Ever heard of a MOOC? The acronym stands for Massive Open Online Course and is essentially a free online learning course that is open for all to take part in. We think that sounds pretty good.

University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies and National Museums Liverpool have teamed up to create the world’s first museum studies MOOC titled, Behind the Scenes at the 21st Century Museum. Starting June 1, the course invites all museum aficionados to sign up and join in.

The course offers an introduction to the museum of today and seeks to answer the following:

How can we understand museums today? Who makes the decisions about what to put in them and whose stories they tell? Who are museums for and why are they working to engage new audiences? How do we respond emotionally to museum objects and spaces? And how can museums play a role in the pursuit of social justice, human rights, or health and wellbeing?

The course runs for six weeks with approximately two hours required learning each week. It is also ultra-flexible as there are no set log-in times so each week’s study material can be completed at any time that suits you. The MOOC format encourages unlimited participation and open access learning via the internet. We are certainly embracing it with open arms and think you should too!

The whole course is free of charge and will take place on the Future Learn website. All you need to do is register, sign in and sign up.