Massive Open Online Courses offer a brain boost of free education | Irish Examiner

"HAVE YOU thought about further study, but are unsure about whether you can commit to a course? Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are an exciting development that could be exactly what you are looking for. These are online, generally free, open access courses. Potential students can access them to learn about a huge variety of topics. MOOCs are normally much shorter than Open University or traditional distance learning courses, and don’t require as much of a time commitment per week. Students do not usually receive certification for completion, although some providers offer that option for a fee. I first heard of MOOCs when I took redundancy from AIB 18 months ago. I was keen to retrain for a different career, but after eight years in the bank, I was nervous about signing up for a course. It felt like a long time since I had left college and I worried about getting back into the habit of study ..."