What is Innovation? (Innovation Future Specialist)

What is Innovation? (Innovation Future Specialist)

This is a free course that explains what innovation is and provides some amazing examples of what innovation has achieved. It also makes the distinction between creativity and innovation.

This is a free course that explains what innovation is, in just 2 to 20 minutes.
As you progress through this course you may be presented with the following options:
» Test yourself in a quiz
» View additional supporting material to aid your understanding, or
» Embark on a stretch task to explore a topic at a more advanced level, or to apply it to your own context.
This means that this course caters for your needs whatever your level of experience and ambition. To quickly progress through this course just skip the options. However, to get the full benefits of this course participate in all of the options.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Modern Art & Ideas (Coursera) Coursera
The Museum of Modern Art

Modern Art & Ideas (Coursera)

Welcome to Modern Art & Ideas! This course is designed for anyone interested in learning more about modern and contemporary art. Over the next five weeks, you will look at art through a variety of themes: Places & Spaces, Art & Identity, Transforming Everyday Objects, and Art & Society. Each week kicks off with a video that connects works of art from The Museum of Modern Art’s collection to the theme. You will hear audio interviews with artists, designers, and curators and learn more about selected works in the additional readings and resources.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Capstone Value Creation through Innovation (Coursera) Coursera
EIT Digital

Capstone Value Creation through Innovation (Coursera)

This capstone course is the final course of the Value Creation Through Innovation Specialization. The specialization covers technology bases innovation and transformation and how to spot and to capitalize on emerging opportunities. UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and KTH Royal Institute of Technology are the academic partners in the Value Creation Through Innovation Specialization.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Making Young Social Innovators (iMooX) Other Providers
Salzburg Research Institute,Lappeenranta University of Technology - LUT,University College South Denmark

Making Young Social Innovators (iMooX)

In this online course you will learn how to train young learners to develop a creative and innovative way of thinking to solve social problems. You will benefit from practical and effective methods developed from European innovation, maker pedagogy and creativity experts from experienced FabLabs and universities. They all worked together developing the DOIT-learning programme, workshop designs and innovation tools for young learners in the European project DOIT.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
A Scientific Approach to Innovation Management (Coursera) Coursera
Università Bocconi

A Scientific Approach to Innovation Management (Coursera)

How can innovators understand if their idea is worth developing and pursuing? In this course, we lay out a systematic process to make strategic decisions about innovative product or services that will help entrepreneurs, managers and innovators to avoid common pitfalls. We teach students to assess the feasibility of an innovative idea through problem-framing techniques and rigorous data analysis labelled ‘a scientific approach’.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Creativity And Entrepreneurship (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Creativity And Entrepreneurship (Coursera)

Creativity & Entrepreneurship will help you tap into your inner creativity and learn how to leverage it for career development or business innovation. Presented by Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship founder Panos Panay, this course features interviews with world renown entrepreneurs, innovators, songwriters, producers, creative directors, educators, performers, visual artists and chefs as they discuss parallels between the creative and entrepreneurial journeys.

Sep 21st 2026
4 Weeks
Building Strategic Foresight Capabilities (Coursera) Coursera
EDHEC Business School

Building Strategic Foresight Capabilities (Coursera)

Today, organizations find themselves dealing with an increasing amount of uncertainty. They are often ill-equipped at responding to disruptive change and find themselves blindsided by ‘unexpected’ landslides in their ecosystems. In order to hold their ground, they need to upgrade their capabilities, become more agile in adapting to change and drive firm-level, society-level and industry-level change proactively. This course introduces you to strategic foresight, its main methods and tools and their application in public and private organisations. Foresight allows organisations to get ahead of the curve, pre-emptively catch trends, define more effective and robust policies and drive positive futures.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success (Coursera) Coursera
Imperial College London

Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success (Coursera)

In today’s ever-growing and changing world, being able to think creatively and innovatively are essential skills. It can sometimes be challenging to step back and reflect in an environment which is fast paced or when you are required to assimilate large amounts of information. Making sense of or communicating new ideas in an innovative and engaging way, approaching problems from fresh angles, and producing novel solutions are all traits which are highly sought after by employers.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Cybersecurity Awareness and Innovation (Coursera) Coursera
EIT Digital

Cybersecurity Awareness and Innovation (Coursera)

It’s not you, it’s me! What’s going on? This course empowers students, professionals and wider community to deal with cybersecurity attacks and risks focused on identity management and it is an introduction to the upcoming full course focused on cybersecurity awareness. It is provided a practical overview of challenging issues like identity credentials management and security, e-mail threats and web impersonation, or web hacking.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators (Project-Centered Course) (Coursera) Coursera
University System of Georgia

Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators (Project-Centered Course) (Coursera)

In this project-centered course*, you will use the Business Model Canvas innovation tool to approach either a personal or corporate challenge or opportunity. You’ll learn to identify and communicate the nine key elements of a business model: Customer Segments, Value Proposition, Channels, Customer Relationships, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partners, Revenue Streams, and Cost Structure. Your completed project will be a polished Business Model Canvas that outlines the business case for a new product or service to address your selected challenge or opportunity. You’ll present your case in both a one-page document and a 10-minute video presentation.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Personal Branding: Stand Out and Succeed (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Personal Branding: Stand Out and Succeed (Coursera)

In Personal Branding: Stand Out and Succeed, you’ll explore how the branding strategies used by top-brands can inform your own personal brand, one that’s authentically you. Define what a brand is, and explore the overlap between branded products and personal branding in this 4-week course. You’ll reflect on your core values, and translate them into an elevator pitch, brand imagery, and brand story.

Sep 28th 2026
4 Weeks
From Idea to Startup (Coursera) Coursera
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

From Idea to Startup (Coursera)

How do you implement ideas? This course provides practical proven tools for transforming an idea into a product or service that creates value for others. As students acquire these tools, they learn how to tell bad ideas from good, how to build a winning strategy, how to shape a unique value proposition, prepare a business plan, compare their innovation to existing solutions, build flexibility into their plan and determine when best to quit.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Ignite Your Everyday Creativity (Coursera) Coursera
The State University of New York

Ignite Your Everyday Creativity (Coursera)

Creativity is an essential skill for the 21st Century that is innate in all people and can be nurtured. We constantly need new and better ideas for almost every aspect of our professional and personal lives. The goal of this course is to help you recognize, develop and act upon the creativity that you already possess. We will accomplish this using three methods: b aware, b inspired, and b creative.

Sep 21st 2026
5-12 Weeks