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Health, Sports & Psychology
Exploring learning disabilities: supporting belonging
This free course, Exploring learning disabilities: supporting belonging, takes the real-life cases of a number of different people to explore what it is like to have the label ‘learning disability’. The course also considers how it feels to support someone with a learning disability, as a family member, a friend, an advocate or a paid worker. Through these human stories the course considers the complex moral, ethical and practical debates learning disability gives rise to.
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Science, Maths & Technology
The science of alcohol
Alcohol plays a considerable part in the daily lives of humanity and has done for thousands of years. This free course, The science of alcohol, looks at the science behind the processes of brewing, distilling and vinification, and how many of our beverages are made. A historical aspect is also covered showing how the modern production techniques have developed from ancient methods, and how scientists ensure that products are safe to drink. The course also looks at the biological effects of alcohol, and how it affects the human body.
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History & The Arts
Listening for form in popular music
This free course, Listening for form in popular music, explores form, or how music is organised in time. It looks at three strategies for communicating form – through the use of specialist terms (such as ‘chorus’ and ‘bridge’), alphabetic designations (for example AABA), and visual diagrams. It also considers how the form of a song works with its lyrics to create meaning.
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Languages
Getting started with Italian 1
Are you fascinated by the Italian culture and lifestyle, cuisine, historic cities, art and beautiful landscapes? Have you always loved the sound and musicality of the Italian language? Perhaps you’ve visited an Italian city and wished you could chat with local people. Or maybe you would like to be able to read a menu, talk about yourself, or talk about yours or other people’s jobs. Whatever your reasons for learning Italian, this two-week course gives you a chance to start a new exciting learning experience. You’ll start from the basics to ordering food and drinks at the bar. This OpenLearn course is an extract from the beginning of the Open Centre for Languages and Cultures short course, LXI001 Beginners Italian 1: primi passi. After completing this free course, you may wish to register for the full course to continue your learning!
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Wheelchair basketball player Yasmin on coaching, classification and the cost of disability sport
Yasmin Reeve is one of this year’s Sport and Fitness Student Voice Champions at The Open University. She’ll be tuning into the Tokyo Paralympics, but with mixed feelings, as she explains.
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History & The Arts
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
Enjoy Aristophanes' comic account of one woman's extraordinary method of bringing The Peloponnesian War to an end in this classical studies animation.
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Society, Politics & Law
Saving Setrus: To Intervene or not to Intervene
A neighbouring state is falling into war. You're the Prime Minister - can you use your political capital to legally intervene? Should you even try?
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Education & Development
Jumpstart University
The Jumpstart University hub has been developed by The Open University in collaboration with the Russell Group to help students starting university this year to prepare for and settle into their studies.
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