The New Curiosity Shop

It’s Silver Surfers’ Day on 21st May 2010, and our contribution is to open our mini-course, How To Learn Online for free. It will be available from 19th May 2010, and will be supported by a tutor. All you need to do is to complete the form on the page:

Supporting Silver Surfers at the NCS Online College

Where you will find out more about it.

There’s a 10% discount on any of our online courses for anyone who registers for this event.

The Open University is forty years old this year and is still the world leader for distance learning. That the OU has been moving in the correct direction all this time is borne out by the number of online and distance learning courses offered by the traditional institutions as they learn how to do things the OU way.

At the New Curiosity Shop, we couldn’t agree more. Why travel to a bricks and mortar institution when you can learn in the comfort of your own home?

More from the Scotsman….

The BBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are” begins a new series tonight, with an investigation into the family history of presenter Davina McCall. This series will guide celebrities through their family trees, delving into history as we go.

If it puts you in the mood for finding some ancestors, why not try our History and Genealogy courses like Family History Begins At Home?

Phil Willis, chairman of the Commons select committee covering higher education, says a cap on student places in England will result in thousands of teenagers going on the dole instead of continuing their education. Increased funding of student places is inadequate to keep track of the big increase in applications this year.

This seems to contradict the governments own policy of having 40% of all adults in England with a University education by 2020.

More from BBC News…

Former Education Secretary David Blunkett has come out in defence of the adult need for learning. Writing in the Guardian on Tuesday, Blunkett cites the positive influence of adult learning on performance in the workplace and in the performance of children of adult learners in school as powerful arguments for the support of adults in education. The benefits do not just come from vocational training as all education, even recreational learning, motivate and develop people throughout their lives.

Adult Learners’ Week runs from 9th to 15th May this year and NCS is doing its bit to support it. You can try some course snippets and a complete free course over at the NCS ALW page. Try a course on Archaeology, Health Care or Herbology. It’s all free for Adult Learners’ Week.

60 Years Young

The older students of remote Australian island Tasmania have been served by Adult Education Tasmania since 1949. The organisation is rightly proud of this long-service in an age when the mature learner is often forgotten.

 This autumn they are providing courses in an enviable range of subjects from Arts and Crafts to Outdoors and Adventure, by way of Music, Dance and Drama and Parenting. So it looks like they are vigorous enough to do another sixty years.

Congratulations Adult Education Tasmania from the NCS.

Happy Easter

A happy Easter to all our readers!

It also looks like the weather is improving; just the right time to be taking a course with an outdoors element. May we suggest getting out in the garden for some Herbal Remedies, or maybe the Ecology of Your Garden is of interest? Maybe travel beckons and an Introduction to Archaeology would be nice? There is still time to squeeze in one of our Astronomy courses before the lighter nights draw in.

We are aware that the southern hemisphere is moving into autumn and the longer nights are approaching, and for you we have plenty of other courses to while away the winter evenings.

Dr John Medina has applied recent developments in neuroscience to come up with a twelve-point plan for maximising brainpower. You can give your brain a workout over at his web site, Brain Rules.

Some of the ideas may be surprising but are founded in science. Rule 1 suggests that our brains will work better when we are walking. The reason is evolutionary. Humans walk and have walked over vast areas of the globe and our brains developed on the move. So going for a walk to mull over a problem is probably a good idea. Sleep is the subject of rule 7. NASA pilots found they could concentrate better after a 26-minute nap and other research backs up the brain organising benefits of good sleep and the occasional nap.

Next time you are having problems gathering your thoughts or making a decision, have a look through the 12 brain rules and see if there is a way forward for you there.

Durham University

Durham University is offering £2000 to its graduates to stay on and conduct research rather than trying for a first job in the current gloomy economic climate. As graduate recruiters cut their targets by nearly 50%, the university is offering more opportunites for graduates in the academic sector. 102 scholarships are being offered this year to encourage students to take up a course in Durham’s “taught Masters” programme. At £2000 per head, the cost will be met out of the university’s own surpluses.

While the traditional jobs for high-flyers in the city continue to evaporate, the steadier world of academia seems to continue on a firmer financial footing. More from Durham University…