Free courses
Produced by The Open University, a world leader in open and distance learning, all OpenLearn courses are free to study. We offer nearly 1000 free courses across 9 different subject areas. Our courses are available to start right away.
- All topics
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Science, Maths & Technology
Design thinking
Are you ever frustrated with something that you thought you could design better? This free course, Design thinking, will show you how to structure your natural creativity to come up with solutions to all kinds of problems, and have fun in the process too!
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Science, Maths & Technology
Galaxies, stars and planets
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.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring data: Graphs and numerical summaries
This free course, Exploring data: graphs and numerical summaries, will introduce you to a number of ways of representing data graphically and of summarising data numerically. You will learn the uses for pie charts, bar charts, histograms and scatterplots. You will also be introduced to various ways of summarising data and methods for assessing ...
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History & The Arts
Forth Road Bridge
Scotland's Forth Road Bridge may not be the most beautiful bridge over the Firth of Forth, but it is an incredible feat of engineering and is integral to the economy of the entire area. However, rust is threatening to destroy the cables that suspend the road. This free course uses video to explore the issues associated with the potential demise ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Diagrams, charts and graphs
Diagrams, charts and graphs are used by all sorts of people to express information in a visual way, whether it's in a report by a colleague or a plan from your interior designer. This free course will teach you how to interpret these tools and how to use them yourself to convey information more effectively.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Design
This free course looks at the process of design, from assessing the complexity of design as an activity to exposing the difficulty in making general conclusions about how designers work. You will be able to identify innovation in a wide variety of designed objects and evaluate the impact of this innovation.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Basic science: understanding numbers
This free course, Basic science: understanding numbers, explains how you can use numbers to describe the natural world and make sense of everything from atoms to oceans.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Introduction to differentiation
This free course is an introduction to differentiation. Section 1 looks at gradients of graphs and introduces differentiation from first principles. Section 2 looks at finding derivatives of simple functions. Section 3 introduces rates of change by looking at real life situations. Section 4 looks at using the derivative of a function to deduce ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Assessing risk in engineering, work and life
Risk is something that must be taken into account at all times when practising as an engineer. We accept risk as part of everyday life so there is a need to balance the risks of an activity against the benefits that it brings. This free course, Assessing risk in engineering, work and life, investigates how we can manage risks at work, in the ...
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Nature & Environment
Life in the Palaeozoic
Fossils are a glimpse into the distant past and fascinate young and old alike. This free course, Life in the Palaeozoic, will introduce you to the explosion of evolution that took place during the Palaeozoic era. You will look at the many different types of creatures that existed at that time and how they managed to evolve to exist on land.
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Science, Maths & Technology
An introduction to design engineering
This free course, An introduction to design engineering, looks at the way in which engineers use ideas and approaches from the discipline of design thinking to inform their work. The complexity that people bring to design problems is introduced, along with some basic methods of dealing with such complexity.
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Science, Maths & Technology
IT: Information
BBC News 24, Sky News, CNN. We live in an era where news has become almost instantaneous. This free course, IT: Information, will look at how news is gathered and the technology that's used for its dissemination. You will also be encouraged to examine how information might be manipulated by questioning its reliability.