Research Guides: Open Educational Resources (OERs): Free Course Materials & Courses

Free Course Materials

Academic Earth
Downloadable course materials and videos from thirteen universities
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Open Courseware
Course materials related to public health
LAMS Central
Free downloadable lesson plans. A lot of content, but not very well organized, so not strongly recommended.
MIT OpenCourseWare
Course materials for over 2000 courses available for free.
Moodle.net
Free downloadable course content as well as courses you can enroll in and take online
New Jersey Institute of Technology Open Courseware
Some courses can be viewed in video, while others are only in audio. Course lecture notes and presentations are also posted for some courses.
Open Course Library
"The Open Course Library is a collection of expertly developed educational materials – including textbooks, syllabi, course activities, readings, and assessments – in 81 high-enrollment college courses. 42 courses have been completed so far, providing faculty with a high-quality, affordable option that will cost students no more than $30 for textbooks. All materials are shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY) license unless otherwise noted."
Open Education Consortium Courses
Search for open courses by institution, language, or subject
Open University
As part of our mission we are making an increasing amount of Open University teaching and learning resources available free of charge to anyone with access to the internet, no matter where in the world they live. The multi-award-winning website, OpenLearn, makes OU course material and other educational resources available free of charge to potential learners anywhere in the world. They don't need to register as students.
UC Irvine Open Courseware
The University of California, Irvine's OCW is a web-based repository of various UC Irvine courses, video lectures, seminars and other learning resources. A recent study found 12% of incoming UCI students had viewed OCW materials prior to enrolling at UCI.
UMass Boston OpenCourseWare
The idea behind UMass Boston OCW is to make UMass Boston course materials that are used in the teaching of undergraduate and graduate subjects available on the Web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world.
University of Central Florida
The BlendKit Course is a set of subject matter neutral, open educational resources related to blended learning available for self-study or for group use. Periodically, these materials will also be used as the basis for a facilitated open, online course.
University of Michigan Open Educational Resources
Find stuff and use it. Freely. Welcome to our collection of educational resources and learning experiences from the University of Michigan. Access a range of course materials, videos, software tools, student work and more. Download and remix our openly licensed educational resources (OER).
Utah State OpenCourseWare
We believe that all humans beings are endowed with a capacity to learn, improve, and progress. Educational opportunity is the mechanism by which we fulfill that capacity. Utah State OpenCourseWare is a collection of educational material used in our formal campus courses, and seeks to provide people around the world with an opportunity to access high quality learning opportunities.
webcast.berkeley
webcast.berkeley is UC Berkeley's central service for online video & audio for students and learners around the globe. Stopped updating after Spring 2015.
WikiEducator
Cooperatively sourced and edited lessons and course content. Very hit-or-miss depending on the topic.
Yale Open Courses
Full courses available. 'All lectures were recorded in the Yale College classroom and are available in video, audio, and text transcript format. Registration is not required and no course credit is available.'
Carnegie Mellon Online Learning Initiative
Self-paced free online courses and course materials
Serendipity Search Engine
Searches for OpenCourseWare
Teaching Commons
"The Teaching Commons brings together high-quality open educational resources from leading colleges and universities. Curated by librarians and their institutions, the Teaching Commons includes open access textbooks, course materials, lesson plans, multimedia, and more."

MOOCs versus Traditional Online Courses

What's the difference between an online course and a MOOC?

"MOOC" is short for "Massive Open Online Course." A MOOC is different from a regular online course, even a free one, because enrollment is unlimited and open to everyone. Students in both MOOCs and free online classes may sometimes take the course concurrently and may interact with each other via discussion forums or peer grading, but MOOCs tend to be more interactive. Some platforms offer the option to receive a certificate of completion for a small fee.

Free Online Course Platforms

Blackboard Open Education
MOOCs across disciplines
Canvas Network
Offers MOOCs across disciplines. Many are focused on job readiness.
Carnegie Mellon Online Learning Initiative
Self-paced free online courses and course materials
Class Central +Acumen
MOOCs authored by volunteer groups
Coursera
One of the first MOOC sites, Coursera provides content designed by professors at prestigious universities across disciplines.
Desire2Learn Open Courses
MOOCs across disciplines
ECO E-learning
MOOCs across disciplines, some in international languages
EdCast
Free courses across disciplines. Includes a lot of courses on improving soft skills and communication in the workplace.
EdX
One of the first MOOC platforms, EdX offers content from prestigious universities across disciplines
EMMA
European MOOCs in multiple languages
FutureLearn
MOOCs across disciplines
GW Online Open Courses
A few free, self-paced courses
IAI Academy
Free courses on a variety of topics with a philosophical bent
Iversity
MOOCs in English and German
Khan Academy
Free courses across disciplines, in all formats (only some are video-based)
Leuphana Digital School
A few heavily social free courses
Moodle.net
Free downloadable course content as well as courses you can enroll in and take online
NovoEd
MOOCs acrosss disciplines
Open2Study
MOOCs across disciplines
OpenCourseWorld
MOOCs across disciplines
Open HPI
MOOCs across disciplines in English and German
OpenLearning
MOOCs created by members of the general public
Polimi Open Knowledge
A small site with MOOCs in English and Italian
Saylor Academy
Free courses across disciplines. Some courses may be eligible for college transfer credit.
Stanford Online
MOOCs across disciplines
UNINETTUNO OpenUpEd
MOOCs in English, French, Italian, and Arabic
World Education University
WEU currently offers free online classes and aims to become an accredited, degree-granting free online university
World Mentoring Academy
Free online courses across disciplines

BUILD Academy
MOOCs on architecture, art, and design
The FOLD
Fashion-related MOOCs
Kadenze
MOOCs on the arts and creative applications of technology

360 Training
A mix of free and paid career training courses.
ApnaCourse
Offers paid career training courses but provides free previews
European SchoolNet Academy
Free professional development courses for teachers
MOOC-Ed
MOOCs for educators

Aquent Gymnasium
Free courses focusing on technical skills
C++ Institute
Offers free courses in the C and C++ programming languages; also offers paid certification tests
Code.org
Another site for learning programming. Very beginner-friendly.
Code Academy
Learn to code in many different programming languages for free
Cybrary
Free courses on cybersecurity
Eduonix
Offers many free and some paid courses to improve technical skills
Leada
Paid courses to learn programming skills. Free trials available.
Open Security Training
Free computer security classes
Udacity
A large collection of online courses related to technology and programming, some free, some paid
Udemy
Online courses on technology and programming, some free, some paid
UniMOOC Tec
Web development courses in English and Spanish

ECO E-learning
MOOCs across disciplines, some in international languages
EMMA
European MOOCs in multiple languages
FUN
MOOCs in French
Instreamia
Free classes in Spanish and Portuguese
Iversity
MOOCs in English and German
Miriada X
MOOCs in Spanish
Neodemia
MOOCs in French
Open HPI
MOOCs across disciplines in English and German
UNINETTUNO OpenUpEd
MOOCs in English, French, Italian, and Arabic
Universarium
MOOCs in Russian
Veduca
Free courses and MOOCs in Portuguese
Younico
Free online courses in Russian
Polimi Open Knowledge
A small site with MOOCs in English and Italian

Complexity Explorer
MOOCs related to complex systems science
Digital Business Academy
Free modules on how to launch an online business
ELD
MOOC on sustainable land management
First Aid for Free
Free first aid and CPR classes and certificates
MRUniversity
Free online courses on economics
School of Business and Trade
Free online courses related to business and finance
SoundViewPro
Business-related online courses, some free, some paid
Virtual Linguistics Campus
Linguistics MOOCs

Open Educational Resources (OERs): Free Course Materials & Courses

Free Course Materials

MOOCs versus Traditional Online Courses

Free Online Course Platforms

License