Online Course Requirements and Information

Free online courses typically utilize Web videos and other multimedia, so a reliable Internet connection with good speed is necessary. Participants of online courses may also wish to download some of the available course content, which usually comes in PDF form. For this, students would need to make sure they've downloaded the free Adobe Reader software. Some schools offering free online professional development courses might specify that users have a specific Internet browser. These courses aren't available for academic credit, and students will not receive grades for any of the coursework they complete.

List of Free Online Education and Professional Development Courses

OpenCourseWare at MIT

MIT is one of the premier U.S. schools participating in the OpenCourseWare (OCW) program, overseen by the OCW Consortium. With more than 2,100 courses as of August 2012, MIT has the largest catalog of any school offering free online education. Free courses are available in various fields, including science, engineering, business, architecture, liberal arts, languages, and even a few fine arts areas. Most of MIT's free courses are based on syllabi from on-campus courses taught in previous years, and they include lecture notes, assignments, quizzes, multimedia, and in some cases, instructions and guidelines for final projects.

OpenCourseWare at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health

Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU) is another member of the OCW Consortium, and its free professional development courses deal specifically with concepts related to public health. Available courses deal with such subjects as public health policy, environmental health, tobacco control, nutrition, and mental health, among many others. Courses may include lecture notes, readings, videos, and mp3-based lectures.

OpenCourseWare at Tufts University

Tufts University offers OCW courses through seven academic divisions. Among the divisions offering these free online courses are the School of Arts & Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, and Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. OCW courses at Tufts are mainly offered in science-based areas, including epidemiology, human development, physics, agricultural science, and geographic information systems.

OpenCourseWare at the University of California, Irvine

UC Irvine offers free OCW courses in several areas, including engineering, health sciences, law, computer science, and education. Many of the free courses here contain direct links to individual lectures and other course materials. Students may also bypass the step-by-step approach, browsing directly through a list of materials and lectures on UC Irvine's OCW course content.

Open.Michigan at the University of Michigan

The University of Michigan, as with the four U.S. schools listed above, is a sustaining member of the OCW Consortium, meaning that it is a non-profit institution that contributes a set amount of funds to the advancement of open education over a set period of time. Open.Michigan courses are offered in such areas as architecture, finance, foreign languages, public health, social work, and more.

Stanford Center for Professional Development at Stanford University

Stanford University's Center for Professional Development offers a series of free online videos aimed at those looking to enhance their professional knowledge and skills. The site features prerecorded, on-demand videos on such subjects as human-computer interaction, corporate risk appetite, and entrepreneurship. Stanford also offers a free live streaming webinar and lecture series given by professionals in various industries and Stanford faculty.

Open Learning at The Open University

The Open University, based in the United Kingdom, is a member of the OCW Consortium, and it offers over 600 online courses free of charge. Those seeking to enhance their level of professional development may be particularly interested in the school's courses in business, management, engineering, healthcare, and law.

Free Courseware Project at the University of the Western Cape

Based in a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, the University of the Western Cape is a sustaining member of the OCW Consortium. As of summer 2012, free online courses were available in nursing, public health, information systems, law, and conservation biology.

Open Educational Resources at the African Virtual University

The African Virtual University, another sustaining member of the OCW Consortium, is a unique institution that aims to help bring the entire African continent to the forefront of online education and to make educational resources available worldwide. Its Open Educational Resources (OER) program offers a number of courses in areas such as math, biology, teacher education, physics, and chemistry.

Online Wireless Technology Course Requirements

Generally, free OpenCourseWare (OCW) course materials are accessible with an Internet connection capable of downloading PDF files and watching streaming multimedia videos and audio clips. The PDF files usually come in the form of lecture notes that can guide participants through the course materials. Videos can be complete, hour-long lectures, or they can be shorter clips. Courses may also provide a list of textbooks that can be purchased from a third-party bookseller.

Free OCW courses on wireless technology are available from MIT and the University of Michigan. These courses do not award academic credit, and students will not be graded for any of their work done while taking the courses.

Since wireless technology has become a big part of the contemporary world, relevant OCW courses can be found from a number of different academic departments, including MIT's departments of Electrical Engineering/Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering and its Sloan School of Management. Michigan's offering comes from its graduate-level School of Information.

List of Free Online Wireless Technology Courses

Information Technology and Global Development at the University of Michigan

This course, offered by the University of Michigan's School of Information, serves as a primer to the broader field of information technology as it relates to world development. Taught in three parts, the course starts with modern-day concerns regarding international development and moves toward how policies for technological development in poorer nations are handled. Wireless technology is among the subjects explored, and one of the readings discusses how wireless telemedicine systems are developed in rural areas.

Principles of Wireless Communications at MIT

MIT's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department offers this course on how wireless transmission systems are designed. Students learn about wireless channel models, power control, and space-time codes. The course website syllabus names Fundamentals of Wireless Communication, by David Tse and Pramod Viswanath, as its textbook, and the site links to a free PDF version of the textbook, complete with exercises from each chapter.

Sensor Technologies for Interactive Environments at MIT

Participants of this MIT OpenCourseWare explore the science behind sensor technologies, largely through studies of human-computer interfacing. Wireless networks utilize such technologies, and wireless concepts are specifically explored within the context of microcontrollers, digital sensor standards, and electric field and inductive sensing. PDF-based lecture notes and homework assignments make up the downloadable content of this course.

Principles of Digital Communication I at MIT

An all-encompassing course on various digital communications systems, this free class touches upon designing systems for wireless communication within the broader realm of digital communication. Among the other topics covered include data compression, sampling and aliasing, and signal constellations. Readers of this OCW can download lecture notes, homework assignments, and even midterm and final exams.

High Speed Communication Circuits at MIT

The design problems of high-speed communication are explored here, and wireless applications are given particular emphasis in this free MIT course. High-speed digital circuits and frequency synthesizers are among the topics students will learn about through lecture notes, labs, assignments, and a mid-term exam, all in PDF format.

Introductory Digital Systems Laboratory at MIT

The campus-based, for-credit version of this course is considered one of the most challenging courses at MIT, and readers of the free course will also take on a demanding exploration of a number of digital systems concepts. Wireless technology can be explored through the final project, which involves designing a small digital system. Downloadable documents and videos are available to help students make their digital system function.

Electromagnetics and Applications at MIT

Readers of this OCW learn how electromagnetics is applied to various technologies, including wireless communications. Three of the twelve problem sets deal specifically with wireless communications, and the related concepts covered include the conservation of energy and power, receiving antennas, and radiation. Participants of this OCW have access to lecture notes, problem sets, and videos.

Biomedical Devices Design Laboratory at MIT

Wireless communications are a key component in the development of biomedical device design. Students explore the methods used to create electromechanical instruments for use in biomedical settings. Through PDF-based lectures and lab instructions, participants of this OCW will design a data acquisition system that will utilize not only wireless technology, but also USB connection, and microprocessor technology.

Online Course Information and Requirements

These courses, while not specifically named as commercial art learning materials, deal mainly with graphic design concepts, systems and practices, which are common facets of commercial design. Courses can utilize notes, Web content, readings and PDFs to help students understand topics like Adobe Flash, Blender 3D design, general rules of graphic design and other programs.

Online students should note that the courses and course materials are not offered for grading or academic credit. All online material is offered to take at any pace. Some courses and materials may not provide all readings or pertinent content online for free.

List of Free Commercial Art and Design Courses

Applied Multimedia Technology at Notre Dame

This course trains students in using Adobe Flash and other multimedia tools to make digital animations, videos, images and sounds. The course covers such content as blogging, animation, video, publishing, aesthetics, image editing, playing external sound and publishing. Students will use Web content, assignment notes and readings to understand the course topics. Some readings and software may require purchase and/or downloading.

Graphic Design Basics at San Diego State University

Students in this online course can initiate themselves in the world of graphic design and develop experience-based techniques. The course materials cover samples of layouts, typefaces and images, graphic design general rules and online design resources. Links, PDF files, Web content and a glossary of graphic design terminology are all available to online students for this course.

Adobe Illustrator CS4 Tutorial at Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University offers this basic tutorial to online students seeking specific Adobe Illustrator knowledge. Topics within the tutorial include Adobe Illustrator basics, toolbox, selections, layers, texts, images, objects, arranging, grouping, applying styles and working with symbols. The course implements step-by-step instructions with pictorial references, figures and PDF content.

Blender 3D Design at Tufts

This Tufts course offers tips and tools for using Blender 3D design, which is a graphic design program. Software instructions, functions, modeling, lighting, smoothing, making curve objects, animation and advanced functions are all topics included in this course. The course provides online students with PDFs, student projects and videos to help them learn the course material.

Flash at Utah State University

Online students will learn Macromedia Flash through course topics that include interface basics, drawing tools, bitmaps, movie clips, variables, sound, video, codecs and dynamic text. There are some recommend readings for the course that are not provided for free online, though they aren't required. Students should note that the Flash program used in the course is not available for free online, though it is available for a 30-day free trial.

Online Course Information

Learners should note that online tutorials and OpenCourseWare (OCW) classes do not involve university credit or grades. Regulation of phlebotomists vary by state, but credentials usually require completion of a formal program and the passing of an exam. While these free courses may overlap with information found in site-based phlebotomy courses, they do not prepare learners to work as phlebotomists.

Online phlebotomy courses and materials implement various learning tools, such as quizzes, readings, lecture notes, performance keys and videos to help learners absorb content. Software programs to open some of the media files, such as a video player, may be needed.

Free Phlebotomy Online Course List

Phlebotomy Tutorial at the University of Utah

This tutorial from the University of Utah looks at basic venipuncture processes. Topics for this course include order of draw, sample labeling, patient identification, safety and quality assurance. Illustrative images and text help online students gain an understanding of procedures for handling specimens.

Blood Collection Tube Top Colors at Austin Community College

This simple tutorial from Austin Community College looks at the ways test tubes for blood collection are colored and ordered. Via web descriptions and images, students can learn about the blood tests possible for each distinction, as well as appropriate filling levels for the test tubes.

Arterial Puncture at Loyola University Chicago

Loyola University Chicago provides online instruction which outlines steps for arterial puncture through illustrated notes and a video. A quiz is also included. Students can use materials provided to learn the basic steps for patient and syringe prep procedures necessary in the blood collection process.

Medical Terminology at Des Moines University

Des Moines University offers this mini-course enabling students to learn nearly 300 medical terms. Course materials cover terminology relevant to the human anatomy, including terms for parts in the musculoskeletal, reproductive, respiratory, digestive, nervous, circulatory and urinary systems. Students may opt to register and pay a fee to receive a Certificate of Participation after completing this course.

Patient Communication Skills at University of Michigan

Although originally geared toward dental students, this OCW course can impart pertinent knowledge to other healthcare workers as well. Videos and performance keys allow students to learn about listening, patient interaction, cross-cultural patient communication and patient interviewing techniques.

Information Regarding Online Course Requirements

Online students should note that no courses, materials or classes are offered for university credit or grading. Additionally, all courses may be taken at a student's own pace and may be stopped at any time. Students should note that some courses do not provide all of the learning materials online for free and no courses provide woodworking tools or facilities for free to online students.

These courses and materials employ graphs, pictures, diagrams, assignments, readings, visual aids, lecture notes, videos and project examples to help students learn the art of woodworking. Besides a computer and Internet connection, students will need the appropriate software to access course materials, such as a PDF reader and video player.

List of Free Online Carpentry Courses

Furniture Making at MIT

This course from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology engages students with the process of furniture making, including an American historical overview and a look at the use of power and hand tools. Common themes include sketchbook work, cutting, hand tools, power tools, bending and jig making. This course employs various technical readings, visual aids, lecture notes, videos, project pictures and assignments.

Wood Handbook from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

This textbook made in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeks to familiarize students with wood as it is used in engineering and other industries. The textbook covers major topics in woodworking, such as the characteristics, availability, structure, function, stress, moisture relation and physical properties of wood. It also looks at fastenings, structural analysis, adhesives, bonds, finishing, drying, sterilization and other safety methods. The book uses pictures, diagrams, graphs and tables to display various kinds of content for learners. A mathematical background may be required to understand certain portions of the book.

A Guide to Honing and Sharpening at AntiqueTools.com

This course helps woodworkers keep their tools in the best possible working condition. The course materials focus on the history of honing and sharpening and its vital aspects, such as stropping, beveling, chiseling, flattening and other modern technological methods. These materials allow students to explore methods via web content, pictures and diagrams.

DIY Woodworking Projects and Plans at PopularMechanics.com

These materials from PopularMechanics.com allow students to view the woodwork and projects of others. Projects the website has available for online students include making things such as picnic tables, cabinets, a trellis planter, a garden bench, a solar oven and many others. Typically, each project will provide a materials list and instructional photos demonstrating how to make the item of choice.