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Online learning opportunities

There are lots of resources and courses you can take to develop your online learning skills whilst exploring new topics.

Here are a few free resources you can access if you’d like to familiarise yourself with online learning, your subject area, and other disciplines that interest you.

FutureLearn Campus

FutureLearn is an online course platform that provides a variety of short courses. The University offers courses in a range of subjects on FutureLearn including academic skills such as critical thinking and research ethics, as well as subject-specific courses, including topics in the environment, chemistry, business, and medicine.

Students at the University of Leeds have free upgraded access to University of Leeds courses on FutureLearn via FutureLearn Campus. This includes access to the end-of-course tests, digital certificates of achievement when you complete a course, and access to courses for as long as they exist on FutureLearn.

Accessing FutureLearn Campus

University of Leeds on Coursera

Coursera is an online learning platform offering thousands of courses created in partnership with world-leading education institutions and organisations. 

The University of Leeds catalogue on Coursera gives you free access to all Coursera courses created by participating institutions. If you accessed these courses through the main Coursera website you would have to pay for full access. This includes 3,800 courses and 400 specialisations (collections of courses).

There are a variety of courses available that can complement your existing studies as well as many courses on wellbeing and mindfulness, which you may find beneficial.

Using your University email address, you can take almost every course on the Coursera platform, whenever you want. Courses are usually four to six weeks long but can be studied at your own pace.

When you complete a course and pass the assessments you will earn a Coursera certificate which can be shared on LinkedIn or your CV.

Access to most courses on Coursera is completely free and is available to our students indefinitely. 

Accessing Coursera

  • Go to the University of Leeds homepage on Coursera.
  • Click the log-in button at the top of the page.
  • If you already have a Coursera account with your University email address (@leeds.ac.uk), click ‘log in with University of Leeds’
  • If you do not have a Coursera account with your University email address (@leeds.ac.uk), click  ‘Sign up’, and sign up to Coursera using your University email address (@leeds.ac.uk)
  •  You will receive an email to confirm your Coursera membership. Follow the directions in the email and your registration with Coursera will be complete.
  • You can view the Coursera for University of Leeds catalogue, or you can also use the ‘What do you want to learn’ search bar to find relevant courses.
  • If you have any difficulty logging into University of Leeds on Coursera, please email the Online Courses team at onlinecourses@leeds.ac.uk.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is an online learning platform that you can access anytime, anywhere. It provides over 15,000 self-paced learning courses covering a diverse range of topics.

These are free to access using your University of Leeds login.

Courses are led by experts and are on average an hour-long, broken down into bite-sized video modules.

Accessing LinkedIn Learning

  • On a desktop, go to the University of Leeds LinkedIn page.
  • When using the LinkedIn Learning app for iOS/Android, select “Sign in with your organization portal” and enter leeds.ac.uk.

University Library courses

The Library has a range of resources that can help you make the most of your study and contact time to become an effective online learner.

The ‘Becoming an Online Learner’ resource provides guidance for the online environment on how to be an active learner, how to communicate and collaborate effectively, how to manage your time, and how to maintain your wellbeing.

The ‘Digital capabilities’ resources are designed to help you improve your digital skills, both for your studies at Leeds and also for the future.

The University has partnerships with many online learning platforms through which you can access free online courses covering a range of subject and skill areas.

Student IT induction

The Student IT Induction is designed for students new to IT at the University of Leeds, but it may be a useful refresher.

It covers IT essentials such as your username, password and security, as well as useful services like computing off campus. There’s information on University Systems such as Minerva and email as well as advice on how to get help.

Studies