3.1 Investigating study

Zin Min Thant’s confidence in the digital world has improved very quickly. He now wants to move forward to progress with his studies in the most efficient way.

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are resources (content, documents, tools and media) that can be used freely for teaching, learning and research. The OER movement began in the early part of the 21st century and has seen substantial growth over the ensuing year.

Today, those who want to develop skills can find courses and materials which cost nothing and can often be studied flexibly.

A number of websites have been developed to offer these courses in meaningful ways, and many offer some kind of reward or recognition for completion.

OERs are an ideal opportunity for universities and educational organisations to provide tasters of the learning they have available. OpenLearn [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] and FutureLearn are examples of OER websites from The Open University. Studying in this way can introduce you to the material on offer, help you to prepare for study and give you an opportunity to experience study for yourself. If you are new to study, or have not studied for a long time, these free courses are ideal preparation.

More informal learning material can be found on websites like YouTube. Universities also use YouTube and iTunes U to showcase their learning materials. Have a look at:

In the activity below you are asked to provide Zin Min Thant with some advice on how to find courses and resources that can help him to progress in his career.

Activity 3 Finding online courses

Timing: 30 minutes

In Week 5 you explored your information landscape. Use this knowledge to advise Zin Min Thant on how to find free courses and resources that could help him to progress in his career as a trainer.

  • a.Look at what is available on OpenLearn. Search the site to find resources and courses that might help Zin Min Thant to pursue his goal to become a trainer in the engineering sector.
  • b.Search online for free courses and recommend three sites which Zin Min Thant can visit to find courses he might be interested in.
  • c.Search YouTube for videos that might help him find out how engineers are trained in Myanmar and across the world.

Use the box below to make some notes.

As you search, use your reflective journal to make a note of any sites you find that you think would be useful to you, either now or in the future.

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Discussion

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OpenLearn

You may have searched for resources and courses that focused on Zin Min Thant’s own study requirements. A couple of examples include:

You may have searched for resources and courses that focused on Zin Min Thant’s aim to be develop as a trainer. Some examples include:

Free courses

You may have found some of the following websites that either provide or direct people to free learning:

YouTube

YouTube is a great place to find resources that can show you how engineers are trained across the world and highlight good practice. A few examples:

Case Study 2 – Zin Min Thant

3 Reflection