Every January, millions of people begin the New Year with great ambition to eat healthier, read more, do exercise, spend more time with family and friends and a whole host of resolutions, many of which are a dim and distant memory by the end of the first or second month.
We’ll help you succeed with a resolution for self improvement
But was your resolution this year to learn more, focus on self-development, upskill or retrain for a change in career, or even just to broaden your ‘data’ horizons? If so, The Data Lab and our partner network can provide support on this journey through a number of freely available online training courses which teach data science in a variety of different contexts and are targeted at a range of audiences and experience levels.
Whatever your interests, from gaming, tourism, health, ecology and environmental science, even tracking hurricanes using satellite data, there is something for everyone. For educators, a course developed by the College Development Network ‘Data Science for Colleges’ will launch in January. This course introduces college staff to the relevance and application of data in their subject areas providing knowledge, opportunity and support for participants to develop their own teaching materials. This is followed later in the year with the launch of a new course developed at the University of Glasgow ‘Data Science for Schools’ and will provide materials for schools to teach about data citizenship at a time when data is everywhere.
Plus, two fantastic new courses launching, so relevant in today’s world
In addition to sector-specific courses, two new online courses will launch in the coming weeks which are relevant across industry, the public and third sectors. ‘Driving Value from Data’, developed by The Data Lab, will launch on the 20th January and has been designed to enable decision makers to learn how to take their first steps in unlocking data innovation within their organisation. On the 24th February a new course funded by The Data Lab and developed by a collaborative team at the University of Edinburgh will launch in ‘Data ethics, AI and responsible innovation’. In an age of Cambridge Analytica, predictive policing and AI, data ethics have never been more important and this course aims to highlight awareness of this. This course will be freely accessible to everyone, but from this year it will be a mandatory requirement of all The Data Lab Masters students to complete this as a condition of their funding.
Over 9,000 participants have registered for our courses
To date 12 free online courses and two online Masters programmes have been developed in collaboration with six Scottish Universities and 29 organisations, from both the public and private sector. Over 9,000 participants have registered on courses that have run to date, with many more registered and ready to take courses due to launch during January and February 2020.
Courses run across a variety of platforms including FutureLearn, EdX and Moodle and are easily and freely accessible to all. Many of the courses offer the opportunity for assessment and certificate, in some cases for a small fee.
So whether you are looking for sector specific training, have a general interest in certain topics or just want to broaden your horizons, take a look at what’s on offer. Sign up now for these upcoming courses:
Data Science in Stratified Healthcare and Precision Medicine
– starting 14th January (still time to join)
Data Science for Colleges
– starting in January, date TBC
Driving Value from Data
– launches 20th January
Using Data in the Tourism Industry
– rerun 20th January
Data Science for Ecologists and Environmental Scientists
– launches 27th January
Data Ethics, AI and Responsible Innovation
– launches 24th February (registration open 20th January)
Data Science for Schools
– launches 4th May
The Power of Data Science in the Health and Care Sector
– rerun on 20th April
For a full list of courses, launch/run dates and links to register please visit our Online Learning page.
