Free courses
Produced by The Open University, a world leader in open and distance learning, all OpenLearn courses are free to study. We offer nearly 1000 free courses across 9 different subject areas. Our courses are available to start right away.
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level 3: advanced icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Introducing healthcare improvement
This free course, Introducing healthcare improvement, explores quality improvement in healthcare settings. It begins by defining healthcare quality and describing the meaning of quality improvement in healthcare. You will also learn about the different dimensions of quality and the broad aims of healthcare improvement. The course will help you ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Systems modelling
Maps and plans, architects and engineers, drawings, graphs and tables: all are models we use in everyday life. This free course, Systems modelling, will introduce you to the modelling process, enabling you to recognise that systems models may be used in different ways as part of a process for: improving understanding of a situation; identifying ...
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Money & Business
Supply chain sustainability
To survive in today’s competitive environment, organisations need not only have an efficient and effective supply chain for the context in which they operate, they also have to consider issues of sustainability in their supply chain strategies. These issues are a consideration beyond those of environmental sustainability and also encompass ...
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Digital & Computing
Introducing ICT systems
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) systems now dominate our everyday lives. This free course, Introducing ICT systems, will explain what constitutes such a system and how ICT systems work. You will also look at how ICT systems convey, store and manipulate data, and how they process data. Finally you will learn how these systems ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Numbers, units and arithmetic
Do fractions and decimals make you apprehensive about maths? Do you lack confidence in dealing with numbers? If so, then this free course, Numbers, units and arithmetic, is for you. The course will explain the basics of working with positive and negative numbers and how to multiply and divide with fractions and decimals.
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Education & Development
Children and young people’s participation
Listening to children is a first step in the participation agenda, which is reasonably well established. By contrast, enabling children to share in decision making lags some way behind. This free course, Children and young people's participation, emphasises that the adoption of an integrated approach to participation by different sectors of the ...
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Money & Business
Facilitating group discussions
Gain an insight into facilitating meetings and discussions in the workplace. In this free course, Facilitating group discussions, you will look at some of the behaviours effective facilitators exhibit. Informative and engaging videos will introduce you to examples of facilitation in practice.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Starting with psychology
The most 'important and greatest puzzle' we face as humans is ourselves (Boring, 1950, p. 56). Humans are a puzzle, one that is complex, subtle and multi-layered, and it gets even more complicated as we evolve over time and change within different contexts. When answering the question 'what makes us who we are?' psychologists put forward a ...
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Social psychology and politics
Why are social psychologists interested in politics, and how can they help us understand things like social movements, protest and activism? This free course, Social psychology and politics, moves away from a state-centric study of politics and, using insights from social psychology, explores the role of identity, personality and culture for ...
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Education & Development
Essay and report writing skills
Writing reports and assignments can be a daunting prospect. Learn how to interpret questions and how to plan, structure and write your assignment or report. This free course, Essay and report writing skills, is designed to help you develop the skills you need to write effectively for academic purposes.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Introducing ageing
Everyone is ageing, whatever their current age, and we live in a world where many people are living much longer than previous generations. This is often seen as a problem. But is it? This free course, Introducing ageing, will help you to think about this issue by introducing you to some key ideas in studying later life.
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Society, Politics & Law
Reading and note taking – preparation for study
Reading and note taking are two essential study skills. How do you read? This free course, Reading and note taking preparation for study, will introduce you to different techniques to help you to alter the way you read according to the type of material you are studying. You will also learn the techniques behind successful note taking and how to...