Online courses directory (801)

A business process can be visualized with a flowchart as a sequence of activities with interleaving decision points or with a data flow diagram as a sequence of the system’s components. This free online course in Documenting Business Processes and Information Systems enables the learner to develop skills in reading and producing business logic and data work flow diagrams. The student will learn about the sources, destinations and storage of data, and also how data flows among the components of a flowchart or diagram. The course will be of interest to business professionals who would like to gain a basic knowledge and understanding of documenting business processes, data work flow diagrams and entity-relationship data models.<br />

The free online course Drug-free Workplace training provides the learner with useful information on how to recognize the signs of drug misuse at their place of work and how to takes steps to prevent its increase. This programme allows the learner to complete the modules at their own pace, with exercises within each module and a quiz at the each module end.

The past one hundred years has seen a revolution in how we understand the structure of the earth and the geological processes that shape it. In this free online course you will be introduced to the structure of the earth including features such as the crust, the mantle and the core. You will learn about plate tectonics and how continental and oceanic plates move, and what happens at divergent plate boundaries and convergent plate boundaries. You will go back in time and learn about a supercontinent called Pangaea that existed over 200 million years ago, and how the Hawaiian Islands were formed more recently. This course will be of great interest to all learners would like a greater knowledge and understanding of the structure of the earth and the geological processes that formed today's continents and oceans. <br />

Before the Internet companies fashioned communication strategies based on whatever medium they had available to them, whether that was print, radio or TV media, to broadcast their message. Companies now realise that the Internet is the ideal communication medium for interacting with a wide variety of stakeholders. They also know that the Internet is not just the Web, but a range of technologies that, in combination, can provide a potent marketing strategy. In this free online course you will learn about successful Internet marketing techniques and strategies that are being used today by businesses and organisations around the world. You will be introduced to techniques such as how to break down your target audience, how to build a coordinated marketing strategy using the integrated Internet marketing matrix to reach your customers and stakeholders, and how to measure the effectiveness of promotion strategies. This course will be of great interest to business and marketing professionals and entrepreneurs wanting to expand their knowledge and understanding of effective Internet marketing strategies, as well as any learner wanting to learn more about the power of online marketing.<br />

In the free online course E-Commerce and Selling Online learn ways in which businesses of any size can complete transactions using online technology and how selling online can help your business reach new markets and increase business sales and revenues.<br /><br />The course begins by introducing you to the practice of e-commerce. You will learn what differentiates e-commerce and e-business and you will learn how conducting e-commerce can benefit a business. You will be introduced to different categories of e-commerce and where they are applied.<br /><br />Next, you will learn about the range of benefits that come from purchasing and selling products and services online. You will learn about a variety of different areas that need to be considered when planning to integrate e-commerce into your business. You will learn about different features of selling online and the security and privacy issues that may arise when conducting e-commerce.<br /><br />Finally, you will learn about the range of options available for adding e-commerce to a business. You will be introduced to different types of e-commerce solutions that are currently available. You will learn about important areas that need to be considered when deciding to sell products and services online. You will learn about trends in e-commerce and the common types of websites that conduct e-commerce today.<br /><br />This free course will be of great interest to business professionals in small-to-medium businesses, entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to start selling products or services online.

With the growing popularity of e-commerce in today’s world, organizations must learn strategies to attract and retain online customers to their webpage. They must also tailor their websites to adapt to their customer’s needs. This free online course introduces the learner to various strategies used by firms and organizations to attract and retain customers to their e-commerce, the different types of attractors and attractiveness factors associated with attractors. This course will be of great interest to business professionals, as well as any learner wanting to expand their knowledge and understanding of effective web strategies with e-commerce.<br />

The free online course Ecology Studies – Conservation Biology and Biodiversity provides detailed information on the current biodiversity crisis, the importance of biodiversity to human life and the use of conservation preserves and legislative frameworks for biodiversity protection. The course begins by introducing you to biodiversity and how it exists at multiple levels of organization and is measured in different ways. These measurements include numbers of species, genetic diversity, chemical diversity, and ecosystem diversity. The five mass extinctions of prehistory are explained along with the most recent extinctions recorded in written history and how they are the basis for one method of estimating contemporary extinction rates. Next, you will learn how humans use many compounds as medicines that were first discovered or derived from living organisms. You will learn how the loss of biodiversity threatens ecosystem services that support human agriculture such as: pollination, nutrient cycling, pest control, and soil development and maintenance. You will also learn about the core threats to biodiversity including human population growth and unsustainable resource use, and how habitat loss occurs through deforestation, damming of rivers, and other human activities. Finally, you are introduced to the methods of biodiversity conservation, such as the optimal design of preserves and the limitations imposed by political and economic forces. You will also gain an understanding of how legislation within individual countries protects species and how agreements on global warming have had limited success. The course will be of great interest to students or professionals who want to develop a career in various aspects of biodiversity and ecosystem conservation or for those who simply want to learn more about the biodiversity crisis, how to preserve and conserve current biodiversity levels and how human activities are the core threat to the planet's ecosystems.<br />

The free online course Ecology Studies – Ecosystem Ecology provides detailed information on the modelling of ecosystems, energy transfer and biogeochemical cycles. The course begins by introducing you to the three broad categories of ecosystems based on their general environment: freshwater, ocean water, and terrestrial ecosystems. You will learn more about the resources within these ecosystems which organisms compete for such as organic material, sunlight, and mineral nutrients. You will learn to identify the various critical factors influencing community dynamics such as the components of its physical and geographic environment. The course then introduces you to how organisms acquire energy and how that energy is passed from one organism to another through food webs and their constituent food chains. You will gain an understanding of the different trophic levels, such as producers, consumers and decomposers, and how energy transfers affect ecosystem structures and dynamics. You will also learn about how the structure of ecosystems can be visualized and modelled with ecological pyramids to show the relative amounts of various parameters (such as number of organisms, energy, and biomass) across trophic levels. Finally, you will be introduced to the biogeochemical cycle, which is the process of recycling inorganic matter between living organisms and their environment. The six most common elements associated with organic molecules are covered explaining how mineral nutrients are cycled from one living organism to another, and between the biotic and abiotic world. You will also gain an understanding of how human activities have impacted these biogeochemical cycles and the potential consequences for society. The course will be ideal for students or professionals who want to develop a career in ecosystem research or for those who simply want to learn more about ecosystem structures, how energy is transferred between trophic levels, and how human activities have caused major disturbances to these cycles. This course will be of great interest to anyone who would like to learn more about ecosystem types and categories, the transfer of energy between trophic levels, through food webs and food chains, and how mineral nutrients are cycled through ecosystems.<br />

The free online course in Ecology Studies – Population and Community Ecology introduces you to patterns of population distribution, population growth and species relationships and behaviours. You will learn about species populations, how life patterns evolve through natural selection, and how species behaviours are influenced by the environment. The course begins by introducing you to the tools that ecologists use to measure the characteristics of populations such as size, density, dispersion pattern and age structure. You will also learn how life tables are used to calculate population life expectancy. You will learn to identify the environmental limits to population growth, how populations with unlimited resources grow exponentially and, when resources become limited why populations then follow a logistic growth curve. You will gain an understanding of population dynamics and regulation based on density-dependent and density-independent factors and learn how the age structure of a population allows us to predict population growth. You will also learn about the characteristics used to categorize species. Finally, you are introduced to community ecology where you will learn the features of community structure and keystone species, and how some species can form symbiotic relationships within an ecological community. You will be introduced to behavioural biology and learn about behaviours such as imprinting and habituation, conditioning, and cognitive learning and methods of communication. The course will be of great interest to professionals working in the areas of ecology or environmental science, and who would like to learn more about the social and environmental consequences of population growth, and the different characteristics of species behaviour.<br />

The free online course Effective Communication and Sales Techniques provides information on techniques such as preparing for and giving sales presentations, turning objections into sales opportunities, and selling your business vision. The course is ideal for business professionals, entrepreneurs, salespeople or those starting out on their sales career path. The course first introduces you to the process of preparing your sales presentation, how you can stay focused on the outcome by using pre-call objectives and how you can adapt the presentation to suit your prospects' needs. You will learn how presentations can also be used for listening, solving problems and building relationships. You will learn about the importance of your appearance and how to dress appropriately for a presentation to convey professionalism, competence and success. You will learn how to keep a customer-centric focus and visualize a successful outcome. The four components of the SPIN model are also covered in detail. Next, you will learn about the specific points during the sales process where objections are most likely to occur, such as when you are first trying to make contact, when making a sales presentation, and when you are attempting to close the sale. You will gain an understanding of the main types of objections that you may encounter such as product objections, source objections and money objections. You will then learn about the six strategies that can help you handle any objection and how you can turn objections into sales opportunities. You will learn how objections can help build relationships because they give you the opportunity to clarify communication and revisit your relationship with the prospect. Having learned about making effective sales presentations and how to turn objections into opportunities the course next introduces you to sales skills needed by entrepreneurs so that you can communicate your business vision in a clear, concise and confident manner. You will learn how to leverage business plan elements such as statement of purpose and marketing, operational, and financial plans to sell your business idea to potential clients and investors. This course will be of great interest to sales professionals and entrepreneurs who would like a greater understanding of the techniques involved in preparing and giving sales presentations, turning objections into sales opportunities, and selling a business vision to clients and investors.<br />

The free online course Effective Communication Skills for Managers presents key communication techniques and strategies needed by managers in any business or organisation. The course begins by showing you in a step-by-step manner how you can successfully prepare for and engage in any difficult conversation you may be faced with in a workplace situation. You will learn about the rules of communication, the importance of non-verbal communication and how to develop effective listening skills. You will also learn how to build rapport with your colleagues so that you can start to lead the conversation. You will also learn how influence works and strengthen your own skills at influence and persuasion. You will learn how to plan and develop an effective presentation. You will learn how to overcome nervousness and deliver presentations naturally, whether you are speaking at a small team meeting or presenting to an audience of hundreds. Finally, you will learn about the key communication skills needed for successful team meetings. You will also learn about the importance of creating and distributing minutes of the meeting that accurately describe what was discussed at the meeting, and any actions that were agreed upon and whose responsibility they are. This course will be of great interest to existing junior managers or those wishing to move into the managerial level and who would like to develop effective communication skills. It will also be of interest to learners who would like to develop communication skills needed for advancement within any business or organisation.<br />

Communication in classrooms is more complex and unpredictable than in many other situations. As a teacher, understanding the unique features and functions of communication in the classroom is very important. This free online course will help you to discover these functions, and how they impact on each individual in the classroom. It will teach you how classroom communication serves a mixture of three purposes at once: content talk, procedural talk, and behavior control talk. Learn how to recognize different elements of communication, not only the verbal but also the non-verbal and the unintended. Understand that to be effective in non-verbal communication you should know how to measure the correct eye-contact length, social distance and wait time. This online course will teach you about the register in a classroom and how to use it in a way that is most beneficial to students’ thinking. Discover the four main structures of participation in teaching, how they influence communication, and some of the the advantages and disadvantages to each. This free online course will be of great interest to teachers and trainers who wish to improve their communication within the learning environment.<br />

The free online course Elderly Care and Caring for the Disabled is designed to ensure that you have the skills and knowledge necessary to provide effective care to any elderly or disabled clients in your care. People are living longer and as we age our bodies operate less efficiently. The course begins by helping you understand how aging affects the body. You will examine the manner in which various organs and systems throughout the body deteriorate due to the aging process. You will then study the various medical conditions that can result from such deterioration. You will learn how to identify them, how they will affect your clients’ lifestyle and how they will influence the type of care you provide to clients. A further aspect of life is that due to accidents or medical conditions people develop disabilities. The course then examines spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries which are the most common injuries that cause individuals to require fulltime care. You will examine the various forms of brain and spinal cord injuries and the effects that they can have on the individual’s lifestyle. The course concludes by reviewing the emotional impact that such traumatic injuries can have on the client, their families and the carer. You will learn about the skills necessary to support the client and their family through the care process, and if necessary, help them prepare for death. The course will be of great interest to professionals working as caregivers and who wish to ensure that that their skills are kept to a high standard, or those who provide care to a elderly or disabled. <br />

<p>In commercial law, the law of agency is a very important concept to understand as it deals with contractual, quasi-contractual and non-contractual relationships. This usually involves a person, called the agent, who can act on behalf of another person, called the principal, to form a legal relationship with third parties. </p> <br /> <p>In this free online law of agency course, you will learn about the relationship between the agent and principal and how the principal gives authority to the agent to act on their behalf. You will gain a better understanding of the three types of authority a principal can give to an agent - actual authority, apparent authority and ratified authority. </p> <br /> <p>You will also learn about agent obligations to a principal and the limits of agent authority. The course also reviews who is agent for a business or corporation and what the duties of the Board of Directors and Officers in a business or corporation are. </p> <br /> <p>This course will benefit entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to learn more about the legalities behind the law of agency and what the duties of particular individuals in a business or corporation are regarding this law. </p>

English is the main language of international communication and is essential for people working in the tourist industry. This course introduces the English vocabulary necessary for working at a hotel reception or front desk. The first section explains how to communicate with potential customers during enquiries as well as how to reserve rooms for hotel guests. The following section describes the steps involved in check-in and check-out as well as the vocabulary and expressions needed for these procedures. The final section explains how to resolve customer complaints with helpful and non-offensive phrases. This free online course is ideal for tourism and hotel workers who wish to advance to an intermediate level of English with a focus on the travel and hospitality industries. It will also be of interest to people with a basic level of English who wish to improve their English vocabulary.<br />

English is the main language of international communication and is essential for people working in the tourist industry. This course details the English necessary for working in restaurants in tourist areas or hotels. The first section explains how to take customer orders including asking and answering questions and recommending dishes. The second section details how to describe dishes and also defines the French terms used in restaurant English. The final section provides key English expressions for every stage of restaurant service. This free online course is ideal for tourism and restaurant workers who wish to advance to an intermediate level of English with a focus on the travel and hospitality industries. It will also be of interest to people with a basic level of English who wish to better understand the rules of the English language.<br />

English is the main language of international communication and is essential for people working in the tourism industry. This free online course introduces the key vocabulary and skills needed to speak English with tourists. This course details the English necessary for working in tourist information offices including how to provide directions, understand guidebooks and write press releases. The English needed for conducting guided tours is also defined. These sections detail how to explain a tour itinerary, how to politely book a tour for a customer and how to conduct a tour commentary in English. This free online course will be of great interest to non-English speakers who would like a career in the tourism industry, and who now wish to learn English with a focus on the travel and tourism industry.

This free online course offers a comprehensive introduction to English literature analysis. Taking selected drama masterpieces including Macbeth and The Crucible and several poems as examples; the course introduces the learner to literature, play and theatre analysis. This course is ideal for students of English literature, and for those wishing to expand their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of this rewarding subject.

If you have completed the ALISON free online course &quot;Introduction to English Grammar - Vocabulary, Pronunciation and Listening&quot;, this new English course will help you further extend your English language vocabulary and improve your pronunciation skills. In this free online English language course, you will cover vocabulary in areas such as shopping, food, and sports, and pronunciation of the alphabet and silent letters. The course also covers the 10 most-used nouns, verbs, and expressions in English. <br /><br />ALISON's online English language course will be of great interest to all learners who already have a basic knowledge of the English language and who want to further improve their vocabulary and pronunciation skills to be able to communicate more effectively.<br />

<p>English Writing Skills is a free online language course which is designed for anyone wanting to improve their writing, or English students who wish to enhance their essay-writing abilities. </p><br /> <p>Covering a number of different styles of writing, including comedy, descriptive, spy, thriller, instructional text, opinion pieces, poetry, as well as punctuation, this course provides you with enough guidelines to express yourself creatively in a variety of writing styles. </p>