Update your IT and Computing Skills
Skilled IT professionals are very much in demand and Computing and IT is a rapidly growing sector of employment. Gain more digital skills with our free courses.
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Introduction to cyber security: stay safe online
This free course, Introduction to cyber security: stay safe online, will help you to understand online security and start to protect your digital life, whether at home or work. You will learn how to recognise the threats that could harm you online and the steps you can take to reduce the chances that they will happen to you.
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Digital skills: succeeding in a digital world
This free course, Digital skills: succeeding in a digital world, will develop your confidence and skills for life online, whether study, work or everyday life. It explores a range of digital skills and practices, including digital identity, digital well-being, staying safe and legal, finding and using information and online tools, and dealing ...
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Simple coding
Have you ever wanted to try out simple coding? Want to understand the basics of what it entails? This course introduces you to the skills, concepts and jargon of coding.
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Digital thinking tools for better decision making
Ever since the very beginning of humanity, tools have played a pivotal role in who we are and what we do. Tools for recording, processing and communicating information have a time-honoured history – from the clay tokens used in Mesopotamia to mechanical calculating machines. The invention of the digital computer has boosted the scale, speed and ...
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Learning from major cyber security incidents
As a society, we are now almost always connected to the internet and rely on it for many different day-to-day activities. However, this dependency on the internet can make us vulnerable to attacks.
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Internet of everything
The internet of everything (IoE) is the networked connection of people, process, data and things. As more people, data and things come online, we develop processes to harness the vast amounts of information being generated by all these connected people and things. The goal of this free course is to introduce you to fundamental concepts and ...
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Learn to code for data analysis
This free course will teach you how to write your own computer programs, one line of code at a time. You'll learn how to access open data, clean and analyse it, and produce visualisations. You will also learn how to write up and share your analyses, privately or publicly.
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Introducing computing and IT
This free course, Introducing computing and IT, provides a general overview of how digital technologies have come to dominate virtually every aspect of the modern world and some guidance on how to prepare for this digital life. It raises awareness of the importance of data security and online safety. It also provides an explanation of the ...
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Digital forensics
Digital evidence features in just about every part of our personal and business lives. Legal and business decisions hinge on having timely data about what people have actually done. This free course, Digital forensics, is an introduction to computer forensics and investigation, and provides a taster in understanding how to conduct investigations...
Find out more about Computing and IT qualifications at The Open University and a range of short courses on FutureLearn.
Learn More about Business and Management
Adaptive skills are crucial to any organisation and education in business will help you navigate the competitive global economy. These free online courses will help your business and management ambition.
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Business communication: writing a SWOT analysis
This free course, Business communication: writing a SWOT analysis, is designed to develop your writing skills for business. You will be taken step by step through the process of writing a SWOT analysis, with clear advice on selecting key information from a case study text, making concise notes, choosing an appropriate structure and using ...
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Effective communication in the workplace
This free course, Effective communication in the workplace, explores the importance of communication as a skill in the workplace. It aims to increase your understanding of communication skills and to help you to consider how your communication could be perceived by others. You'll cover areas such as verbal and non-verbal communication, written ...
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Internships and other work experiences
In this free course, Internships and other work experiences, you’ll begin by learning more about what an internship is and how it might differ from other forms of work experience. You’ll find out what you can gain personally and professionally, and consider the practicalities of obtaining work experience, from how to choose what’s right for you,...
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Collective leadership
This free course, Collective leadership, will give you an insight into the importance of how to be a more effective leader, and how to better engage and work with ‘followers’ in an organisational setting.
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Succeed in the workplace
Do you want to change jobs, are you just starting in the job market or may be returning after a break? If so, then this free course, Succeed in the workplace, is for you. It will help you explore career opportunities. You will also gain the skills to write strong CVs and application forms, and to handle different types of interviews. By the end ...
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Collaborative leadership in voluntary organisations
This free course, Collaborative leadership in voluntary organisations, will help you to reflect on and develop collaborative leadership practices that will make a difference. The course is aimed at people who work within voluntary organisations as paid staff or as volunteers or for people who work regularly with voluntary organisations, such as ...
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Understanding your sector
This free course, Understanding your sector, will help you to understand the difference between sectors, industries and professions. It will also help you to gain the inside knowledge to impress in applications and at interviews and to put together an action plan that is tailored to you.
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Working in diverse teams
This free badged course, Working in diverse teams, will help you consider your experience of working in teams and the different roles you play in them. It will increase your confidence in marketing this key skill to employers as well improve your ability to perform well in teams you are currently part of.
Find out more about Business and Management qualifications at The Open University and a range of short courses on FutureLearn.
Try an Economics Free Course
Explore a variety of topics related to government policy, international trade, business decision making, work and climate change. Check out our free economics courses below.
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Prices, location and spread
The free course, Prices, location and spread, explores aspects of the question Are people getting better or worse off? It covers statistical measures characterising the location of a batch of data (the median and the mean), and looks further at weighted means and at the interquartile range as a measure of spread (variability). Boxplots and ...
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Understanding economic inequality
This free course, Understanding economic inequality, explores the causes of economic inequality in modern times and its consequences for success for the economy. The course will encourage you to reflect on your personal experiences of inequality before looking at how the issue is approached in economics. You will study some of the different...
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Exploring economics: the secret life of t-shirts
This free course, Exploring economics: the secret life of t-shirts, aims to describe what goes into making and selling t-shirts. Which resources, which markets, who is involved, the income people get, the income and value they create are all discussed. You will explore these questions at different stages of the production of a t-shirt, and ...
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Understanding international development
Please note: This course contains several Flash activities which are no longer playable. These are being updated. This course can still be studied, but you may like to postpone your study for now if you would rather have the full experience.
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Economics and the 2008 crisis: a Keynesian view
This free course, Economics and the 2008 crisis: a Keynesian view, looks at how Keynes's theories revolutionised thinking about the causes of crises and unemployment. Keynes's thinking on how to reduce these problems was very influential with economists and policy makers for several decades following the 1930s. The economic downturn that started...
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Rising China and Africa's development: oil
China has emerged as a global economic superpower over the past few decades. This has sparked intense academic and popular debate about the long-term implications of its continued growth. The expansion of China into African countries in pursuit of natural resources has incited particular controversy – does it spell increased cooperation between...
Find out more about Economics qualifications at The Open University and a range of short courses on FutureLearn.
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