Online courses for professionals allow more people to study or change careers

The possibility to gain expertise through targeted lifelong learning is today seen as vital in order to compete in a strong knowledge-driven technology shift. MDH is currently offering open online courses in subjects such as Augmented Reality (AR) and cyber security, where the target group is professionals and people who have been temporarily laid off in the manufacturing sector.

− The aim of the courses is to meet an unmet need for the technological shift that is presently occurring on a wide front across industry, but also across society as a whole. The courses are developed in collaboration and with contributions from industry, which guarantees that the content is relevant and can be transferred directly to industry, says Anders Berglund, Senior Lecturer and Project Manager at MDH.

− There is a critical need for expertise, which is why we have decided to make accessibility a central issue where we hope to attract the interest of professionals and people who have been temporarily laid off due to the pandemic, but also of others who are interested in learning more about the latest developments in industrial technology and to gain a better understanding of industrial applications, continues Berglund.

Most of the courses are referred to collectively as MOOC, which stands for Massive Open Online Courses.

− These courses are open to everyone, regardless of their background or professional category. They do not require prior knowledge and you can start and continue a course whenever you want. For some of the planned courses, it is recommended with certain prior knowledge. In this way, course participants can get better returns on their invested time and this allows us to best support individuals, companies and society in general, says Berglund.

It is not possible to include a MOOC in an exam or get higher education credits for the course. Alternatively, the courses are intended to provide greater opportunities for more people across the country to conduct further studies or to change careers during their working life.

Course development is an integral aspect of the ARC project (Augmented Reality and Cyber security), which is financed by KK-stiftelsen (the Knowledge Foundation). The funding is aimed towards providing creative and educational solutions for lifelong learning during the pandemic. The project comprises six courses in total of which three are ready to be launched. The first course is called “Design for Industrial Augmented Reality” and will be released on 3 May.