Fall back into learning with these six free online courses from MIT
New, returning, and remixed MITx courses available this fall through MIT Open Learning.
By MITx
Are you looking to better yourself, improve your knowledge of a particular subject, or grow your skill set? For more than a decade, millions of learners around the world have turned to MITx at MIT Open Learning for interactive, MIT-quality online learning experiences. This fall, MITx is releasing six new, returning, and remixed online courses in top-ranked subjects like physics, urban planning, and supply chain management.
MITx courses represent the breadth, depth, and rigor of MIT’s curriculum, opening the Institute to anyone in the world with an internet connection. Learners can choose to enroll for free and access course materials and lecture videos, auto-graded problems with rapid feedback, and peer-to-peer discussion forums. Learners can also earn a certificate for a fee and gain full access to all graded assignments.
As MIT expands its academic curriculum and adapts to changes in research-based teaching practices, MITx similarly strives to offer fresh, up-to-date content. Each semester, MITx’s teams of faculty and instructors, learning design experts, and media production specialists develop new online courses and update existing ones. Here’s what’s new this fall:
Explore new courses
Environmental Justice, Science, and Technology
How has science and technology historically caused harm to communities disproportionately affected by air pollution, contaminated water, and climate change disasters? Learn about the environmental justice movement, its history, and how science and technology can be used to tackle environmental challenges and injustice with this new, instructor-paced online course from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
Join Justin Steil, associate professor of law and urban planning at MIT, Christopher Rabe, education program director at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, and Ufuoma Ovienmhada, postdoctoral scholar at the University of Arizona, for an interactive introduction to environmental justice. Utilizing a mix of readings, workshops, and guest presentations from organizations working on real-world environmental challenges, this bootcamp-style course is designed to benefit a wide range of learners interested in environmental justice, civil rights, and climate activism. The course is open now through November 4 on MITx Online. Once enrolled, upgrade by December 2 to earn a certificate.
Advanced Supply Chain Systems Planning and Network Design
From the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL), this new course aims to teach you how to plan and make strategic decisions that impact a business’ long-term success. Instructors Milena Janjevic, director of the MIT Supply Chain Design Lab, and Matthias Winkenbach, director of research at CTL, are passionate about ensuring a hands-on “learn-by-doing” experience using practical tools, real-world examples, and Python exercises (don’t worry if you have no prior coding experience, the course will provide you with what you need to know).
Whether you’re new to supply chain design or looking to refine your skills, this course will equip you with the knowledge and practical tools to design efficient, competitive, and sustainable supply chains. This instructor-paced online course is now available on edX. Upgrade by November 13 to earn a certificate.
Climate in Classrooms: Tools for All Teachers and Disciplines
Educators have a critical role to play in shaping how young learners think about, engage with, and prepare for climate change. Designed for K-12 teachers across all locations and disciplines, this new online course introduces key concepts and skills that support educators in preparing their students to be informed leaders and citizens in a climate-changed world.
This course is a collaboration between MITx, Christopher Knittel, MIT professor and associate dean for climate and sustainability, and Antje Danielson, director of education at the MIT Energy Initiative. This instructor-paced course starts November 5 on edX. Upgrade by December 8 to earn a certificate.
Discover returning and remixed courses
Sustainable Supply Chain Management
Transform your organization’s climate pledges into actionable strategies through better supply chain management. Modeled on the graduate-level, on-campus course SCM.290 Sustainable Supply Chain Management from the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, this online version will provide you with the foundational knowledge to meet stakeholders’ demands for supply chain sustainability.
This year’s course includes new videos covering techniques to estimate Scope 3 emissions and their relative trade-offs. As instructor Josué Velázquez explains, “Scope 3 emissions are by far the largest in the whole supply chain,” and measuring them accurately is becoming ever more critical given recent regulatory changes and mounting pressures from investors. This instructor-paced course is open now on edX.
Atomic and Optical Physics
Get an overview of modern atomic physics from MIT Professor Wolfgang Ketterle, co-recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work creating a new, ultracold atomic matter. Returning from an eight-year hiatus, this self-paced online course from the MIT Department of Physics combines five modules into a single offering, and features a number of updated problem sets tested by on-campus MIT students this past spring.
In this course, you’ll explore the foundations of contemporary research in select areas of atomic and optical physics. This includes studying the quantum-mechanical behavior of atoms and photons, and understanding how these properties can be applied to emerging fields like quantum information processing. Open now through September 1, 2025 on MITx Online, this course allows you to study on your own schedule, at your own pace.
Applications of Quantum Mechanics
Learn the essential techniques used in quantum mechanics research and practical applications, and discover a variety of approximation methods to understand systems that have no analytic solutions.
Based on the MIT class Quantum Mechanics III, and the third in a three-part series, this undergraduate-level online course is considered a capstone in the education of MIT physics majors. It is designed to prepare MIT students and global learners for advanced and specialized study in any field related to quantum physics. Returning from a three-year hiatus, this self-paced online course is now available on MITx Online through January 30, 2025.
Learners who upgrade into the certificate track will have the opportunity to delve deeper into a topic based on knowledge gained from the course and write a paper that is peer-graded and published in a journal that will be circulated to all participating learners. Learn about the MITx certificate track.
Stay tuned for more new and returning MITx courses coming in spring 2025! View the full MITx catalog. Learn more about MITx and its global impact.
