All our free courses
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History & The Arts
Introducing Homer's Iliad
This free course, Introducing Homer's Iliad, focuses on the epic poem telling the story of the Trojan War. It begins with the wider cycle of myths of which the Iliad was a part. It then looks at the story of the poem itself and its major theme of Achilles' anger, in particular in the first seven lines. It examines some of the characteristic ...
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Nature & Environment
Surviving the winter
In this free course, Surviving the winter, we study one aspect of the fluctuating nature of an organisms environment. We consider how organisms living in a temperate climate, such as that in Britain, are adapted to cope with winter. You will see that there is much diversity of adaptations among organisms, with different species coping with the ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Icy bodies: Europa and elsewhere
The new discipline of astrobiology that is, the science of searching for extraterrestrial life, is not only rapidly growing, but has also captured the public imagination. This free course, Icy bodies: Europa and elsewhere, examines the emergence of icy satellites of distant planets as potential sites of extraterrestrial life, looks at the ...
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History & The Arts
Imagination: The missing mystery of philosophy
What is imagination and can philosophy define it in any meaningful way? This free course, Imagination: The missing mystery of philosophy, will introduce you to some of the possible answers to these questions and will examine why philosophy has sometimes found it difficult to approach imagination. It will then go on to examine the relationship ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Inheritance of characters
Genes are units of inheritance that contribute to a person's behaviour and health. In this free course, Inheritance of characters, you will learn what genes, DNA and chromosomes are and how they combine to make the human genome. You will also learn how the principles of inheritance work, the effect that our genetic make-up has on health, and how...
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Money & Business
How teams work
This free course, How teams work, provides an introduction to working in virtual project teams by explaining terms and concepts related to teams and to projects. The complexity of the interaction of people and technology is highlighted.
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Society, Politics & Law
How arguments are constructed and used in the Social Sciences
This free course will enable you to understand how arguments are constructed and used in the Social Sciences. Using extracts from a Radio 4 broadcast, you will look at the different viewpoints that are taken by the participants and analyse how the different arguments are being put together.
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History & The Arts
Heritage case studies: Scotland
The heritage traditions of Scotland are unique in comparison to the rest of Britain. This free course, Heritage case studies: Scotland, uses two case studies to demonstrate how heritage sites have helped to forge the Scottish national identity and history.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Health and safety in the laboratory and field
Health, safety and risk assessment are of paramount importance both in the laboratory and the field. This free course, Health and safety in the laboratory and field, will help make you more aware of the hazards and risks involved wherever you undertake your research, as well as giving you an overview of the legal requirements attached to this ...
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Languages
Advanced Spanish: Language in context
This course will develop your knowledge and understanding of the societies and cultures of Spain and Latin America and extend the practical skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The course focuses on the many ways in which living languages - notably Spanish - adapt to the contexts in which they are used.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Groups and teamwork
Are you always the quiet one when it comes to group discussion? This free course, Groups and teamwork, will help you improve your working relationships with other people in groups of three or more. The course also deals with project life cycles, project management and the role of the leader.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Group theory
This free course consolidates and builds on group theory studied at OU level 2 or equivalent. Section 1 describes how to construct a group called the direct product of two given groups, and then describes certain conditions under which a group can be regarded as the direct product of its subgroups. Section 2 describes the key properties of the ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Geometry
Geometry is concerned with the various aspects of size, shape and space. In this free course you will explore the concepts of angles, shapes, symmetry, area and volume through interactive activities.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Design thinking
Are you ever frustrated with something that you thought you could design better? This free course, Design thinking, will show you how to structure your natural creativity to come up with solutions to all kinds of problems, and have fun in the process too!
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Digital & Computing
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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Science, Maths & Technology
General principles of cellular communication
Learn about how cells sense and respond to extrinsic stimuli, a capacity that allows them to communicate with each other and to respond to changes in their environment. This free course, General principles of cellular communication, explains cell signalling pathways in general terms and identifies some of the universal characteristics of ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Galaxies, stars and planets
This free course, Galaxies, stars and planets, is a general introduction, including scale of the universe from the very large to the very small; orbits and gravity; the Solar System; the Sun and other stars; galaxies and the composition of astronomical objects.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring data: Graphs and numerical summaries
This free course, Exploring data: graphs and numerical summaries, will introduce you to a number of ways of representing data graphically and of summarising data numerically. You will learn the uses for pie charts, bar charts, histograms and scatterplots. You will also be introduced to various ways of summarising data and methods for assessing ...