Advancing digital for your career

You will learn about algorithms and abstraction in this free course, Introduction to computational thinking, and encounter some applications of computational thinking in various disciplines, ranging from biology and physics to economics and sport science.

Have you ever wanted to try out simple coding? Want to understand the basics of what it entails? This course introduces you to the skills, concepts and jargon of coding.

Optical-fibre communications became commercially viable in the 1970s and innovation continues today. This free course, Digital communications, will illustrate how very high data rates can be transmitted over long distances through optical fibres. You will learn how these fibres are linked, examine the technology used and assess the future direction of this continually developing area of communication.

This free course, Gamified Intelligent Cyber Aptitude and Skills Training (GICAST), will help you to understand online security and start to protect your digital life, whether at home or work. You will learn how to recognise the threats that could harm you online and the steps you can take to reduce the chances that they will happen to you.

Information security underpins the commercial viability and profitability of enterprises of all sizes and the effectiveness of public sector organisations. This free course begins by explaining why information security and its management are important for any modern organisation and to every individual. You need to be familiar with an organisation, such as your employer, to study this course.

This course analyses several cyber security incidents and looks at what lessons can be learned.

This free course, Data and processes in computing, will help you to understand the forms of data that are handled by software and look at the various processes that can be applied to the data. These ideas are demonstrated through the use of a supermarket till and illustrate how simple data sets can be manipulated.

You will write up analyses and do coding exercises using the popular Jupyter Notebooks platform, which allows you to see immediately the result of running your code and helps you identify – and fix – any errors more easily. You will also look at real data from the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and other organisations.

Computers are all around us: in cars, kitchen scales, digital cameras, etc. But how do they store the data they hold? This free course, Representing and manipulating data in computers, will help you to understand how the data in a computer represents something in the outside world. You will also explore how ASCII code and Unicode are used to control data.

No idea how relational database systems are constructed? Did you know that they underpin the majority of the managed data storage in computer systems? This free course, The database development life cycle, has been designed to give you an overview of the developmental life cycle for a database system, explaining the importance of data analysis and highlighting how database development differs from traditional software development.

Are you ever frustrated with something that you thought you could design better? This free course, Design thinking, will show you how to structure your natural creativity to come up with solutions to all kinds of problems, and have fun in the process too!

How do you model a software system? This free course, Modelling object-oriented software an introduction, will help you to work through the processes necessary to produce a conceptual model, by analysing the requirements document to identify classes and associations appropriate for modelling the system domain, together with their respective attributes and multiplicities.

Information technology (IT) systems are a critical part of our world, in business and the public and voluntary sectors. They are often highly complex and interconnected combinations of technology, organisations and people. Success and failure of IT systems can be seen in many different settings. Many are highly successful; others fail, sometimes spectacularly. This free course focuses on success, to help you understand what is meant by a successful IT system.

Enterprise systems are software applications that automate and integrate all many of the key business processes of an organisation. With some understanding of software development, in this free course, Software development for enterprise systems, you will learn about current development practices for this type of system and develop relevant skills to apply them to real-world problems. You will develop core skills in object-oriented analysis and design, allowing you to develop software that is fit for purpose, reusable and amenable to change.

Digital evidence features in just about every part of our personal and business lives. Legal and business decisions hinge on having timely data about what people have actually done. This free course, Digital forensics, is an introduction to computer forensics and investigation, and provides a taster in understanding how to conduct investigations to correctly gather, analyse and present digital evidence to both business and legal audiences. It also outlines the tools to locate and analyse digital evidence on a variety of devices, how to keep up to date with changing technologies, and laws and regulations in digital forensics.