These online courses are completely free to take and have no entry requirements. Led by world-class academics and supported by teaching assistants, they typically require only one or two hours of study each week for around five weeks on established online learning platforms such as Coursera, FutureLearn, and edX. The online courses team are proud to offer these free courses as part of the University’s commitment to knowledge exchange and community outreach.
The courses cover fascinating subjects in several fields including business, education, arts, history, and STEM. Courses include Climate Solutions, How to Create an Online Course, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, and Digital Marketing Fundamentals – to name a few. A significant number of the courses are related to the environment and sustainability – a crucial subject area to learn about to ensure a better world for society to live in. Particularly relevant is the Learning for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP26 course which ran for two weeks in parallel with the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Live insights were provided into the important issues being discussed – and course content will remain open, free and accessible as a resource for school, community and individual use beyond COP26.
Dr Melissa Highton, Director of Learning, Teaching and Web (LTW) Services and Assistant Principal Online Learning, is proud of this milestone achievement: “It is exciting that four million people have chosen to study something online from University of Edinburgh, this broad engagement worldwide ensures that our courses are open to all.”
Enrol on one of our courses and learn something new today. Find out more on the short courses website.