All our free courses
Education & Development
Young children, the outdoors and nature
This free course, Young children, the outdoors and nature, looks at the importance of babies and toddlers having opportunities to engage with rich outdoor environments.
Society, Politics & Law
Judicial decision making
This free course, Judicial decision making, explains how judges decide cases. You will learn how judges make sense of evidence, and how they decide on fair outcomes in legal disputes. The course shows how the law constrains and influences judges, and what happens when the law is uncertain or contested. The course uses videos, practical examples,...
Society, Politics & Law
Applying your community engagement skills
This free course is the final instalment of a set of 10 courses with the common theme of community engagement and leadership. In the previous 9 courses there has been the opportunity to build a wide range of skills in leadership, communication, working with others and decision-making, in the context of policing within a community. We advise ...
Health, Sports & Psychology
Felly, rydych chi eisiau bod yn nyrs? Cyflwyniad byr i nyrsio
Mae’r cwrs yma am ddim, Felly, rydych chi eisiau bod yn nyrs? Cyflwyniad byr i nyrsio, yn rhoi trosolwg o’r hyn y mae nyrsio’n ei olygu. Mae’n canolbwyntio ar nyrsio yn y DU yn benodol, a hefyd ar ei le yn y byd. Byddwch yn dysgu am bedwar maes nyrsio yn y DU, sut beth yw hyfforddiant nyrsys, yn ogystal â beth sy’n gwneud nyrsys gwych. Mae’r...
Health, Sports & Psychology
So, you want to be a nurse? A brief introduction to nursing
This free course provides an overview of what nursing entails. Focusing on nursing in the UK specifically, but also looking at its place globally, you will learn about the four fields of nursing in the UK, what nurse training involves, as well as what makes a great nurse. This course offers a brief introduction to the nursing profession and ...
Education & Development
Early years team work and leadership
This free course, Early years team work and leadership, explores aspects of teamwork and leadership for early years practitioners.
Education & Development
Multidisciplinary study: the value and benefits
This free course, Multidisciplinary study: the values and benefits, explores the advantages of studying more than one subject and will help you to decide if multidisciplinary study is for you. Featuring videos with students on the Open University’s ‘Open’ qualifications, you will learn about the unique skills you can gain from studying a ...
Society, Politics & Law
Myths in law
Have you ever wondered how much truth there was reflected in your favourite court room drama? How accurate is your favourite crime series in depicting the way the criminal justice system works? If you have, then this free course is for you. You will be looking at some of the biggest myths around criminal law and criminal courts to see how ...
History & The Arts
What do historians do?
What do historians do? In this free course you will explore some of the ways that historians work to develop our understanding of the past. You will learn about three aspects of the historian’s craft through three topic areas: landscapes, infant health and criminal justice. Through the activities in the course, you will experience a wide range ...
History & The Arts
Agatha Christie and the golden age of detective fiction
In this free course you’ll examine one of Agatha Christie’s most significant works, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), and explore the evolution of British detective fiction in relation to Christie’s background, literary modernism and the development of middlebrow fiction.
Health, Sports & Psychology
Supporting older people with learning disabilities and their families
This free course, Supporting older people with learning disabilities and their families, stems from research that explored how to improve the care and support for older people with learning disabilities and behaviours that challenge others, and their families.
Education & Development
Leadership for inclusion: what can you do?
This course will help you to develop your understanding of how to promote and support learning for all, within classrooms with a diverse student and staff population. It will encourage you to embrace your own capacity to lead at any level of an organisation. You will explore the tensions around collective responses and individualised challenges,...
Education & Development
Leadership for inclusion: thinking it through
This course will help you to think about your professional educational situation and the ways in which you can develop your practices alongside others. It will provide you with a better understanding of competing values within the school system and how to identify and build upon opportunities to lead and collaborate in this context. You will ...
Languages
A short introduction to the English language
This free course, A short introduction to the English language, will look at the role language plays in our lives, with a particular focus on the English language. It will examine the history and the future of the language, from the Anglo-Saxons and Shakespeare to social media communication and stand-up comedy.
Health, Sports & Psychology
Caring for an older family member with learning disabilities
Whether you are a parent or sibling caring for a relative with a learning disability, this free course, Caring for an older family member with learning disabilities, is designed to help you navigate the system as they grow older. It has been developed from a cutting-edge research project that explored how to improve the care and support for ...
Science, Maths & Technology
Introduction to complex analysis
This free course, Introduction to complex analysis, is an extract from the third level Open University course M337 Complex Analysis, which develops the theory of functions of a complex variable, emphasising their geometric properties and indicating some applications.
Society, Politics & Law
Advancing Black leadership
In this free course, learners will develop and explore skills to empower themselves as leaders.
Education & Development
An appreciative approach to inquiry
This free course, An appreciative approach to inquiry, is designed to support groups of practitioners or individuals adopt an appreciative inquiry approach to reflecting, questioning, and developing their collective or individual practices. It is particularly aimed at those working in education at any level and any context to engage in teacher ...