The Open University

The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning.
Since it began in 1969, the OU has taught more than 1.8 million students and has almost 250,000 current students, including more than 15,000 overseas. The OU is rated in the top five of UK universities for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey, since the survey began in 2005. In 2012/13 it had a 92% satisfaction rating. Over 70% of students are in full-time or part-time employment, and four out of five FTSE 100 companies have sponsored staff to take OU courses.
In the UK’s latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008) the Open University was ranked in the top third of UK higher education institutions. More than 50% of OU research was assessed in the RAE as internationally excellent, with 14% as world leading.
Regarded as Britain’s major e-learning institution, the OU is a world leader in developing technology to increase access to education on a global scale. Its vast ‘open content portfolio’ includes free study units on OpenLearn, which has had more than 26.7 million visits, and materials on iTunes U, which has recorded more than 60 million downloads. The OU has a 41 year partnership with the BBC which has moved from late-night lectures in the 1970s to prime-time programmes such as Frozen Planet, Bang Goes the Theory, James May’s Big Ideas and The Money Programme.
More info: http://www.open.ac.uk/

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Introduction to Cyber Security (FutureLearn)

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Introduction to Cyber Security (FutureLearn)
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Discover essential cyber security knowledge and skills, and learn how you can better protect your digital life. Explore the world of cyber security and develop the skills needed to stay safe. Modern life depends on online services, so having a better understanding of cyber security threats is vital. On [...]

From prototyping to validating business models (Coursera)

On this course, you’ll discover what sustainable business value means in the context of prototyping and validating business models. You will appraise your value proposition to stakeholders and its likely impact across people, planet, profit, and progress. You’ll develop a comprehensive snapshot of your business model value from three [...]

Thinking about sustainable business systemically (Coursera)

On this course, you’ll examine the process, methodology and impact of global circular economy initiatives. You’ll use systems thinking and mapping to understand the underlying dynamics and interaction of your problem-opportunity space and explore the likely impacts and effects of changing and/or influencing key elements of your systems. You’ll [...]

Understanding the need for a sustainable business (Coursera)

This course will help you to discover the features of sustainable business and how you can adopt these for business success. You will gain a high-level understanding of the critical ‘big picture’ issues facing humanity today and learn how we can address them through innovation development and implementation. You’ll [...]

Critical thinking for sustainable business solutions (Coursera)

This course will help you to discover how to flip your logical thinking and reasoning mind to enable you to generate a wide range of innovative ideas and assess when to apply the different thinking modes appropriately in the ideation process. You’ll apply critical reflective thinking to avoid personal [...]

Moons (FutureLearn)

Explore the many moons of our Solar System. Find out what makes them special and ask whether we send humans to our Moon again. Discover the amazing diversity of moons in our Solar System. There are lots of moons in our Solar System. The Earth is the only planet [...]

The Online Educator: People and Pedagogy (FutureLearn)

Feb 12th 2024
The Online Educator: People and Pedagogy (FutureLearn)
Course Auditing
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Design engaging courses, make your teaching more inclusive, navigate online research ethics and shape your digital identity. Enhance your online teaching with strategies from educational technology experts. As e-learning becomes ever-more widespread, online educators are being required to design learning experiences that engage and meet the needs of very [...]

Start Writing Fiction (FutureLearn)

Get started with your own fiction writing, focusing on the central skill of creating characters, with this hands-on course. Discover the rituals and approaches that successful fiction writers use. On this online course, established writers – including Louis de Bernières, Patricia Duncker, Alex Garland, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tim Pears, Michèle [...]

Make Change Happen (FutureLearn)

Strengthen the skills you need to work with others to tackle injustice. Learn what drives positive social change in your role as a changemaker. If we want to make lasting social and political change we must understand power dynamics, systems and influencing strategies that can shift the status quo. [...]

Investigating a Murder with Forensic Psychology (FutureLearn)

Dec 19th 2022
Investigating a Murder with Forensic Psychology (FutureLearn)
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Experience what it’s like to be a detective in a murder investigation as you learn how psychology can help crack the case. Explore applied psychology in the context of a criminal case. Psychology plays an important role in police enquiries. It can help build rapport, plan interviews, detect deception, [...]