OpenLearn - free courses from the Open University

[... mutters usual apology about lack of blogging for ages ...]

I've been delving in to the huge range of OpenLearn courses that the Open University makes available for anyone to try for free - that is, for no money whatsoever! There's quite a range of topics available, at various levels. They're done on-line, and you don't get any points or qualifications from doing them, but they provide an excellent way of getting an idea of what OU study is like, as well as being a fantastic source of information.

You can browse from the main subject areas, or see the full list of courses. Here are a few that caught my eye from the perspective of wildlife, conservation and computing:

Science and nature

• Environment. Treading lightly on the Earth
• Finding information in science and nature
• Introducing the environment: ecology and ecosystems
• School activities: Evolutionary tree of mammals
• Studying mammals: a winning design
• Animals at the extremes: hibernation and torpor

Computers

• Living with the internet: keeping it safe
• Living with the Internet: online shopping
• An introduction to data and information [including intro to web browsers]
• ICTs in everyday life

If you enjoy any of these, and would like to go on to do an assessed course, have a look at Neighbourhood Nature - okay, I'm a bit biased as this is the course that links to the iSpot project, but it really is a good course if you're looking for an introduction to studying wildlife.