Universal courses

Introduction to child psychology (8 hours)

Childhood is a time of rapid growth and development, and studying these changes is endlessly stimulating. In this course, you will be introduced to the discipline of child psychology and some of the key questions that guide the understanding of childhood. These questions include 'What influences children's development?' and 'How do psychologists study the physical and cognitive changes that occur during childhood?' As you work through this material, you will also gain a deeper understanding concerning how psychologists work with young children across a range of applied settings through activities and audio-visual materials. 

Children’s perspectives on play (5 hours)

In this course, Children's perspectives on play, you are asked to put yourself in the place of young children and to think about their view of play and their reasons for playing. When children have personal freedom to choose and make decisions about what and who they want to play with, as well as where they want to play, they are highly self-motivated and active in their engagements with everything around them. In this course you will think about how you listen to children’s perspectives, why it is important and also consider the choices children make about where they play and why.

Understanding autism (24 hours, digital badge)

Learn about autism, one of the most challenging long-term conditions of the century. This free course, Understanding autism, introduces the autism spectrum, how it is experienced by individuals and families, and why it has become a global concern.

Supporting children's mental health and wellbeing (24 hours, digital badge)

Do you have a professional or personal interest in the mental health issues affecting young children? Are you working with children or are you a parent or carer? This course is designed to give insight into the factors that are contributing to our youngest citizens’ poor mental health; examining factors from a national and global perspective. By the end of the course you will have gained knowledge about strategies and interventions that will help you to understand how you can support children’s mental health and improve their wellbeing.

Supporting children's development (15 hours, digital badge)

Supporting children’s development is an introductory course for anyone who is interested in children’s development, especially support staff in schools, such as teaching assistants. It builds on your knowledge and skills to develop a deeper understanding of children from the early years to school leavers. You will be introduced to some core ideas surrounding development and learning, behaviour, special needs and disabilities.

Introduction to adolescent mental health (24 hours, digital badge)

This course provides an introduction to adolescent mental health. The course is designed to encourage a greater understanding of mental health issues as well as to explore the variety of strategies that can be employed to support young people.

If you are working with families from Ukraine who are settling in the UK, you might be interested in our Introduction to Ukrainian language and culture course on OpenLearn.

This course is for everybody who is interested in finding out about Ukraine and its people and wants to get a first insight into its rich cultural heritage. It is also for learners who interact directly with Ukrainian refugees, for example by hosting refugees in their homes, and who want to bring what they have found out – their knowledge and experience – to a space where they can engage with like-minded others and can find and provide mutual support and advice.

You don't need to register separately on OpenLearn if you have already registered on this platform using the instructions in the Getting started section. However, you will need to log into OpenLearn to enrol on the course. You can do this by clicking on the Create an account/Sign in button on the OpenLearn platform (similar to logging into OpenLearn Create in Step 6 in the Getting started section).