7 Free Online Courses in January

I don’t believe in new year resolutions. Seriously, why wait for January to change something in my life? However, I do respect the January Mark of a Fresh Start, a moment where you can look back at the year that passed, see all the things you’ve accomplished (like survival) and ponder on your future.

I believe the courses I want to recommend today will be the most useful for you now, at the beginning of the new year – you will find something about teaching, something about professional development, and something about creativity:

Teaching Young Learners Online by the British Council

Start: 11/01/2021
Duration: 3 weeks
Recommended for: English language teachers, teaching young learners (5-17) in an online environment
You will learn:

• how to build relationships with learners, between learners and with parents
• how to apply principles of English language lesson planning to online teaching
• how to manage online interactions effectively

Blended Language Learning: Design and Practice for Teachers by University of Colorado Boulder

Start: 11/01/2021
Duration: 4 weeks
Recommended for: teachers who want to build and teach a blended language course
You will learn:

• how to understand blended learning as a teaching modality
• how to select tools and technologies to support blended language learning
• how to select and use effective blended teaching strategies

Coaching in Education: Addressing the Need for Deep Communication by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Start: self-paced
Duration: 4 weeks
Recommended for: teachers and people in management positions in education
You will learn:

• how coaching can be implemented to foster change in education and private lives
• how developing skills in communication can support you and others in achieving goals
• how to apply the GROW-model in coaching to help people reach their goals

Pedagogy of Teaching English by the CEC and English and Foreign Languages University

Start: 20/01/2021
Duration: 15 weeks
Recommended for: teachers of English to secondary school students and adult learners
You will learn:

• about the current practices in English language teaching
• about various theories and procedures of assessment in classrooms
• how to draw insights from contemporary perspectives on language and language learning for designing pedagogical and classroom processes

Psychology of Personal Growth by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Start: self-paced
Duration: 6 weeks
Recommended for: people interested in their personal growth and culture (the course is set in Chinese culture)
You will learn:

• how to apply different methods to studying personal growth
• how to explain the role of culture in defining yourself
• how to describe different approaches to exploring the nature of emotion

E-assessment by Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science & Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore

Start: 17/01/2021
Duration: 15 weeks
Recommended for: teachers and school admins
You will learn:

• about the differences between paper-based assessment and e-assessment
• about the types of tests used in e-assessment
• about the online tools for e-assessment

Using Creative Problem Solving by National Chiao Tung University

Start: self-paced
Duration: 4 weeks
Recommended for: people looking to develop their creative problem-solving skills
You will learn:

• how to apply creative problem-solving skills in multiple contexts
• how creativity and different approaches can help you in daily life
• how to apply Creative Problem Solving Tools: Brain Storming, Brain Writing, Six-Thinking Hats and Design Thinking

I hope you’ll find these courses interesting – enjoy, and may 2021 be at least better than 2020!