Bourton & District

Group Support

Is there a subject you would like to learn about but there is no group listed, or no organiser appointed? Then why not volunteer to be a Group Organiser. There is plenty of support available to you and the role need not be onerous. You could for instance decide to run a group with a friend, or decide a topic needed only a limited number of meetings.

First port of call is to contact one of our Group Co-ordinators, who can provide you with our handbook for Group Organisers that contains information about insurance, financial policy and health and safety policies. They can also help in advising about the halls that are available for hire in the area.

Secondly the U3A facilitates the sharing of ideas and material by having Subject Advisors whom you can contact directly. Start up leaflets,subject newsletters and back copies of U3A's educational journal Sources can also be downloaded from the main U3A site.

Thirdly the Resource Centre in the National Office in Bromley has a collection of non-book material available to all U3A groups to borrow free of charge except for the cost of return postage. There are slides, videos, cassettes, dvds and cd roms available in a wide range of subjects.

Fourthly there is a vast amount of material available online that you can use or adapt to meet your needs. You will find in line links to some online learning resources and more detail below.

OPEN LEARNING:
Several universities provide free access to learning materials. The Open University's OpenLearn was launched in 2006 and gives access to topical and interactive content, from expert blogs, to videos and games. This 'open media' often links to OU BBC television and radio programmes. See OU-Open Learn

PODCASTS:
Numerous educational and cultural institutions post Podcasts on the internet. (e.g. The National Archives, RAF Museum, The National Gallery, Fitzwilliam Museum, etc)

BBC KNOWLEDGE & LEARNING
The BBC also operates numerous sub sites that focus on different subjects. For instance topics on Science, Nature, The Arts, Religion, Ethics, Languages and History are covered. Also included is 70 years of programmes (BBC Archives),& beginner’s guide to the internet (BBC Webwise).

U3A
The U3A offers both Tutored and Untutored online courses.
The courses can all be studied from the comfort of your own home, (or library, or wherever you access the internet); they involve as much or as little contact with others as you wish - all through email.

The potential for interactivity in a Tutored course makes for more interesting study, and each participant can play a part in the whole. With students based in UK, Australia, Cyprus and Spain, the contact with participants on other sides of the world is an enjoyable aspect that goes to make our online courses a worthwhile experience.

Untutored courses do not offer this contact and interactivity. However they are a great way to learn if you cannot guarantee regular hours, or are simply happier getting on with things on your own. (Any references to emailing tutors, etc found in Untutored courses, should be ignored.)
Full details are available on the U3A Website.
Some courses that have been offered are:
 Digital imaging
 Garden history
 Creative writing: fiction
 Creative writing: poetry
 Write to good effect
 Writing for publication
 Italian art 1400-1600 (beginners level)
 Artists of Spain (requires some knowledge)
 Venice and her artists (requires some knowledge)
 Visiting artists in Rome (requires some knowledge)
 Great Northern European artists

VIRTUAL REFERENCE LIBRARY
You can access online resources from your local library. If you are a member of Gloucestershire Libraries you can also use many of them from home or work by entering your library card number.

You can log on to the following sites on any computer, using your Gloucestershire library card number.
Newsbank website: search for full text national newspapers content 1985- current
The Times Digital Archive: search full text content 1785-1985
19th Century newspapers: search full text content across national and regional newspapers
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: search across 57,000 biographies
Oxford Reference : comprehensive range of reference works with easy search options
Naxos Music Library: 600,000 music tracks and music reference information
Oxford English Dictionary: authoritative and updated regularly
Universal Class: Sign up using your library card to access hundreds of courses for free. Learn in your own time, at your own pace with expert instructors giving feedback. Courses include Yoga, Digital Photography, Computer Basics Film Studies and many more.
Transparent Language Online Transparent Language Online. Start learning a new language for free. Sign up using your library card number and learn to listen, speak and write with courses in over 80 languages. Once you are registered you can Go Mobile with your Apple® iPad®, iPhone®, iPod® touch, or Android™ powered device. Just search BYKI Mobile in your app store.
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TED is a non profit organisation devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences - the TED Conference and TEDGlobal - TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.