All our free courses
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Society, Politics & Law
Remaking the relations of work and welfare
How do 'welfare to work' programmes such as the New Deal take into account and shape people's personal lives? This free course, Remaking the relations of work and welfare, looks at how participation in, and drop-out from, 'workfare' programmes are interpreted within different theoretical perspectives, and uses two case studies to connect the ...
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Society, Politics & Law
Nationalism, self-determination and secession
What makes a 'nation' and what makes peoples strive for nationhood? This free course, Nationalism, self-determination and secession, will provide you with an introduction to studying political ideas by looking at how people who see themselves as nations challenge the existing order to assert their right to a state of their own.
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History & The Arts
Medicine transformed: on access to healthcare
Access to healthcare is important to all of us. Did the arrival of state medicine in the twentieth century mean that everyone had access to good medical services? If you fell sick in 1930 where could you get treatment from a GP, a hospital, a nurse? This free course, Medicine transformed: On access to healthcare, shows that in the early ...
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History & The Arts
Robert Owen and New Lanark
Childcare, education, working conditions, healthcare, crime: these issues are hotly debated in today's society. They are also issues that Robert Owen, seen by some as a visionary and by others as a knave and a charlatan, sought to address in the early 1800s. This free course, Robert Owen and New Lanark, uses a series of essays written by Owen to...
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History & The Arts
Schubert's Lieder: Settings of Goethe's poems
This free course, Schubert's Lieder: Settings of Goethe's poems, looks at the short poems in German that were set to music by Franz Schubert (17971828) for a single voice with piano, a genre known as 'Lieder' (the German for 'songs'). Once they became widely known, Schubert's Lieder influenced generations of songwriters up to the present day. ...
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History & The Arts
David Hume
This free course, David Hume, examines Hume's reasons for being complacent in the face of death, as these are laid out in his suppressed essay of 1755, 'Of the immortality of the soul'. More generally, it examines some of the shifts in attitude concerning death and religious belief that were taking place in Europe at the end of the eighteenth ...
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History & The Arts
Delacroix
In this free course, Delacroix, you will be introduced to a variety of Delacroix's work and will see how his paintings relate to the cultural transition from Enlightenment to Romanticism. You will study Delacroix's early career, his classical background, the development of Romantic ideas and their incorporation into his work. You will have the ...
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History & The Arts
Philosophy: the nature of persons
What is a person? This free course, Philosophy: the nature of persons, examines this philosophical question concerning the nature of personhood. You will examine whether a 'person' is the same as a 'human being', and look at whether it is our free will that in the end defines us as a 'person'.
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Nature & Environment
Working with our environment: an introduction
Global warming: are we responsible? Is our environmental impact damaging the planet? This free course, Working with our environment: an introduction, examines the use of ozone-depleting technology, the impact of fossil fuel use and explores how the development of technology can influence the direction of a society. From the Industrial Revolution...
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Education & Development
Using film music in the classroom
There are many approaches to using film music in the classroom including: a focus on pupil experience; a focus on the structure of composition; a focus on the relationship between music and image. This free course, Using film music in the classroom, explores them all.
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Education & Development
School geography: Exploring a definition
This free course, School geography: Exploring a definition, focuses on how geography is currently being taught and understood. While studying it you will read about the significance of geography as a subject, looking at differing views as to exactly which disciplines make up geography. The course also includes a lesson plan and a look at ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Cell signalling
This free course, Cell signalling, explains the general principles of signal transduction and specifically, how even the simplest organisms can detect and respond to events in their ever-changing environment.
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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
What is the genome made of?
Genomes are composed of DNA, and a knowledge of the structure of DNA is essential to understand how it can function as hereditary material. DNA is remarkable, breathtakingly simple in its structure yet capable of directing all the living processes in a cell, the production of new cells and the development of a fertilized egg to an individual ...
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Education & Development
Creativity, community and ICT
What do you think being creative means? This free course, Creativity, community and ICT, engages with the debates surrounding the term 'creativity' and explores ways in which ICT creates new opportunities for creativity and collaborative working. The course would be of interest to teachers, parents and carers, and can be studied on an individual...
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Education & Development
Geography in education: exploring a definition
This free course, Geography in education: exploring a definition, is aimed at geography teachers, or those with an interest in studying or teaching geography. It looks at the contribution that geography can make in the education of young people and the characteristics and purpose of geography as a subject.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Minerals and the crystalline state
Rocks are made of minerals and, as minerals are natural crystals, the geological world is mostly a crystalline world. This free course, Minerals and the crystalline state, introduces the study of minerals and crystal structures, using online text and interactive activities, including questions and answers, video clips, slidecasts and a Digital Kit.
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Nature & Environment
Energy resources: solar energy
Energy from sources other than fossil and nuclear fuels is to a large extent free of the concerns about environmental effects and renewability that characterize those two sources. Each alternative source supplies energy continually, whether or not we use it, and most have their origins in energy generated outside the Earth, yet the potential of ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Earthquakes
Earthquakes shake the ground surface, can cause buildings to collapse, disrupt transport and services, and can cause fires. They can trigger landslides and tsunami in short, earthquakes can be very destructive. In this free course, Earthquakes, you will look at why, where and what happens when they occur and also at how earthquakes are assessed...