Top Free Online Course Platforms for Maths Teachers
Whether you are a Maths teacher looking to develop your own knowledge of a mathematical topic, or looking for online materials to enhance your teaching program, the following free online course platforms provide high quality open courses in mathematics, or teaching mathematics.
MOOC Platforms
What's this?
EdX offers interactive online classes and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) from the world’s top universities, colleges and organizations. With more than 90 global partners, EdX currently has 2,300+ faculty and staff teaching over 950 courses. Courses are free with the exception of professional education courses. The course format includes tools, videos and game-like labs. EdX is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is a non-profit initiative created by founding partners Harvard and MIT.
See a full review of EdX
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
EdX offers over 80 online math courses from MIT, Caltech, Tsinghua and other leading math and science institutions covering topics in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, precalculus and calculus. The courses are mainly geared towards High School and undergraduate level, and some offer academic credit with the purchase of a Verified Certificate.
Many of the courses can be used for teachers' subject knowledge enhancement or to enhance and build on your own teaching programs.
In addition, EdX offers over 65 online education courses covering a broad range of topics from educational policy and history to curriculum design and teaching techniques.
Coursera is the largest MOOC platform partnering with top universities and organizations to offer free online courses. With the most diverse course selection of all the MOOC providers, Coursera currently has over 17 million students and 1,800+ courses from 146 partner institutions across 29 countries. The course format usually involves short video lectures, interactive quizzes, peer graded assessments, and connecting with fellow learners and instructors. Coursera is a for-profit company founded by computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller from Stanford University.
See a full review of Coursera
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
Coursera offers a number of online courses covering topics in mathematics and logic which are geared towards high school and college level students, but can equally be used for subject knowledge enhancement for maths teachers or as teaching resources to enhance or build on teaching programs.
FutureLearn is the first UK platform offering a diverse selection of courses from leading universities and internationally renowned organisations from around the world. Courses are delivered one step at a time via video, audio and reading material, with short quizzes and assignments. It is a private company owned by the Open University, with the benefit of over 40 years of their experience in distance learning and online education.
See a full review of FutureLearn
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
FutureLearn currently offers 4 courses covering mathematical subjects at senior high school and undergraduate level, and which are aimed at both students and maths teachers. In addition, FutureLearn offers a program of study specifically for STEM Teaching in partnership with the National STEM Learning Centre.
The Friday Institute is part of NC State’s College of Education and focuses on advancing education through innovation in teaching, learning, and leadership by conducting research, developing educational resources, providing professional development programs for educators, advocating to improve teaching and learning, and helping inform policy-making.
As part of its professional development programs, the institute offers Massive Online Open Courses for Educators, or MOOC-Eds which focus on authentic, project-based learning, collaboration, and peer-supported learning, rather than tests and grades that are needed in other types of MOOCs.
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
The Friday Institute currently offers 3 MOOCs on teaching mathematical concepts via a platform that allows enrolled teachers to collaborate with colleagues from other schools around the world.
Online Course Platforms
What's this?
Khan Academy is one of the leaders in free online education, with a primary focus on K-12 level education. It offers a personalized learning resource for all ages with practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. Khan Academy is a non-profit US-based company that relies on a community of thousands of volunteers and donors.
See a full review of Khan Academy
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
Khan Academy courses cover all K-12 maths curriculum topics from arithmetic to trigonometry to calculus, and can be filtered by subject and by school grade. Although the topics are based on the US maths curriculum, they can be mapped to other curricula.
In addition, the platform provides teachers with a tool specifically for K-12 maths teaching in the classroom.
OpenLearn is the Open University's access point for its open and free online resources, with the aim of providing free online education, open to anyone, anywhere in the world. The courses are geared towards an undergraduate level of study, and operate on four levels - introductory, intermediate, advanced and masters – and include interactive tools, video, games, podcasts, articles and quizzes. Many of the free courses are based on Open University course materials, and others are written specifically for OpenLearn.
See a full review of OpenLearn
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
OpenLearn has sections dedicated to Mathematics, Mathematics Education and Statistics, featuring over 35 free open online courses covering topics from basic and complex mathematical concepts, historical maths to methodologies in teaching maths.
Ireland-based Alison is one of the world's largest free online learning websites and offers courses geared at enabling people to gain basic education and workplace skills with a strong learner base located in the developing world. Over 750 free courses are offered at Diploma or Certificate level with subjects ranging from touch typing, to English grammar to Diplomas in Business and Finance. The course format includes PowerPoint type slides & some videos, quizzes & tests. Some courses have assessments throughout; most have just one at the end.
See a full review of Alison
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
With a category dedicated to Schools Curriculum, Alison offers over 20 free online certificate and diploma level courses covering mathematical topics. The site also features a "Maths Hub" with Junior and Leaving Level Maths courses as well as 2 Third level/University foundation courses.
Continued Professional Development
CPD Study Group for Maths Teachers
The above list of online platforms offer a fantastic selection of free online courses to enhance your knowledge or to enrich your own teaching programs. But it takes precious time to search through their course lists to find the ones that are relevant to you.
To save time searching for the right courses across all these different platforms, MoocLab's CPD Study Group for Maths Teachers provides a handpicked list of free online courses and resources selected specifically for the Maths teacher. By joining the Study Group, you also get to meet and interact with other teachers with similar goals and interests from across the world. Learning from each other's experiences is also a great way to develop as a teacher. Join now
Whether you are a Maths teacher looking to develop your own knowledge of a mathematical topic, or looking for online materials to enhance your teaching program, the following free online course platforms provide high quality open courses in mathematics, or teaching mathematics.
MOOC Platforms
What's this?
See a full review of EdX
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
EdX offers over 80 online math courses from MIT, Caltech, Tsinghua and other leading math and science institutions covering topics in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, precalculus and calculus. The courses are mainly geared towards High School and undergraduate level, and some offer academic credit with the purchase of a Verified Certificate.
Many of the courses can be used for teachers' subject knowledge enhancement or to enhance and build on your own teaching programs.
In addition, EdX offers over 65 online education courses covering a broad range of topics from educational policy and history to curriculum design and teaching techniques.
See a full review of Coursera
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
Coursera offers a number of online courses covering topics in mathematics and logic which are geared towards high school and college level students, but can equally be used for subject knowledge enhancement for maths teachers or as teaching resources to enhance or build on teaching programs.
See a full review of FutureLearn
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
FutureLearn currently offers 4 courses covering mathematical subjects at senior high school and undergraduate level, and which are aimed at both students and maths teachers. In addition, FutureLearn offers a program of study specifically for STEM Teaching in partnership with the National STEM Learning Centre.
As part of its professional development programs, the institute offers Massive Online Open Courses for Educators, or MOOC-Eds which focus on authentic, project-based learning, collaboration, and peer-supported learning, rather than tests and grades that are needed in other types of MOOCs.
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
The Friday Institute currently offers 3 MOOCs on teaching mathematical concepts via a platform that allows enrolled teachers to collaborate with colleagues from other schools around the world.
Online Course Platforms
What's this?
See a full review of Khan Academy
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
Khan Academy courses cover all K-12 maths curriculum topics from arithmetic to trigonometry to calculus, and can be filtered by subject and by school grade. Although the topics are based on the US maths curriculum, they can be mapped to other curricula.
In addition, the platform provides teachers with a tool specifically for K-12 maths teaching in the classroom.
See a full review of OpenLearn
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
OpenLearn has sections dedicated to Mathematics, Mathematics Education and Statistics, featuring over 35 free open online courses covering topics from basic and complex mathematical concepts, historical maths to methodologies in teaching maths.
See a full review of Alison
What's in it for Maths Teachers?
With a category dedicated to Schools Curriculum, Alison offers over 20 free online certificate and diploma level courses covering mathematical topics. The site also features a "Maths Hub" with Junior and Leaving Level Maths courses as well as 2 Third level/University foundation courses.
Continued Professional Development
The above list of online platforms offer a fantastic selection of free online courses to enhance your knowledge or to enrich your own teaching programs. But it takes precious time to search through their course lists to find the ones that are relevant to you.
To save time searching for the right courses across all these different platforms, MoocLab's CPD Study Group for Maths Teachers provides a handpicked list of free online courses and resources selected specifically for the Maths teacher. By joining the Study Group, you also get to meet and interact with other teachers with similar goals and interests from across the world. Learning from each other's experiences is also a great way to develop as a teacher. Join now