University of Johannesburg 2026 Digital Free Short-courses Learning Programme
Course Dates
- Enrollment Opens: Monday, 19 Jan 2026
- Enrollment Closes: Sunday, 22 Nov 2026
- Course Starts: Monday, 19 Jan 2026
- Course Ends: Sunday, 06 Dec 2026
Duration: 50 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
This course includes:
Focus Area: Digital revolution
Accredited: No
NQF Level: n/a
Mode of Delivery: Self-paced
About Course
Description:
These short learning programmes information literacy aims to develop basic skills to find, access, process and apply data, information, media and digital content ethically.
Course Names
- Building Blocks of Information Literacy
- Advanced Information Literacy
- Being a Responsible Digital Citizen
- Word for the Workplace
- Excel for the Workplace
- Presentation for the Workplace
- MS Teams for the Workplace
- Introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals
- African Insights
- Financial Literacy: Be Money Wise
- Artificial Intelligence in the 4IR
Admission Requirements:
- You must be 18 years and older.
- You must have access to an internet-enabled device.
- You must communicate clearly in English.
- No prior knowledge on the topic is required.
Course Curriculum
Completion of this course will enable you to:
- Define information literacy and explain the information literacy process comprehensively.
- Correctly determine the need for a specific information source and accurately match the need to the purpose of the task.
- Effectively search and find relevant sources using library collections and online resources.
- Competently access and evaluate information using prescribed criteria.
- Practice academic integrity (ethics) in the use of information.
- Engage in practices to use digital technologies, online platforms, and digital content safely, responsibly, and ethically.
Course Curriculum
Unit 1 – 4IR and Automation
Unit 1 takes you back to the history of the industrial revolutions. Unit 1 will enable students to understand selected critical developments in automation and think about their implications for manufacturing and the organisation of work.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Identify the defining features of the industrial revolutions.
- Understand the differences between the 4IR and prior industrial revolutions.
- Understand selected critical developments in automation.
Unit 2 – Evolution of AI
Unit 2 defines AI and takes students through some of the major historical milestones in AI research. Unit 2 provides a background to the current surge in AI research and commercialisation by tracing how AI has evolved to its current state of technological capabilities over many decades.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Define artificial intelligence (AI)
- Identify critical milestones in the development of AI
- Understand AI winters
- Recognise the enablers of AI after long winters.
Unit 3 – AI Fundamentals
Unit 3 focuses on the basics of AI. Students will be introduced to important concepts and techniques used in AI to enable them to have functional awareness of AI. Unit 3 will broaden students’ understanding of intelligence, artificial machine intelligence, machine learning and machine learning algorithms, which are the building blocks of AI.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Identify the difference between human intelligence and artificial intelligence.
- Understand the basics of machine learning.
- Distinguish between different types of machine learning.
- Identify the difference between AI, machine learning and deep learning.
Unit 4 – AI in the Real World: Global Overview
Unit 4 examines how AI is positively impacting humanity in many areas of life, such as manufacturing, business, supply chains, health, education, security, and so on. This unit tracks the emergence of Silicon Valley in relation to advances made by AI technology.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Understand the applications of AI in the world of business and society.
- Identify global corporate actors influencing AI research and development.
- Understand the potential of AI in solving human problems.
Unit 5 – AI in the Real World: China and Africa
Unit 5 examines how China is using AI to transform all sectors of the country’s economy, including commerce, trade and manufacturing, at a fast pace. In China, the wave of AI is sweeping across society at the speed of lightning as all players race to adopt AI in all profit-making and social investment tasks. Unit 5 considers the role of the Chinese government, local government, large corporates, start-ups, and ordinary people in this seismic shift from “Made in China” to “Made intelligently in China”.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Identify recent advances in AI research and commercialisation in China and Africa.
- Understand selected case studies of important AI start-ups in China and Africa.
- List the limits and failures of AI at present.
Unit 6 – Future of the World of Work
AI will transform every industry in Africa in the next few years. AI-powered machines will perform a significant chunk of the work that humans perform now. Unit 6 encourages students to contemplate the future of work in an AI-driven economy by tracing the impact of automation throughout economic history, from the First Industrial Revolution to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Understand the impact of automation and autonomous machines on jobs from a historical perspective.
- Predict future job losses due to intelligent robots.
- Identify features of the future workforce.
- Recognise the nature of tasks and skills that will be replaced by AI-powered robots.
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