Online training courses to further your global development career

Online courses can be a viable and affordable option for development professionals looking to freshen up their skills. With most courses accessible anytime and anywhere, learners can strengthen and update their knowledge in specialized areas whether they are at home, at work or in the field. While many jobs in development still require a master’s degree, an online qualification from an accredited institution or program can add weight to your CV and boost your reputation as an expert on a particular topic. Here is an overview of some of the top institutions and platforms offering online courses that could further your knowledge and career in global development. Centre for International Development and Training CIDT is a nonprofit department within the University of Wolverhampton, based in the United Kingdom, which focuses on capacity strengthening services for international development agencies, programs and projects. In addition to face-to-face workshops, CIDT provides teaching and training through online programs. Courses address a range of topics from management in the development sector to technical and skills training. The organization has worked with and provided training for governments, donors, U.N. agencies, program staff and stakeholders. Their latest online course, Results-Based Management, provides an overview of RBM and the process involved in developing projects or programs that are results orientated. The cost of the course is 290 pounds for six weeks access. DisasterReady Part of the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation, DisasterReady works in partnership with nongovernmental organizations, leading aid agencies and industry experts including World Vision, USAID, World Food Programme and UNICEF. They offer development workers and volunteers access to an online learning library of more than 600 free training resources in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. Areas of study include humanitarian essentials, program support, management and leadership, safety and security, personal development and language courses. Members of the online community can access the regularly updated featured courses which currently include “Introduction to Monitoring & Evaluation,” “Gender Justice: An Introduction,” and “Investing in Humanitarian Action.” edX Founded by Harvard and MIT in 2012, edX is an online learning platform and massive open online course provider. Working with 90 global partners, edX offers courses from top universities and institutions around the world to increase access to high-quality education. All courses are free with some offering certification for a reasonable price. Courses are provided in 12 languages and vary in length and level. While there are some self-paced courses, many are live and subject to restricted enrollment periods. Upcoming courses that might be of interest to development professional include Foundations of Development Policy, Leadership in Global Development, Human Rights and Development, and The Science and Practice of Sustainable Development. FutureLearn A private company owned by The Open University, FutureLearn focuses on distance learning and online education. From their base in London’s British Library, FutureLearn works with 111 partners from around the world, including top universities and institutions, to offer courses across a range of topics. All courses are free, but they are subject to a start date and run over a specified number of weeks with the material then remaining accessible to participants when the course finishes. While FutureLearn does not focus on development topics, they have several courses of interest to professionals in this sector. One such course is Health in Humanitarian Crises, which is currently running in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and looks at the needs of those affected by humanitarian disasters and the challenges of responding to their needs. Upcoming courses include Disaster Management: Introduction to Humanitarian Aid and Ebola in Context: Understanding Transmission, Response and Control. Global Health eLearning Center The GHeL Center was created in 2005 by USAID’s Bureau of Global Health to enable its staff around the world to access the best technical global health information. Initially aimed at USAID health sector staff, the entire global health community can now benefit from this learning resource. Courses offer a mixture of technical and programmatic content while sharing best practices and case studies. The material is also available in Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish and French. Many of the courses are short and can be completed in just a few hours. Program areas include child survival, family planning, governance and health, and private sector approach. Humanitarian Leadership Academy The Humanitarian Leadership Academy is a global learning initiative that aims to enable people around the world to prepare and respond to crises in their own countries. With three collaborative centers in Europe and regional academy centers in Kenya and the Philippines, HLA works in partnership with humanitarian organizations, businesses, local and national authorities, and learning providers around the world. The regional academy centers work to ensure learning is context specific and relevant but the main learning packages revolve around “essential learning pathways” for professionals and volunteers, such as managing in the humanitarian sector and project management. Human Rights Education Association HREA is an international nongovernmental and nonprofit organization that strives to support human rights education, training for human rights defenders and organizations, and the development of educational material and programming. The organization works with NGOs, inter-governmental agencies and governments interested in implementing human rights in education programs. It offers self-directed e-courses, as well as tutored e-learning courses, which range from $75 to $725, and focuses on 13 areas, including armed conflict and humanitarian law, communications and advocacy, and migration and asylum. Courses are starting soon on Child Rights Public Budgeting, Education in Emergencies, and Psychosocial Consequences of Migration and Asylum. John Hopkins School of Public Health Open Courseware The John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health offers online degrees, online courses and certificates, and other forms of online training as part of its mission to share its knowledge “freely and openly.” Self-paced courses are available for free through the institution’s own open courseware program and also through Coursera and iTunes U. OCW provides materials for more than 100 courses created by the JHSPH faculty and allows health professionals around the world to build upon their knowledge of health issues and disease prevention. Learning materials are available on a wide range of health topics, including malariology, issues on mental health research in developing countries, and sexual health, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and human rights. LINGOs A platform that provides tools and self-learning courses, LINGOs mission is to allow organizations to increase their impact and potential through membership networking, training, capacity-building and consulting services. Many of the 900 courses available to its members are free and cover a range of topics from finance management to business writing, to Microsoft Office skills, to UNHCR security risk management. Over 40 of its courses or learnings paths are available in Arabic. LINGOs, through partnerships with APMG International, also designed the widely used “Project Management in Development” (PMD Pro) curriculum, which is now owned and managed by a new NGO, PM4NGOs. PMD Pro is a specialized certification scheme that was created to provide project management learning materials for the development sector. Training initiatives, such as LINGOs, can use the curriculum to develop project management solutions for NGOs, governments and civil society groups, while project managers can gain a recognized qualification. After an introductory training course and self study, project managers can take an online exam for $20. Over 13,000 people in at least 100 countries are using PMD Pro to deliver more effective project outcomes. Massachusetts Institute of Technology MicroMasters MIT’s MicroMasters is a professional and academic credential which can be accessed by online learners anywhere in the world. Upon completion of a MicroMasters, students can apply to spend one semester on campus and gain an accelerated master’s degree from MIT. This month sees the launch of a new MicroMasters which will be of interest to professionals working with NGOs, aid agencies and foundations. The MicroMasters program, “Data, Economics and Development Policy,” opened for enrollment this week on Feb. 6 and is made up of five courses. These courses, which students can complete at their own pace, are “Microeconomics,” “The Challenges of Global Poverty.” “Data Analysis for Social Scientists,” “Foundations of Development Policy: Advanced Development Economics,” and “Designing and Running Randomized Evaluations.” All content will be available to allow students to audit the courses for free and while the MicroMasters credential involves some fees, these are based on a personalized pricing model to enable the program to have a global reach and impact. TechChange This learning platform focuses on providing technology training for development organizations and professionals such as implementers in public health, emergency response and monitoring and evaluation. Their teaching models includes live interviews, interactive game mechanics, interactive simulations and social learning. TechChange offers live and self-paced training courses across 198 countries, many of which are free but prices for some courses start at $395. Courses also vary in length from four weeks to three months with a recommended time commitment of five to seven hours per week. The spring semester courses coming up include “Technology for Monitoring & Evaluation,” “Technology for Data Collection and Survey Design,” and “Technology for Data Visualization and Analysis.” What did we miss? Do you know of other online training and certification courses designed for global development professionals? Please leave them in the comments below. Our mission is to do more good for more people. If you think the right information can make a difference, we invite you to join us by making a small investment in Professional Membership.