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.
- All topics
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level 1: introductory icon
Society, Politics & Law
Psychological research, obedience and ethics
In this free course, Psychological research, obedience and ethics, you will learn about the importance of ethics in research that is undertaken by psychologists. You will read about the famous study on obedience conducted by Stanley Milgram, and watch two psychologists talk about their research with meerkats and chimpanzees.
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level 3: advanced icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Physical activity: a family affair
This free course, Physical activity: a family affair, aims to explore the effects that the family has on the amount and nature of physical activity a child participates in. The beliefs and behaviours of the family environment are the key psycho-social factors we investigate here.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Interpreting data: Boxplots and tables
This free course, Interpreting data: Boxplots and tables, is concerned with two main topics. In Section 1, you will learn about another kind of graphical display, the boxplot. A boxplot is a fairly simple graphic, which displays certain summary statistics of a set of data. Boxplots are particularly useful for assessing quickly the location, ...
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level 2: intermediate icon
Nature & Environment
Organisations, environmental management and innovation
Do you want to discover more about how organisations innovate for environmental management? This free course, Organisations, environmental management and innovation, focuses on the innovations organisations are developing or using to manage contemporary environmental issues. It also covers how organisations are innovating thinking about ...
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level 1: introductory icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Forensic science and fingerprints
This free course, Forensic science and fingerprints, covers how science can make fingerprints easier to study, how they are used in court and some of the questions about the extent to which fingerprint identification is sound and scientific. Students will learn the principles used in classifying and matching fingerprints (often called marks).
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Education & Development
Am I ready to be a distance learner?
Distance learning can open up opportunities for study. You might have not studied for a while, you might be returning to education, or you might not have had the chance to study at a higher level before. This free course, Am I ready to be a distance learner?, will help to boost your confidence. You'll explore useful skills so you can discover ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Innovation through representation
Innovations are realised through design, and some of the most useful tools in the designer's toolbox are the representations that are used to move from a vague idea, to a concept, and then to a realised product, service or system. This free course, Innovation through representation, explores what innovation is and how representations are used to...
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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
More working with charts, graphs and tables
When you encounter maths or technical content you'll need to know how to interpret this information, and possibly to present your own findings in this way. This free course, More working with charts, graphs and tables, will help you to develop the skills you need to do this, and gain the confidence to use them. This free course builds on our ...
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Money & Business
Sustainable innovations in enterprises
This free online course, Sustainable innovations in enterprises, introduces you to the importance of sustainable innovations, the role it plays in commercial and social enterprises and the importance to society. It explores cases of sustainable innovations in specialist areas – arts and humanities; science, technology and engineering; health & ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Languages
Grammar matters
Grammar matters because, combined with vocabulary choice, it is our main way of making meaning. This free course introduces you to one approach used to understand how meanings relate systematically to different aspects of grammar and shows how this deeper understanding can be applied to make everyday communication more effective.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Sporting women in the media
The mass media (e.g. radio, TV, internet) has become one of the most powerful institutional influences in society. This free course, Sporting women in the media, explores whether gendered inequalities exist in sport by evaluating the media coverage. The media can be highly influential in shaping perceptions about gender in sport and headlines ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Imaging in medicine
X-rays, CT scans and MRI scans are all medical imaging techniques of great practical importance that have been encountered by a great many people in their medical histories. This free course, Imaging in medicine, illustrates how these techniques work and their limitations and advantages.