Themes covered in this free course, Energy in buildings, include reducing heating demand in buildings, heating systems and fuel emissions, and reducing electricity use by appliances. The course looks at the importance of energy in buildings in the UK, investigate heat loss and how to prevent it, ways of increasing building efficiency, ...

This free course, Exploring communications technology, looks at some of the principles underpinning communications technology. It looks at the properties of signals and media (such as optical fibre and radio waves), error control, data compression, and the principles of 4G mobile communications, wi-fi and DSL broadband.

Explore how computing and IT shape our digital world with this free introductory course. Learn how computers work, how data is stored and deleted, and why online safety and data security matter while gaining a deeper understanding of how technology influences the way we live and think.

This free course, Seeing the light, will teach you about how the Sun affects your home, both in terms of light and warmth and the energy it generates. You will learn about how it can affect your health and well-being, and how different climates design their homes differently to maximise the benefits of the Sun.

Do you have a Casio fx-83 ES scientific calculator (or a compatible model) and want to learn how to use it? This free course, Using a scientific calculator, will help you to understand how to use the different facilities and functions and discover what a powerful tool this calculator can be!

This free course, Watching the weather, describes how meteorological observations are made looking upwards from the surface of the Earth, looking downwards from satellites in space and from aircraft and balloons within the atmosphere. This international network of observations is vital for scientists and forecasters and the results impact on ...

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) systems now dominate our everyday lives. This free course, Introducing ICT systems, will explain what constitutes such a system and how ICT systems work. You will also look at how ICT systems convey, store and manipulate data, and how they process data. Finally you will learn how these systems ...

Human-induced climate change and resulting extreme weather events are an increasing and serious threat to the Earth’s ecosystems. This free course, Climate Change and Renewable Energy, describes the basic science of the greenhouse effect and how it has been modified by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels. It describes the ...

This free course, Eating for the environment, will explore the links between food, nutrition and environmental sustainability.

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.