My OpenLearn Profile
Personalise your OpenLearn profile, save your favourite content and get recognition for your learning
Latest from OpenLearn
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Languages
Machine translation in language learning and teaching
In this free course, you will learn to implement freely available online machine translation tools (OMT) such as Google Translate or DeepL into your language learning or teaching. The course is aimed at learners and teachers of all languages and levels. It introduces the uses of AI in language learning and provides activities and examples of ...
article icon
Education & Development
Shared documents and constructive collaboration
Giving feedback on shared documents can be tricky, especially when you’re trying to balance clarity with kindness. In this article, we explore how to collaborate constructively, choose the right tone, and avoid the common pitfalls of remote teamwork.
video icon
Science, Maths & Technology
So, you want to work in the video gaming industry
Have you ever been told that you spend so much time playing computer games, you should get paid to do it? Well, maybe you should consider a career in designing them!
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Money & Business
Retirement planning made easy
This free course on money and retirement planning has been produced by The Open University in collaboration with Legal & General.
article icon
Money & Business
Gain a badge and further your career
Did you know that The Open University offers a range of free badged courses on OpenLearn all geared towards helping you with employability and your career?
audio icon
Money & Business
The Financial Five a Day Podcast Series
Do you want to improve your financial nutrition? This podcast series will inspire you to think more purposefully about your personal finance and money habits.
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Education & Development
Supporting children’s learning in primary education today
This free course explores different aspects of learning and teaching in primary education. It gives opportunities to engage with different types of activities that are designed to develop an understanding of learning and teaching in primary education.
article icon
Education & Development
Shared documents and constructive collaboration
Giving feedback on shared documents can be tricky, especially when you’re trying to balance clarity with kindness. In this article, we explore how to collaborate constructively, choose the right tone, and avoid the common pitfalls of remote teamwork.
video icon
Education & Development
What is it like returning to education while working?
Ffion shares how her work as a support carer inspired her to return to university to study Learning Disability Nursing at Bangor University.
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Mental health in society
In this free course, Mental health in society, you will explore and critically reflect on mental health. You will explore the relationship between the lived experiences of individuals, and the society and environment in which they live. Different perspectives, approaches and models of understanding and critiquing mental health will be explored ...
article icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Drivers and hand-held mobile phones: extending the ban won’t solve the problem – here’s why
Dr Gemma Briggs and Dr Helen Wells look at the changes to the law for using a mobile phone whilst driving and why attitudes towards this activity need to change.
video icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Five pillars of ageing well
Dr Jitka Vseteckova provides easy to follow advice on how to stay healthy in five steps.
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
History & The Arts
What can philosophy tell us about race?
Categorising human beings into races has had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on people’s lives. Many societies have been shaped by racial divisions and racial discrimination. Race continues to affect people’s experiences and personal identities today. This free course, What can philosophy tell us about race?, will introduce you to ...
article icon
History & The Arts
VE Day
This year marks the 80 years since Europe celebrated the end of the Second World War, so we've put together a variety of resources on this time in history.
video icon
History & The Arts
Religion, Belief and Equalities
Religion and belief is important to equality in the United Kingdom. This animation explains how religion and belief is a protected characteristic, and how the term of “worldviews” might help us to understand this.
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Languages
Machine translation in language learning and teaching
In this free course, you will learn to implement freely available online machine translation tools (OMT) such as Google Translate or DeepL into your language learning or teaching. The course is aimed at learners and teachers of all languages and levels. It introduces the uses of AI in language learning and provides activities and examples of ...
article icon
Languages
Crime fiction
Explore the world of crime fiction with The Open University, a world leader in distance learning. Discover free courses, articles, video and audio resources, and interactive activities, free to study and available to start right away.
video icon
Languages
I have an accent, (why) does it matter?
Have you ever wondered why people speak with foreign accents and what impact it might have on their lives?
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Nature & Environment
An introduction to floodplain meadows
This free course, An introduction to floodplain meadows, explores how these traditional landscapes can deliver a range of nature-based solutions that will improve our environment. The course will help you to learn about this unique environment, increasing your ecological knowledge, developing your skills in critical reasoning, and offering you ...
article icon
Nature & Environment
Earth Day on OpenLearn
The first Earth Day on 22 April 1970 activated 20 million people from all walks of life to do their bit to protect our planet. More than 50 years on, it is estimated that one billion people worldwide will engage in this year’s Earth Day.
video icon
Nature & Environment
Urban trees - could towns and cities become forests?
Dr Philip Wheeler explores how we manage trees in urban environments now and for the future.
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Electromagnetism: testing Coulomb’s law
This free course explores Coulomb’s law, the physical law that governs the force between electric charges, and shows how it can be verified experimentally. As a prerequisite you will need some mathematical knowledge of vectors. This free course is an adapted extract from the Open University course SM381 Electromagnetism.
article icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Solving the perplexing mathematicians' problem of the spectre
In 2023, a UK maths enthusiast called David Smith discovered a shape that had one very specialproperty.Using copies of this shape, nicknamed “the spectre,” one can cover a flat surface forever-without the pattern repeating itself. This special property is called aperiodicity, and David’s discovery solved a problem that had been perplexing ...
video icon
Science, Maths & Technology
So, you want to work in the video gaming industry
Have you ever been told that you spend so much time playing computer games, you should get paid to do it? Well, maybe you should consider a career in designing them!
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
Developing a research question in International Relations
This free course, taken from the MA in International Relations (Part 2), explores why research questions matter and what makes a good research question. Research questions are vital for any academic inquiry, yet writing a good one is not easy. A well-designed question enables you to clearly define and communicate a focused area of research in a ...
article icon
Society, Politics & Law
Voices from the Global South: an international field trip
The following learning is from the Geography strand in The Open University level 1 module D113 ‘Global challenges: social science in action’.
video icon
Society, Politics & Law
Voices from the Global South: confronting climate coloniality
Professor Farhana Sultana delivered a keynote to launch the ‘Voices from the Global South’ project, a collaboration between the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) (with the Institute of British Geographers), the International Geographical Union and The Open University. It was held at the RGS, London in June 2024. In her keynote Professor Sultana ...
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
Digital & Computing
Diagramming for development 2: exploring interrelationships
Diagramming for development 2: exploring interrelationships, is a free course that introduces you to the diagramming techniques of Influence diagrams, Multiple Cause Diagrams and Cognitive Maps. Using a case study project based in Africa, this unit illustrates the powerful use of systems diagramming for international development management. This...
article icon
Digital & Computing
In-car technology: are we being sold a false sense of security?
Our new cars come equipped with technology to read out text messages and let us use voice commands to make phone calls. Allocating attention to other tasks, can lead to our driving performance suffering and putting lives at risk.
video icon
Digital & Computing
Animal-Computer Interaction and dogs
Dr Clara Mancini tells us how Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) is expanding the design of interactive systems beyond the human species.