FutureLearn: Introduction to Cyber Security (Week 1-8)

After being incredibly proud of myself for completing the online learning around programming, I thought I'd look at other courses as well.

I found one run by the Open University giving an "Introduction to Cyber Security".  As some of you know I work in this field, so what's the point of doing this course?

Most importantly to some, it's a free course!  But also I wanted to ensure my knowledge was relevant and current, which reassuringly it was.  I also wanted to see the material and see if it would be of use for others.  Again, I found the course well structured and the segments within each weeks learning broken down into bite size chunks.

I know a few people in the IT security industry who are assumed to have the basic knowledge.  This course can ensure they do have that knowledge.  Whether you're completely new to IT security, or want a refresher, it's certainly useful.

The course recommends setting aside 3 hours per week, for the duration of the eight week course.  I managed to complete the course within a couple of evenings, but I have over 8 years working with IT security and a number of IT certifications which regularly teaches and tests this knowledge.

FutureLearn: Begin Programming: Build your first mobile game (Week 7)

Well the seven weeks have flown by and this is the final week of my FutureLearn course.

The course and material was very well structured, and I leave understanding more about the process of programming.  Am I am to make my own mobile app... well not without a little more work, but I certainly understand the process to do this.

There was a test at the end of the course, which was pretty straightforward, if you paid attention for the previous six weeks.

The online learning process was an interesting one for me, and I will look at other courses to learn some new things!

Good luck if you want to start programming, and this is an excellent way to start!

FutureLearn: Begin Programming: Build your first mobile game (Week 5 & 6)

I had a few things on at work, so my studying slipped and had to catch up two weeks of course material this week.

Again, it this may have been more of a challenge for those who have never programmed before, but fortunately I could leverage previous experiences.

Week 5 was about algorithms, and week 6 about functions.  Both areas have been touched upon in previous weeks, but certainly well developed course material around these subjects.  The mix of theory and practicals make it feel like a more complete learning experience.

Next weeks course will be the last one in this series, so I'll see how that goes then.

FutureLearn: Begin Programming: Build your first mobile game (Week 4)

This week we looked at loops and arrays, which again I remember from my programming days at university.  The videos and tutorials were excellent, giving a great reminder on how to tackle these elements and where they are used.

FutureLearn: Begin Programming: Build your first mobile game (Week 3)

This week was learning about conditional statements.  Again there was familiarity with reading the code and understanding the statements, which helped speed up this weeks learning.  There is still plenty to learn from a syntax perspective, but not as hard as I thought it may be.

FutureLearn: Begin Programming: Build your first mobile game (Week 2)

This week was spent learning about code constructs.  It covered off data types and variables, as well as operators and precedence.

It seems that the Pascal programming I did at university over 20 years had stuck, as this week made a lot of sense and was very familiar.

Next week is covering conditional statements, which I think I remember as well!

FutureLearn: Begin Programming: Build your first mobile game (Week 1)

A friend posted a link on Facebook about an online training course to an Introduction to Forensic Science.  Sounds like great fun ,if you're a CSI fan, like I am, but I delved a little deeper to see what other courses were available.

All the courses are free and seem to be run by reputable universities.  The courses are structured to be carried out over a few weeks, requiring a few hours that week.  I chose the "Begin Programming: Build your first mobile game" as my first course.  It runs for 7 weeks, requiring around 3 hours per week depending on your level of experience.  I haven't programmed since I was in university, so thought it may be fun to see what programming is like 20 years on!!

There is a need to register on the site, but nothing too horrific!  This course was already underway, but as it was only week 1, there was still time to catch up before week 2's content was released.

The first week required the installation covered off a number of elements, including:

• An introduction to programming
• How to use the FutureLearn website
• Software requirements for the course
• How to download & install the JDK
• How to download & install the Android SDK
• How to download the game framework for the course
• Setting up the IDE
• Setting up the game and running it
• Understanding the Android folder system
• Setting up the game on an Android device

I ran through the above, and it took around three hours.  I had a couple of glitches, as the original course didn't allow for the release of Android 5.0 Lollypop in mind, and so there were some changes required for the Android SDK.  It took me a couple of goes to get it right.  Although a little frustrating, it was not the fault of the course, when Google update software!  That said, the content so far has been great and certainly at right pace for someone who is not a programmer.