspects of health and safety in construction. It covers construction safety and health management, risk assessment, planning for safety, and the safe use of construction plant and equipment, electricity and other services. It is also suitable for third-level students of construction studies and related disciplines.

This free online course will help teachers of the Science subjects improve their knowledge and understanding of safety, health and welfare, particularly within the science laboratory.

This free online course was built specifically as an aid to teachers of the technology subjects to help them in their understanding of safety, health and welfare, particularly within the technology classroom. <br />

The free online course Sales Management - Business Ethics and Sales provides information on business ethics and values, understanding behaviour and etiquette in business communications and the theory and practices of consumer behaviour in regard to motivation and sales. The course will be ideal for people working in a sales environment, entrepreneurs or anyone with an interest in sales theory and practice. The course introduces the role of ethics in both business and everyday life and how ethics in selling is vital in business. Company policies and practices encountered in sales are covered such as: conflicts of interest, bribes, and non-compete/non-disclosure clauses. You will learn about the application of ethical behaviour in a business environment and how ethical businesses not only abide by laws and appropriate regulations, they operate honestly, compete fairly, provide a reasonable environment for its employees, and creates partnerships with customers. Next, you will learn about the standard model of communication, based on two parties, the sender and the receiver, exchanging information or ideas. You will also learn about how we use the different types of communication such as: verbal, non-verbal, written and body language. You will gain an understanding of behaviour and etiquette and how they can make the difference in how your customer perceives you and your personal brand. Finally, you are introduced to consumer behaviour, which is the study of consumer patterns that defines how people shop and, more importantly, why they buy. The hierarchy of needs model also explains the difference in what motivates people to buy products and services they need, compared to those they want. You will also gain an understanding of FAB (features, advantages and benefits) and how it is a powerful way to build an emotional connection with a customer. This course will be of great interest to anyone working in a sales related role, and will provide an understanding of the theory and tools needed to drive sales growth in organisations while enhancing both their personal and organisational effectiveness.<br />

The free online course Sales Prospecting and Lead Generation provides information on the tools, techniques and methods used for identifying leads and prospects, researching and preparing your sales goals and making the first sales approach to potential new customers. The course introduces the sequence of steps sales people follow each time they make a sale. You will learn about prospecting, a vital part of the selling process, where you search for new customers and how to follow up with your leads to turn them into sales. You will learn how to use tools such as direct marketing, cold calling and online databases as sources to identify leads. You will also gain an understanding of the sales funnel concept and how it illustrates the value of generating a large pool of leads because many of your prospects won’t qualify or will drop out during the selling process. Next, you will learn about the pre-approach which is a critical step that helps you earn your customers' trust and to sell adaptively. You will learn about using research methods to identify sales opportunities and using pre-call planning worksheets to record your sales objectives. You will gain an understanding of how to identify your customers' problems and goals, how to brainstorm solutions and develop general and specific benefits statements. You will also learn about setting SMART goals and utilising the four Ps, as you plan your sales presentation. Finally, you are introduced to the sales approach and the six Cs which will help you make a good impression when you contact your prospect. You will review techniques like preparation, research, establishing credibility and customisation of the sales approach to the individual customer. You will learn about what to do and what not do in relation to sales calls and also the importance of e-mail and online social networks in sales. You will also gain an understanding of the different types of question approaches which involve leading with questions to learn about your prospect and how to engage him/her in dialogue. This free course will be of great interest to professionals working in a sales or sales management role, and who would like to learn more about the theory and tools used in sales prospecting. The course will also be of great interest to learners who would like to pursue a career in sales or a related field.<br />

The free online course Sales Techniques - Interacting with Customers will give you vital knowledge and understanding of 'the human interface' when meeting, greeting and interacting with customers. <br /> <br />The course begins by introducing you to sales and selling as a career. You will learn about the fundamental questions customers will ask and why people should buy from you. The course then teaches you about the human interface. You will learn about body language and how important it is when interacting with customers. The course also shows you the five general signs to look out for when people are lying, and you will learn about different selling approaches to take when someone is resistant to change.<br /><br />Next, you will be introduced to sales communication skills. You will learn how to approach a potential customer and question them in the right way. You will be taught about active listening and how to be clear and precise with your speech and writing. The course also describes the different phases that make up a successful presentation, what you should do while you are presenting and how you can give a winning presentation. <br /><br />This course will be of great interest to sales people, entrepreneurs, business owners and anyone looking to improve their sales skills and techniques.

In this free online course Sales Techniques - Using Competitive Sales Strategies you will be introduced to customers' compelling need to buy, and how you can use competitive sales strategies to negotiate mutual interest both for you and your customer.<br /><br />The course begins by introducing you to customers' compelling need to buy and why you should focus on your customers' perspective of value. You will learn about customer politics and people with influence in the customer’s company. The course describes the customer buying cycle and what starts it off. You will then review the sales cycle and how it matches to different stages in the buying cycle.<br /><br />Next, you will be introduced to competitive sales strategies and why you must understand your competitors just as much as your own business. The course describes how to negotiate mutual interest both for you and your customer. You will also learn about qualifying opportunities and what qualifies your solution as the right one for the customer. The course then describes the best practices for writing a winning proposal.<br /><br />This course will be of great interest to sales people, entrepreneurs, business owners and anyone looking to improve their skills in sales.<br /><br />Perquisites: The learner will need to have completed the previous course Sales Techniques - Interacting with Customers.

Each year, more than two million students take the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test). Nearly every college in America uses the test as a common and objective scale for evaluating a student's college readiness. This free online course from ALISON contains sample math problems similar to the ones you will find in your own SAT test. If you have problems solving any of the questions then watch the video lesson to get an explanation. This course is ideal for any students who are sitting the SAT math exam.<br />

Scratch is a graphical programming language developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. Scratch takes advantage of advances in computing power and interface design to make computer programming more engaging and accessible for children, teens, and others who are learning to program. The Scratch software application is freely available and makes it easy to create interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art, and share these creations on the Web. Scratch is used worldwide by teachers to teach the basics of computer programming and as young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. This free online course introduces you to Scratch and its advantages in an educational setting, reviews the features and functions of the Scratch interface, and how to program using the Scratch software application. This course will be of great interest to teachers and parents who want their children to become familiar with computer programming concepts. <br />

Screen capture techniques allow you record what is happening on your computer screen, accompanied by a voiceover if required. This free online course shows you in a step-by-step manner how to record your computer screen using JING. This Web-based application allow you to record your computer screen along with a voiceover and upload the resulting videos onto the Web for others to view.<br />

This free online course is the second of our Upper-Secondary Mathematics suite of courses. It covers ratio and proportion, geometric sequences, arithmetic series, difference equations, linear programming, geometry, trigonometry, and graphs. This course is suitable for all math students revising for exams. It is also suitable for anyone with an interest in Mathematics. <br />

The free online course Service Management - Building Service Quality introduces the dimensions of service quality and how to build quality into business services to achieve customer delight. The course begins by introducing the dimensions of service quality and the elements of customer satisfaction. You will learn how to classify quality and customer satisfaction under the headings of 'hard', 'soft' and 'outcome' quality. You will learn about the costs of poor service quality and the approaches that need to be taken to recover service reputation. You will also learn about the different tools that can be used to analyze service quality problems. The course then introduces the topic of customer loyalty and how to measure it. You will learn about the benefits of implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and how to develop an effective CRM strategy to improve service quality. Finally, the course describes the service innovation process and how building quality into services improves their efficiency and effectiveness. This course will be of great interest to all professionals working in the area of business services and service management and who would like to learn more about building effective quality practices and procedures into the business services they offer.

This English course looks at the life and work of William Shakespeare, surely the greatest playwright of them all. The course considers his life, plays, poetry and prose and examines the literary devices he employed in his works. The lessons are interspersed with quotes from some of Shakespeare's most famous plays and videos of actors reciting his lines and sonnets. Completing this free online course will lead to improved understanding of the Bard, and deepen your enjoyment of his timeless work. This course is especially useful for students studying Shakespeare.

Taguchi methods were developed to improve the quality of manufactured goods and more recently have been used in diverse industries such as engineering, biotechnology, marketing and advertising. Robust Design improves productivity by considering the noise factors and cost of failure to ensure customer satisfaction. In this free online Six Sigma course you will be introduced to the development of Taguchi methods and the typical quality engineering applications of these methods. You will learn how Taguchi Methods reduce variability of response to maximize robustness and why Design of Experiment is a key tool in Taguchi Methods. You will also learn more about Taguchi's Product Design approach. This free online course will be of great interest to all professionals who work in the area of quality management and use Six Sigma processes to improve productivity. The course will also be of great interest to all learners who would like a career in the area of quality management using Six Sigma techniques and tools.<br />

Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests or best practices from other industries. The benchmarking process consists of identifying the best firms in the same industry, or in another industry where similar processes exist and comparing the processes of those studied to processes within one's own business. In this free online course the learner will be introduced to benchmarking and its benefits. The key elements of the Benchmarking Code of Conduct are described in detail and the steps of widely used benchmarking procedures are reviewed. Finally the crucial role management plays in benchmarking is also described. This free online course will be of great interest to all professionals in areas of quality management and Six Sigma and who would like to learn more about benchmarking processes. It will also be of great interest to any learner is who interested in a career in quality and Six Sigma processes.<br />

Control charts are very important tools used in Statistical Process Control (SPC) to determine if a manufacturing or business process is in a state of statistical control, that is, they help monitor the stability of a process. In this free online course the learner will be introduced to the main features of control charts including the data points, a centerline (mean value), and upper and lower limits (bounds to indicate where a process output is considered &quot;out of control&quot;). The course describes how control charts visually display the fluctuations of a particular process variable, such as temperature, in a way that lets the engineer easily determine whether these variations fall within the specified process limits. This free online course will be of great interest to all professionals who work in the areas of Six Sigma, Quality Management and manufacturing who would like to learn more about control charts and how they play a central role in monitoring process stability. It will also be of great interest to all learners who would like a career in the area of Six Sigma and quality control.<br />

Design of Experiments (DOE) is a key methodology used in Six Sigma processes and has a broad application across many disciplines including engineering, manufacturing and the sciences. It involves the design of data-gathering techniques where the experimenter is often interested in the effect of some process or intervention on some objects. In this free online course the learner is first introduced to what an experiment is and the types of variables found in experiments. The steps involved in planning DOE are then outlined and the three major approaches to using DOE in real-world settings are explained in detail. This course will be of great interest to professionals in the areas of engineering, manufacturing, Six Sigma and Quality Management who would like a greater understanding of DOE and its methodologies.<br />

Starting a new course can be daunting as we can often doubt our ability and skills in learning. Fortunately, learning can be improved by the development of new personal study skills and practices. This free online course gives you the opportunity to understand how to learn effectively, teaches the fundamental skills necessary to improve your learning and performance and helps you to achieve both academic and personal success. The topics covered include key skills in learning, good academic practise and how to find information. You will also focus on developing your reading and thinking skills which are vital in any course of study. This course is ideal for preparing prospective students for life as a student and for life-long learners working in businesses and organisations.

Starting a new course can be daunting as we can often doubt our ability and skills in learning. Fortunately, learning can be improved by the development of new personal study skills and practices. This free online course gives you the opportunity to understand how to learn effectively, teaches the fundamental skills necessary to improve your learning and performance and helps you to achieve both academic and personal success. The topics covered include key skills in learning, good academic practise and how to find information. You will also focus on developing your reading and thinking skills which are vital in any course of study. This course is ideal for preparing prospective students for life as a student and for life-long learners working in businesses and organisations.<br />