University System of Maryland Courses

Applied Entrepreneurship 2: Acceleration Plan Development and Evaluation

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Applied Entrepreneurship II is a follow-on course from Applied Entrepreneurship I. You’ll dive even deeper into developing a plan to accelerate your business, doing some research to pull together facts and figures to develop a more complete acceleration plan to help you understand the more intricate details of how to iterate certain parts of your business model togrow your business. In this course you will: Create an outline of your acceleration plan:Define and size your market based upon your new viewDevelop and implement a market research planMore fully understand what marketing entailsLearn more about adding to your entrepreneurial team and how to lead it effectivelyDevelop a detailed financial plan for your business and, if needed, how to obtain outside financingYou can then enter an exciting competition where you could win a cash prize that you can use to help grow your business, presenting to a panel of judges who will not only determine winners, but will also provide you with guidance for moving forward.

Accounting and Financial Management

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Do you want to advance your career and move toward an organizational leadership position, such as a Chief Financial Officer? Ideal for midcareer professionals, this MicroMasters program will help you build the skills you’ll need to make high-level decisions that impact your organization's current operations and financial future.You will gain hands-on experience as you report and analyze financial transactions of corporations. Further, you will learn how to assess risks and returns of alternative investments by analyzing SEC 10-K reports of Fortune 500 companies and enhance your ability to make effective financial management decisions to prepare for future career advancement.

Data Analysis for Decision Making

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In our information age, companies have access to unprecedented amounts information on customers--their behaviors, interests, and buying habits--and the markets in which they operate. Being able to analyze that data has become a critical skill for decision makers at every level of an organization. Today’s firms use data to detect market movement before it becomes a fully-fledged trend, helping them to stay ahead of the curve, tailor products and services to specific customer segments, determine when and when to enter markets, and differentiate themselves from competitors. In this course, you will learn how to unlock the value of data to create and grow an organization. You will gain the analytical tools necessary to confidently describe the current state of areas critical to your business, predict the likelihood of an event occurring, compare two or more approaches to a business challenge, and determine if a phenomenon you are seeing is coincidence or a genuine insight. By the end of this course, you know how to make data-driven decisions to find advantages and stay competitive.

Applied Entrepreneurship: Scaling a Business for Success

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In this Professional Certificate program, you will learn the skills to assess your business model and plan for growth and sustainability. The biggest breakthroughs in scaling businesses have come from innovations in business models. Is your business ready for the next level? Experienced entrepreneurs will offer you feedback about your plan to improve your business model which could transform your company! In these courses you will learn to solidify the basics and prepare for scaling your existing business. You will answer some of the following questions: Can you tweak your offering to improve your value proposition to your customer?Do you have the right market fit? Which channels will provide the biggest ROI? Have you prepared to add resources or new processes to scale?What innovations can you create or exist to evolve your business model and business?Is there a key area that can be modified, scaled or automated to improve your efficiencies and grow your business?Are you utilizing social media well?Should you be outsourcing any functions/processes in the business?Do you have the right mindset to scale your business? Our course model is set up for your success.You will be challenged to think about where you want to go, what turning points await you, and how to utilize resources to accelerate your plans. Starting a business is not always the hard part - it's sustaining the business with a growth mindset and seeing opportunities to accelerate growth. This program will provide you with the tools to assess your business model, identify opportunities for innovation and evolution, create a plan and put it into action. By earning the Applied Entrepreneurship Professional Certificate, you will have created a viable plan to evolve your business into a thriving venture. Learn from two top professors in the field: Mark Grovic, J.D., B.A.Senior Advisor to University of Maryland Global Campus, Professor and Venture Capitalist in Residence at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, Co-founder of New Markets Venture Partners, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), University of California, Berkeley; Juris Doctor (J.D.), Georgetown University Law Center; Private Equity and Venture Capital Executive Program, Harvard Business School Michele K. Masterfano, DBAAdjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus, DBA in Marketing from Argosy University Sarasota, M.S. in Management Science from Lehigh University,B.A. in Liberal Arts from Pennsylvania State University.Seminar in Entrepreneurship Education, Babson College.

Drones and Autonomous Systems I: Fundamentals

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Are you interested in learning about drones, be it casual or in-depth? You can use this course to gain insight into the basic elements of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) drone systems used in civilian missions and into Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. This course introduces unmanned aerial systems (UAS) including drones and autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with sensors including those for obstacle avoidance, other instruments, and payloads that rely on complex algorithms and have various uses. No previous knowledge of drones, flying systems, autonomous technology, or flying experience is required. Join us as you start your drone journey. Taught by instructors with decades of experience in drone technology applications in combat and civilian operations, systems design, and emergency management planning, this course will equip analysts and operational experts with the technical and planning knowledge for emergency planning and other applications.

Long-term Financial Management

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Want to be ahead of your competitors? Learn to employ long-term strategic financial management tools to be years ahead of your competitors. Planning for your corporation's financial future brings value to today and tomorrow.An organization’s long-term financial health and success depends on critical financial planning that spans multiple years. This course, part of the Accounting and Financial Management MicroMasters program, explores the long-term financial environment of corporations, including options and futures, capital budgeting, capital structure management, dividend and share re-purchase policies, and investment banking and restructuring. You will learn how financial managers analyze various types of long-term funding sources, including term loans, derivatives, debt an equity securities, and leases. Learners will evaluate alternate policies with regard to financial leverage, capital structure, dividends, and the issuance of preferred stock. You will examine mergers, leveraged buyouts, and divestitures as special situations to create value.This course is part of the Accounting and Financial Management MicroMaster’s program from UMGC. Upon completion of the program and receipt of the verified MicroMaster’s certificate, learners may then transition into the full UMGC Master’s Program in Accounting and Financial Management. See the MicroMasters program page for more information.

Storytelling and Persuading using Data and Digital Technologies

3.5

Decisions made by humans are rarely made by data alone. Human decision-makers have cognitive biases, are affected by emotions, and make conceptual leaps beyond what the data may suggest. The best way to educate and persuade decision-makers is through stories. Stories built by good data analysis.In this course, you will learn how to create stories based on data - data storytelling - by using the ABT (“And, But, Then”) Narrative Framework. We will start by using powerful data science techniques to explore and refine your data. We shape a compelling narrative out of the data findings using brain-friendly storytelling techniques.Once you have your stories, you will learn to create insightful data visualizations and build a persuasive presentation for business professionals - both in-person or online.The final week of the course deals with Customer Training. Customers want the latest and greatest digital products full of features. But customers don't want to spend too much time learning those features. Customer training helps the digital organization be more strategic by assisting the customer in engaging more with the product. Using data storytelling skills, you will craft stories to help customers understand how your organization’s products and services will make their lives better. You will learn how to use the data analytics and machine learning in your digital organization to create effective customer training, so your products and services get the traction you need for digital transformation success.

Strategic Communication for Sustainability Leaders

4.7

Effective science communicators are in short supply during a time of unprecedented environmental challenges. As policy-makers, businesses, and communities seek solutions, the need for science communication skills will only grow. In this course, you will not only learn how to identify the tools of science communication, but will be able critique, refine, and develop them.Any leader understands that data is the underpinning of competent decision-making. Complex systems require that data be presented in a clear and accessible format. You will learn to construct easy-to-interpret data visualizations that will enable you to build consensus and facilitate decisions across a broad spectrum of stakeholders.Data tells us a story. Articulating and messaging this data-driven narrative to communicate the latest research is a key skill for any manager. You will learn to use proven techniques to develop such narratives so that you can effectively communicate complex data-sets to any audience.Cogent science communication requires the effective integration of a captivating and accessible narrative with appealing multimedia data visualizations. These two new skills are the foundation for telling a larger story. Compelling “stories” are a proven approach to explain complex problems, involve the target audience, and motivate diverse stakeholders to work toward change.

Transforming Your Company’s Data Analytics: Championing the Digital Enterprise

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Organizations are pressured to become digital enterprises for good reason. Today every company is a technology company at its core. Only through integrated information technology systems designed for business analytics can companies sense and respond to changing market demands. Business agility demands a digital enterprise. Digital technologies have the potential to transform organizations into lean, agile businesses that are strongly focused on their customers. But, just introducing digital technologies into an enterprise is not enough. Without the right organizational culture, business processes, and active people training, you will not realize the full value of digital technologies. In this program, we help you see the dynamic capabilities of your organization. Using the fitness landscape model we help managers see where they are in relation to other organizations and how to reconfigure their dynamic capabilities to move higher up the competitive fitness landscape. These “dynamic capabilities” include both the social and the digital - how we work and the technologies that support it.. Terabytes of processing and machine learning won’t be the solution to your business problems on their own. As companies pursue big data and cloud computing strategies to improve their decision making with actionable insights - the technologies will change. To truly sustainably improve the customer experience and achieve the competitive advantage that the power of data promises, you need the social technologies and processes that are able to adapt along with your data strategy. This ability to reconfigure and deploy new capabilities within the organization by creating, extending, or modifying the existing resources is a “dynamic capability.” With the speed of technology disruption, business leaders must enable their company to adapt. This certificate will also teach you about how to discover data sources in your company, and leverage those structured and unstructured data to improve your whole business. From supply chain sourcing to marketing and delivery. These lessons will help you make the right choices about digital transformation to make your organization better fulfill its mission and delight customers. To get there you must first understand the vision of a digital enterprise, what it looks like, how it operates, and why it’s so powerful in delivering results.

Designing with Open Educational Resources (OER)

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Today’s classrooms are dynamic, engaging and active learning spaces and our resources should be as well. Sadly, many of the available learning resources are too expensive or not dynamic or too broad to meet our instructional needs.   An essential skill for educators is to be able to infuse Open Educational Resources to meet the specific needs of their learners.  This course is an introduction to learning the tools and practices for Designing Open Educational Resources (OER). The course begins with an educational system review of Open Education and how the rise in popularity of Creative Commons attribution has promoted the open sharing of instructional materials in both K-12 and higher education learning environments.  Then, learners review how to identify instructional learning gaps, explore OER repositories and evaluate existing OER to identify educational and course materials to meet their needs.  The course culminates with hands-on activities for remixing OER as well as designing OER in various digital media to publish educational materials to meet specific instructional needs. No previous digital design or experience is required.  All course projects and activities utilize free or shareware based online resources and applications.

Program Management and the Art of Communication

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You may have heard that “90% of a project manager’s work is communication.” Well that’s even more true as a program manager. But do you know why communication is so important and what is good communication for making projects successful?If you have even a little project management experience, you know communication is no longer just the transfer of information and giving directives to project managers and project teams. Modern communication theory is based upon creating shared understanding – “the coordinated management of meaning.” And nowhere is it more important to manage and coordinate meaning – and understanding – than in programs and projects. Earn up to 50 PDUs as you progress in this professional certificate, you will learn:How to communicate for understanding instead of just giving information. What Aristotle taught us about effective communication and why his 2,000-year old advice is still vital to persuasive communication.How the “Coordinated Management of Meaning” can help you develop and lead high-performing project teams and programs.How you can better manage the flow of program or project communication, as the information hub on your project.How to master both emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence when communicating with your project managers, teams and stakeholders. How to negotiate effectively using hidden emotional and cultural subtexts.How to effectively communicate online with a distributed workforce by being “virtually present.”Approaches for communicating for understanding as the foundation of being a coaching, situational leadership, and servant leadership program/project manager. To use storytelling as a powerful risk management tool. This certificate program is not just about theory; I also give the working project manager aspiring to program management practical tips and tools to help them improve their most important skill: communication. You've worked hard to gain the Project Management Institute, Inc's (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification or similar project management certification. And, you have mastered the PMBOK guide ("A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge) communication knowledge area while preparing for the PMP exam. These workplace-tested tips and tools are ready to use today as you manage your programs and projects whether you have project management training in traditional or agile project management (PMI-ACP). Even certified scrum masters can benefit from this online course Along with gaining professional development units (PDU), upgrade your project management training with the power skill of communication.

Instructional Design and Technology

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Engage and inspire students through technology.Learn how to create enhanced learning opportunities using the latest tools and techniques to connect with today’s digital-first students.Our unique approach to instructional design focuses on understanding learning theory, blending traditional instructional design models with rapid prototyping and data analytics to create online courses. You will gain hands-on experience developing and publishing online courses using the edX platform.This Instructional Design and Technology MicroMasters program will provide the knowledge and skills needed to capitalize on one of the fastest growing areas of education – online teaching and learning. This program will prepare you to create engaging and active learning, using digital pedagogy, emerging technologies and data analytics. Through this program you will learn how to design captivating learning experiences for students who want mobile learning opportunities that are collaborative and accessible, while advancing your knowledge of educational theory.

Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

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In this business and management certificate course focused on the foundations of digital marketing, you will gain an understanding of how the digital economy works and develop the critical insights necessary to succeed in e-commerce and digital and social media marketing.The fixed and mobile Internet and related technologies exert a profound influence on how business and social institutions evolve, how they are challenged—and sometimes, even displaced. Companies that were non-existent a few short years ago, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Uber, have dramatically changed how we interact, communicate and navigate our world. Even Amazon and Google are relatively “young” by any measure. If you’re an entrepreneur, investor, manager, or student, you need thoughtful approaches to navigate and win in this new, evolving environment.This online course is organized around four broad themes and leverages relevant theory and analysis, as well as numerous practical examples to develop key learning points and accelerate your knowledge of digital marketing.The themes are:● Behavioral foundations for understanding and navigating the new online-offline landscape● New forms of interaction, including formation of networks and reputation building● Tools and principles of digital marketing action including online advertising on fixed and mobile devices● New media platforms and emergence of various marketing channels and mixed marketing modelsThis course is beneficial to marketing professionals, analysts, entrepreneurs, small business owners, investors, and consumers.This course is part of Maryland Smith’s Digital Marketing Professional Certificate. For more information, see here.

Leadership and Influence

2.5

Develop the skills to be an effective and successful leader. High impact leaders have the ability to lead and influence others toward a common goal. To do this you must develop your own toolbox of strategies - to maintain engagement, to build collaborative support and to master conflict while remaining true to your authentic self. Upon completing this course, learners will be able to design an effective influence strategy to accomplish goals, even without formal authority. You’ll be able to recognize team dynamics and identify ways to help each member contribute more effectively. Through exercises and lessons, you’ll pinpoint problems and challenges in the way you (and your teams) make decisions. Finally, you’ll walk away with a concrete plan for continuing to expand your situational adaptability as a leader, allowing you to adjust with fluency and achieve your fullest potential.

Bioinformatics

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Modern biology generates massive quantities of big data. Hidden in this data might be the next blockbuster cancer therapy, the definitive proof that a certain gene is responsible for a disease, or the information needed to replicate a crucial biological process — and you could be on the team that discovers it.Bioinformatics blends biology, computer science and mathematics and in this Bioinformatics MicroMasters program you’ll gain the cutting edge knowledge and experience that will give you significant career advantage in this fascinating field.In this program, you will learn how to analyze DNA sequences to find mutations and anomalies, understand the important role protein structure plays in protein function and use statistical analysis tools, including R programming, to mine biological big data.This program is ideal for those who want to learn more about the bioinformatics field and its effects on society at large or who would like to incorporate bioinformatics principles and tools into their laboratories.