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Science, Maths & Technology
Sound for music technology: An introduction
Whether you're a professional musician, play music with your friends on the weekends or just like to listen to CDs, music technology affects your life. In this free course, Sound for music technology: An introduction, you will learn some of the basics of music technology, starting with what sound is, how it is created and how it travels.
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Money & Business
Difference and challenge in teams
This free course looks at how teams ‘travel’ together on a journey of development. Those journeys are hardly ever smooth. The course encourages you to recognise difference and challenge amongst individuals in the team who are pulling in different directions. It will help you identify where such challenges can be embraced for the benefit of your ...
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Supporting children's development
This course will help you develop a deeper understanding of children's development from the ages of 0-17 years.
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History & The Arts
Protestivals - What are they?
Protest Festivals or ‘Protestivals’ as they are also known, might seem like a relatively new concept, but scholars say that the roots of this particular form of protest can be found in the alternative globalisation movements that started in the 1980s.
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Nature & Environment
Sir David Attenborough and The Open University
Sir David Attenborough and The Open University have had a long-standing relationship since the university's birth. David explains how that relationship came about and how it has developed over the years.
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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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level 2: intermediate icon
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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level 1: introductory icon
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...
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Education & Development
Understanding society: families
In this free course, Understanding society: families, you will explore how different families have different ideas about how work in the home should be divided. You will also investigate the diversity of families. We will see how any discussion of the division of labour has to recognise that families differ in terms of shape and size.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Starting with maths: Patterns and formulas
Patterns occur everywhere in art, nature, science and especially mathematics. Being able to recognise, describe and use these patterns is an important skill that helps you to tackle a wide variety of different problems. This free course, Starting with maths: Patterns and formulas, explores some of these patterns, from ancient number patterns ...
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Nature & Environment
Studying mammals: Food for thought
Who were our ancestors? How are apes and humans related? And where does the extinct Homo erectus fit into the puzzle? In this free course, Studying mammals: Food for thought, we will examine culture, tool use and social structure in both apes and humans to gain an understanding of where we come from and why we behave as we do. This is the tenth ...
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Nature & Environment
Studying mammals: The social climbers
Monkeys have long fascinated us because of their similarities to the human race. In this free course, Studying mammals: The social climbers, you will find out about some of the characteristics that make them so like us: their physiology, complex social interactions, large brains and intelligence. This is the ninth course in the Studying mammals ...