ATU evening to showcase free courses for industry

Atlantic Technological University’s Higher Education 4.0 Project will host two evening events in November, with the first to discuss upskilling and reskilling opportunities available to industry and the second to focus on the environmental issue.

The first free event, titled ‘MOOCs for Industry’, will take place at Hume Hall, ATU Sligo (F91 YW50), on Monday, November 4, and will showcase those ATU MOOCs designed for the workplace, such as Health & Safety, Lean Construction, Introduction to Marketing, Social Robotics, Lean Six Sigma OpEx Academy and more.

Commencing at 7pm, the evening will include a joint keynote address from ATU’s Online, Flexible & Professional Development (OFPD) Head of Innovation, Gavin Clinch, and ATU Senior Instructional Designer Louise Kearins, who is undertaking a PhD on ‘An Exploration of HEI MOOC development in Ireland the UK’.

The Higher Education 4.0 Project has championed the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) model in assisting industries and businesses to upskill and reskill their employees.

“MOOCs are transforming the way we approach lifelong learning and workforce development," says Gavin Clinch, Head of Innovation Projects for ATU’s Higher Education 4.0 Project.

“By offering free, flexible learning opportunities, we’re helping industries across the west of Ireland – and nationwide – to upskill and reskill their workforce in a way that meets the evolving needs of our economy.

“The upcoming ‘MOOCs for Industry’ and ‘MOOCs for Environment’ events are a testament to ATU’s commitment to making impactful, accessible education available to all.”

The Higher Education 4.0 Project is also developing relevant courses in other areas, such as the environment, which is the focus of the second event scheduled for Theatre 1000, ATU Galway (H91 T8NW), on Wednesday, November 13 (7pm).

These free short courses are available on the freecourses.atu.ie website, which will be officially launched by ATU President Orla Flynn at the ATU Sligo ‘MOOCs for Industry’ event.

In addition, there will be several information stands set up on the day, with MyCareerPath, the flexible, online career guidance service, and ATU MakerSpace, which promotes the STEM subjects at third level and second level, among those exhibiting on both evenings.

There will also be an opportunity to network on each occasion, with refreshments and food served.

Those attending must register:

MOOCs for Industry: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/moocs-for-industry-upskilling-and-reskilli…
 

MOOCs for the Environment: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/moocs-for-the-environment-shaping-a-sustai…
 

For further information contact, Higher Education 4.0 Project Communications Officer Stephen Glennon at stephen.glennon@atu.ie