Online courses directory (19947)

The balance sheet is a basic accounting concept used to calculate how much cash, assets and liabilities are in our accounts at the end of the day. Knowing how to work through a basic balance sheet is an essential skill that everybody should know how to do and balance sheets are an excellent way to put your personal finances into perspective on paper. In this free online course the basics of balance sheets are discussed with particular regards to the case study of buying a house versus renting a house, and topics such as assets, liabilities, equity and marking to market are reviewed. This free online course will be of interest to the average lay person wishing to learn about balance sheets and how they can use balance sheets to organise their finances when deciding to invest in property or take out a loan for whatever reason.<br />

Present Value is one of the most widely used concepts in the financial world as its calculation can determine the current worth of a future sum of money or stream of cash flow given a specified rate of return. Determining the appropriate discount rate is the key to properly valuing future cash flows, whether they be earnings coming in or obligations going out. This free online financial economics course reviews what the concept of present value is all about and discusses how to calculate the present value using simple calculations. You will learn why the calculation of present value is extremely important in many financial calculations such as net present value, bond yields, spot rates, and pension obligations. Having completed this free course you will be able to calculate present value to help you decide whether you should accept a cash rebate, 0% financing on the purchase of a car or to pay points on a mortgage. This course will be of interest to professionals in the accounting and financial services sectors, to accounting, finance or economics students, or to the general public who wish to understand the concept of present value and how its calculation can help them with their personal finances.<br />

Everyone knows that when you identify stocks that you believe are going to increase in price you buy them. But how can you profit from stocks that you believe will decline in price? The answer is shorting. Shorting enables you to sell stock that you do not own and buy it back at a later time, ideally at a lower price. In this free online course you will learn more about stocks and shares and how they are valued. You will then learn about the process of short selling, how to borrow stocks that you do not own, what obligations you have to original owner of the stocks, and how to cover your short where you return the stocks after buying them back, hopefully, for less than the cost when you sold them. This course will be of interest to professionals in the financial services sector and anyone who wishes to understand stocks and what the process of short selling involves. Please note that while this free course will teach you about making investments in stocks in general, it does not advocate that you should buy stocks or invest in the stock market, and that any investment made in the stock market may lose money. <br />

Any person with a bank account, credit card or bank loan will come across aspects of simple interest and compound interest. However, many people have difficulty in distinguishing between the two types of interest and how they should be calculated. In this free online course you will learn why simple interest is called simple interest, how simple interest is used in daily life and how it is calculated. Compound interest, as the name implies, is a little more complicated but this course explains the concept clearly and covers the methods used for calculating compound interest. This course will be of great interest to all learners who are intimidated by financial concepts such as simple interest and compound interest, and would like to study a course that explains these concepts in a step-by-step and easy to follow manner.<br />

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 is a popular Web application platform that allows many people to collaborate on a document at the same time. SharePoint allows you set up Web sites to store, edit and create documents from the Microsoft Office suite. Using the application, you can read and enter and change data on a database created in Access and which is stored on SharePoint. In this free online course you will learn how to store, view, edit, access and present documents, information and media on SharePoint. You will learn how to create your own “My Site” that gives you a place to manage and store your documents, content, links and contacts. The course also shows you how to give permission to others so that they can find your content and information. You will learn how to quickly and easily search for content which you can store in lists, libraries, sites and collections.<br />

AgraQuest is a company which developed a groundbreaking bio-pesticide that changed the way food is cultivated using pesticides and was a revolution in growing safer food for consumers. In this free online course Pam Marrone, founder of AgraQuest, discusses about how she guided AgraQuest to be today’s leader in bio-pesticides. With her savvy business sense, we learn how Pam pioneered a huge turnaround in marketing the AgraQuest product to capture a niche in the pesticide market. We learn the key factors which brought about the formation of AgraQuest and what changes were made in the pesticide market to convince farmers that they needed to make the change to bio-pesticides manufactured by AgraQuest. It also highlights the stumbling blocks encountered by Pam and her team when bringing AgraQuest products to the market and the lessons they learned from this process. This free course will be of interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to learn how a company can grow and become successful by creating a need for their product or service, and by developing a marketing plan that convinces consumers to make the change to their product or service. <br />

<p>This free online computer skills course is a highly demanded compilation of web-based training for five Microsoft Office 2010 software products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook. </p><br /> <p>This is a perfect course if you want to enhance your existing office skills using this software; as a new employee induction training program; or for companies wanting to up-skill their current staff. </p><br /> <p>People who use older versions of Microsoft Office, particularly 2003 and 2007 versions, will be amazed at the new feature sets of Microsoft Office 2010! </p><br /> <p>For those who have completed ABC IT, our comprehensive introductory computer course, the Microsoft Office 2010 course is the perfect next step as a means of getting your Microsoft Office skills up-to-date. </p>

Dominic Orr, CEO from Aruba Networks, started up a small company in a market which was dominated by the likes of CISCO Networks. It was a daunting task bringing his own product to market in competition with such a huge giant of technology. In this free online course Dominic reveals what drove him to follow his passion and see it through to execution. He reviews the fundamental characteristics and support systems needed to bring a small startup business to where Aruba Networks is today. He discusses how it was necessary to bring big company culture and attitudes to his start-up business to maximise productivity from his team of employees so that the business could capitalise on its IPO and bring the company to world-class level. Brutal honesty is a phrase he uses more than once to define how key decisions were made throughout this growing process. This course will be of great interest to business professionals and entrepreneurs starting up their own business or growing an existing business and who are competing in a market dominated by large multinational companies. <br />

The rate of inflation and whether it has gone up or gone down is reported on a daily basis across the media. Many people don't realise the significance of or the role inflation plays in shaping modern economies, and the effects or impact it can have on our daily lives. With an ever increasing interest in economics, knowing the exact meaning and role of inflation, deflation and even hyperinflation have become discussion points for the average lay person. In this free online course, you will learn about inflation and its role in shaping modern economies, how inflation comes about from prices rising to a fall in the supply and demand on common goods and services, and how inflation is calculated on a yearly basis. You will also learn about the opposite of inflation, namely deflation and how this affects economies also. This free course will be of great interest to professionals in business, economics and finance who would like to learn more about inflation and to all learners who have an interest in important economic concepts and who would like to gain a clear understanding of them. <br />

In the world of finance, futures trading is a very important activity to understand. It can have a great impact on all our lives as it effects the future prices of essential items such as food, energy sources and raw materials. A futures contract is a contract between a buyer and seller where an asset of certain quantity and quality has a price agreed for it today with delivery and payment for the asset occurring at a specified future date. In this free online course the world of futures trading, and its importance, is explained in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. You will learn how money is made based on the demand for a certain commodity and the trade-off between wanting that commodity now, rather than waiting for it at a later date for a given price. Examples of high demand commodities are gold, silver, oil and corn. This free course will be of great interest to professionals in business, finance and economics who would like to learn more about the concept and practice of futures trading and to all learners who would like a better understanding of how the prices of essential items such as food and raw materials are set.<br />

Building an effective online presence is critical for growing your business as it gives your company access to thousands or millions of local, national or international customers who are searching, interacting, sharing and shopping online. In this course you will learn why you must get your business up and running on the Web using e-commerce sites, review sites and social networks. You will also learn that having a Website which is easy to navigate, is informative, and has a good domain name, the right design template and memorable Web copy will help your business stand out from the competition. The course discusses why it is important to have a presence on the mobile Web and how to attract your target audience using tools like Google AdWords. This course will be of great interest to all business owners who are thinking of setting up a Website for their business but are uncertain of how to go about doing it. It will also be beneficial to any company or organisation that wants their existing Website to be more effective at attracting potential customers.<br />

In a globalized business world having an effective and efficient online collaboration tool that connects work colleagues, business partners and their customers around the world around is a very important business tool to have. Adobe Connect is one such collaboration tool and is a Flash based software program that is widely used for online Web conferencing. It is a very effective tool and can be used for Web meetings, presentations, e-learning, webinars and screen sharing. In this free online course about Adobe Connect you will learn how to get connected and interact with people using VoIP communication systems, how to collaborate with work colleagues or customers, for example, by uploading and sharing files such as PowerPoint presentations, or writing and drawing on a whiteboard. You will also learn about the different views available for screen sharing. This course will be of interest to companies, organizations and business professionals who may benefit from online collaboration in terms of increasing productivity and saving costs by attending and presenting online meetings on their desktop, and to all learners who would like to learn about Adobe Connect and its use as an online collaboration tool.

Two fundamental aspects of chemistry are, firstly, the structure of the atom and the role of the subatomic particles neutrons, protons and electrons, and, secondly, the atomic structure of the known elements that make up everything and how their place in the Periodic table of the elements determines their chemical properties. This free online course will give learners a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of these two core building blocks within chemistry. The course starts by examining the structure of the atom and subatomic particles, and then discusses the elements, and breaks them down into their subatomic structure of protons, neutrons and electrons. You will learn how the structure of each element determines its place in the Periodic table and its chemical properties. This course will be of great interest to all students who wish to pursue a career in any of the sciences such as chemistry, physics, biology or geology, or the individual learner who simply wants to learn and understand what the world around us is made up of.<br />

In today’s difficult economic times businesses and organizations are busy trying to just carve a niche for themselves in the market place. Many business leaders and managers lack the time, finance or motivation to consider developing and maintaining a work place culture. In this free online course Andy Freire, co-founder and CEO of Axialent, discusses the five archetypes of culture within an organization and why they are important to develop and grow in any business or organization. These five cultural archetypes are: Customer-focused culture; One-team culture; Innovation culture; Achievement culture; and People-first culture. He explains that it’s not possible to implement all five at the same time but any business leader or manager can start by outlining how important organizational culture is for both their business and employees and build the five archetypes one by one. You will also learn the key values for each of the five archetypes of organizational culture. This course will be of great interest to business leaders and managers who are growing a business or organization and who want to develop and grow a workplace culture that will benefit both their employees and customers.<br />

Tricider is a free Web application that can be used for online classroom collaboration and brainstorming ideas. It allows teachers and students collaborate together to collect ideas, discuss these ideas to find solutions and vote on the argument they think is the best. In this free online course you will learn how easy it is for a teacher or student to create a question and share it with the desired audience, allowing them to respond in their own time and argue on the best solution. This course will be of great interest to teachers and trainers who would like to learn for free how to use a Web application to get their students thinking and collaborating on problems together. Anyone that needs to create discussions and get feedback on topics regularly should do this course.<br />

Motion, speed and time are three fundamental concepts in basic physics and they are important building blocks for understanding more advanced topics. This free online course introduces you to how distance, speed, time and mass are combined to give displacement, velocity, force and acceleration. Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion, which are the bedrock of much of our understanding of physics today, are also introduced and explained in a clear and concise manner. Along with explanations of the formulae used, a number of examples are worked through, giving a full understanding of the subject. References are also made as to how these formulae are used in real-world situations. By studying this course you will gain a clearer knowledge and understanding of important topics in basic physics. This course will be of great interest to students who are studying physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and some medical sciences, and to students who wish to pursue a career in any of the sciences or engineering fields, and to the individual who wants to understand how the world around us works.<br />

Standard Arabic is the first language of hundreds of millions of people in 26 countries across the Middle East and North Africa. The Arabic language has a great history and heritage in the fields of literature, theology and science. In this free online Arabic class, you will be introduced to the Arabic language and you will gain a clear knowledge and understanding of important facets of the language such as the Arabic alphabet, pronunciation of Arabic words, the use of verbs and nouns, and how to read and write simple sentences in Arabic. As you learn Arabic online, you will also be introduced to basic vocabulary such as days of the week, numbers and colours, which will give you confidence to continue building your knowledge of Arabic vocabulary. This free Arabic language course will be of great interest to professionals who may be conducting business in the Middle East or North Africa and would like to learn the basics of the Arabic language, and to all learners who would like a greater understanding of this fascinating and important world language. <br />

In physics the study of movement and the motion of objects is called kinematics and is a branch of mechanics. The study of the motion of objects focuses on topics such as acceleration, position and velocity. In this free online course you will investigate the movement of objects by looking at the real-world application of kinematics. You will see how to answer interesting questions such as what distance does the Airbus A380 need for take-off, how long it takes for an FA-18 Hornet to take off from an aircraft carrier, and do race cars accelerate when cornering even if travelling at a constant speed. The course will walk you through a number of formulae, demystifying them by explaining and rearranging them in a clear and easy to understand way. This course will be of great interest to students who are studying physics, chemistry, engineering and mathematics, to students who wish to pursue a career in any of the sciences or engineering fields, and to the learner who wants to see how science can answer real-world questions.<br />

Voxopop is a Web application program that can be used by teachers and trainers as an online learning tool to create forums where questions are asked using voice recordings instead of text. It can be used to help students develop their oral speaking skills by having students reply to questions using voice recorded answers and by hearing the recorded answers from other students. This online language learning tool is particularly useful in language teaching, where a teacher can post a question in the language they are teaching and have students respond orally to the question in the same language. In this free online language learning course about Voxopop you will learn how to join and use Voxopop, create talk-groups and initiate discussion forums to get people discussing a topic, and how to be notified when someone responds. This free language learning course will be of great interest to teachers and trainers who would like to see how this Web application program can help them improve the oral skills of their students especially in relation to language teaching.<br />

Google Search is the most widely used search engine on the Web and processes several hundred million search queries every day. However, there is a level of sophistication, namely Google advanced searches, that most people don't know about and therefore don't use. Using the advanced search features on Google Search would greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the search process for all users. This free online course will demonstrate power searching with Google and give practical examples of how to use them. This course will give you a clearer understanding of how Google Search works, why word order matters, how to read the Search Engine Results page, how to remove invasive results, and how to use WHOIS and look for other Google search tips. You will also get a clear knowledge and understanding of how to use features such as conversions, the calculator, search-by-image, and translation services. You will see examples of how combining these techniques together will give you much more effective search results in a faster time. This course will be of great interest to all users who use Google Search in a professional capacity as they will learn how to input more specific search queries and obtain more relevant search results in a faster time, and to individuals who want to learn Google advanced search tips and techniques about improving their search process.<br />