Today we are focusing on some curious courses from different online education platforms. These courses will start in 2015 and are all free!

1. Community Journalism: Digital and Social Media

Course authors describe community journalism as “an area that combines elements of traditional journalism with the new opportunities brought about by digital and social media”.

Journalism is no longer devoted to major events told to general audiences only. The internet and social media made it possible for any individual to create a news platform and target any group of people.

The course will teach you how to launch your own community or hyperlocal site, how to explore the community, identify and build an audience, create content and establish your workflow. It will also cover topics of media law and ethics, and provide tips for using WordPress, Twitter and Facebook in your work.

2. Forensic Psychology: Witness Investigation

This course covers both psychology and criminal investigation. It focuses on the ways a human mind works when witnessing a crime. The course claims that relying on the evidence gained from an eyewitness can be dangerous, due to limitations of the human mind.

The course uses videos of real witnesses and from cameras behind the scenes of a police investigation. During the course you’ll try to solve a crime and see how well you did against a team of professional policemen.

3. Framing: Creating powerful political messages

This is another promising MOOC that focuses on the game of framing and reframing when presenting your opinion. The course claims that any position can be strengthened or weakened by mere use of language. An actress was hired to represent a politician with a point of view on a subject. During the course you’ll be able to see how the game of frames is played. You will be learning the necessary strategies of the game and designing your own frames.

4. Circadian clocks: how rhythms structure life

Another fascinating course that focuses on a topic of circadian clocks, the clocks that control the life of all beings. The course explains what these clocks mean for everyday life and society. The instructors will talk about changes in people’s metabolism and performance during the day. They claim that we are not the same person night and day. They say these clocks are very pervasive, and it’s important that the right things happen at the right time, otherwise it leads to higher risk of diseases. Circadian clocks are so powerful that paying attention to them in the future, will improve medical treatments.

5. Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence

A charismatic course instructor, Professor Richard Boyatzis claims it’s not a typical course. The course will focus on leadership in all spheres of life, and will look at leadership as at an emotional bond between people. The course will examine how you nurture and inspire learning and change in yourself and others, and it will teach you important skills.

More information about the courses is provided on their front pages.