article icon
Education & Development
Writing for pleasure?
Teresa Cremin, Professor of Literacy in Education at The Open University explores whether we nurture young people’s enjoyment in writing.
article icon
Education & Development
The experts who put storytelling, language and better paid teachers at the heart of early education
Natalia Kucirkova, Professor of Reading and Children's Development, explores the work of Jerome Bruner, Catherine Snow and Kathy Sylva...
article icon
Education & Development
Writing from the heart
Teresa Cremin, Professor of Literacy in Education at The Open University explores whether we offer young writers enough opportunities for ‘writing from the heart’
free course icon
Level
History & The Arts
Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It
Do you enjoy watching Shakespeare's plays and like the idea of finding out more about them? This free course, Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It, will guide you through some of the most important speeches and scenes from one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies.
free course icon
Level
Education & Development
Childhood in the digital age
This free course, Childhood in the digital age, delves into the lives of children and discuss the potential benefits and limitations of technology in their lives.
free course icon
Level
Education & Development
Talk the talk
This free course introduces the mechanics of effective, persuasive oral presentations, by giving you the opportunity to analyse examples and then create your own. Using resources such as TED Talk videos, you will see how experts deliver professional talks and famous speeches, observe what works, and identify how language connects ideas and keeps...
free course icon
Level
History & The Arts
Creative writing and critical reading
This free course, Creative writing and critical reading, explores the importance of reading as part of a creative writer’s development at the postgraduate level. You will gain inspiration and ideas from examining other writers’ methods, as well as enhancing your critical reading skills. Examples will cover the genres of fiction, creative ...
free course icon
Level
History & The Arts
Start writing fiction: characters and stories
Start writing fiction is a free course that helps you to get started with your own fiction writing, focusing on the central skill of creating characters.
free course icon
Level
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.
free course icon
Level
Education & Development
Understanding dyslexia
Dyslexia is a condition affecting literacy skills. This free course, Understanding dyslexia, analyses how our image of normality affects the way we as a society define such conditions. You will learn how important it is to integrate the different psychological accounts of dyslexia in order to provide a full explanation of potential causes and ...
free course icon
Level
History & The Arts
Speeches and speech-making
This free course, Speeches and speech-making, explores an aspect of language use where 'voices' and 'texts' converge: the art of speech-making.
free course icon
Level
Languages
How to be a critical reader
In this free course you will focus on how to be a critical reader. Reading critically is an essential skill at university. It means being aware of your own purposes and opinions as you read and being able to recognise the writer's purposes and opinions in their writing.