The open university free courses in 2024 are trending and being searched worldwide among learners. here we have curated for you some popular open university courses online for free.
Every year, the Open University makes about 5% of its formal course content available as free open educational content via OpenLearn.
Learners who complete a Badged Open Course will also receive a free OU branded (non-accredited) digital badge to distribute online. Badged courses are very interesting and include a variety of basic subjects as well as professional competencies required in today’s industry.
Learners utilize Open Learn courses to learn about university-level study, to choose a university study topic, to improve or strengthen critical skills for studying or in the workplace, to demonstrate continual development to their employer, or to simply learn more about a topic of interest.
The following are the best online courses by the open university:
1. Active, healthy lifestyles
In this free course, Active, Healthy Lifestyles, which is aimed at teachers of Physical Education, we begin by looking at some of the common misconceptions relating to fitness and activity levels together with accepted definitions of these concepts. We consider how active young people should actually be, and discuss how PE teachers can ensure they are making an effective contribution to this area of public health.
Active, healthy lifestyles Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- demonstrate an awareness of fact and fiction with regard to relationships between young people’s health, activity and fitness
- understand how the physical education curriculum can contribute to public health through the design and implementation of practices that promote active, healthy lifestyles
- understand current strategies for increasing young people’s participation in physical activities.
2. Intermediate French: Understanding spoken French (Learn French Online)
Intermediate French: Understanding Spoken French is a free course for intermediate French learners who are interested in language and culture. It’s intended to help you learn spoken French by showing you six video portraits of people from the Touraine area of France and Brussels, Belgium. It provides clear instructions on how to use authentic video materials as a helpful and entertaining study tool, as well as an introduction to spontaneously spoken English. You will strengthen your active use of the language and gain the confidence to explore additional audio-visual materials and advance your French studies by completing numerous tasks.
Learn French Online Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- understand French spoken at natural speed
- use strategies for understanding video resources in French
- understand and give personal information in French
- employ strategies to enhance listening comprehension skills.
3. Early modern Europe: An introduction
The early modern period from 1500 to 1780 is one of the most engaging periods for historical study. Beginning with the upheavals of the Reformation, and ending with the Enlightenment, this was a time of fundamental intellectual, social, religious and cultural change. At the same time, early modern Europe was rooted in and retained many of the customs of medieval times. In this free course, Early modern Europe: an introduction, you will explore some of the fundamental characteristics of this fascinating period of history.
Europe History Course learning outcomes
After studying this free Europe history course, you should be able to:
- identify the fundamental features of the early modern period and understand the problems of defining the early modern period
- appreciate that there are different approaches to the study of historical periods
- understand what evidence we can obtain from historical sources used in the study of early modern Europe.
4. Entrepreneurship – from ideas to reality
Are you looking to set up your own business? Are you wondering how to turn your ideas into reality?
Discover more about setting up and running your own business in this free course, Entrepreneurship – from ideas to reality.
Using case studies, this course will take you through the decisions you will need to make when building a business: from generating initial ideas through to deciding what you will do and how you will establish your business and grow it. It will guide you through business models, funding options, business types and the influence of location and importantly assessment of your own skills, values and attitudes to risk. The course is focused on practical advice from real entrepreneurs, and will signpost you to where you can find additional support and how you can further develop your own capabilities.
Earn this free Open University digital badge if you complete this course! The badge can be displayed, shared and downloaded as a marker of your achievement. The badge is awarded for completing the course and passing the quizzes.
Entrepreneurship Course Learning Outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- Identify the strengths of an entrepreneur and what support is needed to run a business
- Evaluate, develop and refine a business idea and create a business model
- Identify the gaps in resources and capabilities needed to grow a new business
- Create a plan to develop capability and make progress in growing a business
- Create a pitch to gain support for development of a business.
5. Energy resources: Solar energy
Energy derived from sources other than fossil and nuclear fuels is mostly free of the environmental and renewable energy challenges that plague those two sources. Regardless of whether we use it or not, each alternative source continues to supply energy, and the majority of them have their roots in energy generated outside the Earth, but their potential is limited by their overall supply vs their rate of consumption. The Sun will continue to radiate energy until thermonuclear fusion stops in about 5 billion years. The Sun as a potential source of useful energy is explored in this online course, Energy Resources: Solar Energy.
Solar Energy Course Learning Outcomes
After studying this Popular Solar energy course, you should be able to:
- explain the principles that underlie the ability of various natural phenomena to deliver solar energy
- outline the technologies that are used to harness the power of solar energy
- discuss the positive and negative aspects of solar energy in relation to natural and human aspects of the environment.
6. Designing the user interface: Text, color, images, moving images and sound
Why is the way something looks important? Text, color, images, moving images and sound all interact to produce a user-friendly environment within a user interface. This free course, Designing the User Interface, will help you understand the effect each software component has on the user and explain how a consistent and thoughtful application of these components can have a significant impact on the look of the final product.
Course learning outcomes
- After studying this course, you should be able to:
- design a user interface, making effective use of typeface, colour, still and moving images, and sound.
7. Europe and the law
With this free course, Europe and the law, you will gain a basic understanding of EU law and the interaction between EU and domestic law. It will provide a brief explanation of the European Convention on Human Rights and other European legislation, as well as the background to such institutions as the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- have a basic understanding of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
- have an understanding of the European Union (EU)
- acquire a basic knowledge about the EU institutions
- acquire an understanding of the sources of EU law
- acquire a knowledge of the interaction between EU law and domestic law.
8. Approaches to software development
This free course, Economics and the 2008 crisis: a Keynesian View, looks at how Keynes’s theories revolutionized thinking about the causes of crises and unemployment. Keynes’s thinking on how to reduce these problems was very influential with economists and policy makers for several decades following the 1930s. The economic downturn that started in 2008 led to a widespread revival of interest as economic conditions seemed to resemble those seen in the 1930s. This OpenLearn course on Keynes’s ideas is therefore highly relevant to modern policy making, as well as being of historical interest.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this popular software development course, you should be able to:
- understand what economists mean by ‘models’ and how they can be used to inform economic policy
- define the concept of equilibrium and explain how it can occur at low levels of output
- begin to understand the Keynesian model of aggregate demand and how it explains why economies can get stuck in a low output equilibrium
- critically evaluate the role of fiscal policy in changing the economy.
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Article by Skillshouter Team
Source: The Open University Free Resources
Image Credits; TrickyMan