Over 30 free courses available – 22 created by Higher Education 4.0
Atlantic Technological University President Orla Flynn believes that ATU’s free MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – can provide a pathway into education for those who may not have embraced it in their earlier years.
Speaking at the relaunch of the freecourses.atu.ie website at the ‘MOOCs for Industry’ event on Monday, November 4, Dr Flynn noted that given the wide range of free courses, from Lean Construction to Fundamentals of Garden Design, there is something for everyone to “dip their toe in the water”.
“These short online courses will give those learners a little bit of confidence – and they will see that education is not all that scary and that they can come in and learn and enjoy it. Maybe, they will then come along and do another programme that has an accreditation attached to it, like a micro-credential or even a major award.”
In all, ATU offers over 30 free courses, with 22 of these created under the Higher Education 4.0 Project, which is funded by the Human Capital Initiative (Pillar 3).
Among the many courses on offer are Health & Safety, Introduction to Marketing, Social Robotics, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Ocean Pollution.
ATU and Higher Education 4.0 have also partnered with FoodCloud, which focuses on reducing food loss and waste through surplus food distribution, to create courses for both industry and the family home.
Dr Flynn said that developing online courses like these, be they free or accredited, has always been one of the strengths of ATU. The technological university has been able to cultivate these further since the merger in 2022 of the three former institutes of technology (and later St Angela’s College) across nine campuses in the west and northwest of Ireland.
Dr Flynn noted that in today’s world, anyone can set up a training programme and offer it online, but what makes ATU’s courses stand out from many others has been their proven track record in delivering quality, accredited programmes at every level within the National Framework of Qualifications.
“So, an organisation like ATU is coming at this with significant credibility, and therefore the approach we have to our MOOCs should be no different. They should be valid and interesting and relevant – and based on informed research,” she added.
Meanwhile, over the MOOCs for Industry evening, there were several guest speakers, including the Head of Innovation in the Online, Flexible and Professional Development team, Gavin Clinch, and Higher Education 4.0 Senior Instructional Designer Louise Kearins, both of whom explained the process and the value of the MOOCs, which, on this occasion, focused on industry.
There were also six elevator pitches from David Collery on Lean Construction; Edel Costello, Health & Safety; Perry Share and John Pender, Social Robotics; Lisa Dunne, Introduction to Marketing; Maria Dermiki, Repurposing Surplus Food Waste for Industry; and John Scahill on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In addition, a number of information stands were on site, with MyCareerPath, the flexible, online careers service; ATU MakerSpace, which promotes the STEM subjects; and OFPD Business Development among those exhibiting. To access ATU’s wide range of MOOCs, go to: http://freecourses.atu.ie
