Free Online Courses (MOOCs)

What is a MOOC?

MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course — a free online course available to anyone. They are similar to online courses in terms of teaching and learning methods videos, group chats, assignments and tests, but they do not generally provide academic credit for use in other traditional courses, nor will you have much (if any) interaction with the lecturer.

Where can I study a MOOC?

The course content for MOOCs is developed by staff from prestigious universities delivered on major MOOC platforms such as Coursera, edX ,Futurelearn and Udacity. Universities from around the world have included their courses on these major MOOC platforms. The National University of Singapore, Trinity College Dublin, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are just some of the leading global universities that have joined the MOOC revolution.

Australian universities have also been developing their own MOOCs, with institutions such as Charles Sturt University, Australian National University, Monash University and the University of Queensland appearing on some of the global MOOC platforms.

The benefits of studying a MOOC

They're free. Unlike traditional online units and degrees, you do not have to pay a fee to take the course, although many of the MOOC providers do charge a fee if you want your achievements officially recognised with a certificate of completion.

There are no entry requirements. There are no barriers to entry — you do not need to achieve a high ATAR score or sit an interview to participate, just an interest in the subject matter and a thirst for knowledge!

Try before you buy. MOOCs are a great way of seeing what a field of study is like, or what the teaching quality at an institution is like before you invest three years of your life studying for a degree. They also provide a realistic indication of the demands of higher education study and the amount of work that is required to complete a module or unit of a degree.

Learn from the best. MOOCs are taught by some of the foremost specialists in their fields. You don't need to be sitting in a lecture theatre at a prestigious university to take advantage of their teaching staff's knowledge.

Collaborate with students worldwide. There is the potential for thousands of students to be taking the same MOOC as you and, at any time of the day or night, there is bound to be someone to chat to across the globe about the details of your course.

Explore the world of MOOCs

Why not start a MOOC today? There are hundreds of courses online and we have selected some MOOCs for you to get a flavour of what's available. Click on one of the fields of study below to start exploring.

• Agriculture
• Business and management
• Communications
• Computing and information technology
• Education and training
• Environmental studies
• Health services and support
• Humanities and social sciences
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Paralegal studies
• Psychology
• Science