All our free courses
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Science, Maths & Technology
Introducing engineering
Engineering encompasses a broad range of disciplines from design to manufacturing. This free course, Introducing engineering, introduces a number of key themes that explore how engineering is undertaken in our modern world. These themes include engineering design, rules that govern engineers, manufacturing for products and electricity ...
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History & The Arts
What is poetry?
Have you always wanted to try to write poetry but never quite managed to start? This free course, What is poetry?, is designed to illustrate the techniques behind both the traditional forms of poetry and free verse. You will learn how you can use your own experiences to develop ideas and how to harness your imagination.
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level 2: intermediate icon
Education & Development
Using visualisation in maths teaching
This free course, Using visualisation in maths teaching, looks at visualisation as it relates to mathematics, focusing on how it can be used to improve learning. It will also identify ways in which to make more use of visualisation within the classroom.
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level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
The social in social science
In a complex and rapidly changing world, social scientific study examines how we produce things, communicate, govern ourselves and understand our environments, and how to solve the problems we face in the organisation of social relations and processes. This free course, The social in social science, provides a basic overview of how social ...
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Money & Business
Workplace learning with coaching and mentoring
In this free course, Workplace learning with coaching and mentoring, you will consider theoretical and practical issues in planning and managing learning and talent development programmes in your organisation. You will also explore ideas about coaching and mentoring; both are prominent learning and development tools in contemporary ...
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Education & Development
Working with young people: roles and responsibilities
In this free course, Working with young people: roles and responsibilities, we look at the roles that are taken when working with young people. We focus on what those working with young people actually do, starting with some analysis of roles. We show that, in the context of work with young people, the term is more than simply a statement about ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Money & Business
Working in groups and teams
This free course, Working in groups and teams, explores team working from start to finish. It looks at how successful teams are created, roles within a team, the life cycle of a team, how to manage conflict within teams and evaluating team performance.
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level 2: intermediate icon
Society, Politics & Law
Social science and participation
This free course, Social science and participation, looks at how social science investigates participation, and uses this topic to look in particular at how social science helps to enact social worlds. As you work through the course, you will see that social science enactment of participation is closely related to social science descriptions of,...
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level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
Who counts as a refugee?
The words 'refugee' and 'asylum seeker' have a wide variety of connotations in Britain, many of them negative. This free course, Who counts as a refugee?, explores how changing social policy and terminology help to shape, and are shaped by, the experiences of people seeking asylum in the UK.
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History & The Arts
What is heritage?
What is heritage? This free course will introduce you to the concept of heritage and its critical study, exploring the role of heritage in both past and contemporary societies.
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Money & Business
Using voluntary work to get ahead in the job market
This free course, Using voluntary work to get ahead in the job market, explores how engaging in voluntary work can enhance your employment opportunities
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Science, Maths & Technology
Using a scientific calculator
Do you have a Casio fx-83 ES scientific calculator (or a compatible model) and want to learn how to use it? This free course, Using a scientific calculator, will help you to understand how to use the different facilities and functions and discover what a powerful tool this calculator can be!
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level 2: intermediate icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Univariate continuous distribution theory
This free course looks at a number of the basic properties of statistical models. Section 1 is concerned with the distributions of continuous random variables which are described by their probability density functions (pdfs) and cumulative distribution functions (cdfs). Section 2 is concerned with moments and covers, the concept of expectation ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Money & Business
Understanding operations management
Operations management is one of the central functions of all organisations. This free course, Understanding operations management, will provide you with a basic framework for understanding this function, whether producing goods or services or in the private, public or voluntary sectors. In addition, this OpenLearn course discusses the role of ...
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Money & Business
Developing your skills as an HR professional
This free course, Developing your skills as an HR professional, will help you to develop some of the skills you will need to be effective as an HR professional. You will practise learning reflectively and you will also develop the skills of organising yourself, managing time and stress, and working in teams or groups.
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level 3: advanced icon
Digital & Computing
Successful IT systems
Information technology (IT) systems are a critical part of our world, in business and the public and voluntary sectors. They are often highly complex and interconnected combinations of technology, organisations and people. Success and failure of IT systems can be seen in many different settings. Many are highly successful; others fail, sometimes...
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Money & Business
Understanding management: I'm managing thank you!
This free course, Understanding management: I'm managing thank you! provides you with a set of ideas for developing your approach to managing your own work what we might call self-management. In order to do this, we will examine some of the key processes of management decision making, such as allocating time, staff, physical and financial ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Science, Maths & Technology
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...