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Short answer: the most useful free resources to share in 2026 are open textbooks (OpenStax, OpenLearn), full university course materials (MIT OpenCourseWare), clear video lessons (Khan Academy, Crash Course), interactive simulations (PhET), tools for maths and references (Desmos, Google Scholar, Zotero), and a practice tool so students test themselves. Share fewer, better resources, and pair each with a way to practise, because reading and watching alone rarely sticks.
Which free textbooks and courses are worth sharing?
- OpenStax (Rice University): free, peer-reviewed textbooks for introductory university subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics, psychology and economics, readable online or as PDFs.
- MIT OpenCourseWare: lecture notes, problem sets and many recorded lectures from real MIT courses, free to use.
- OpenLearn (The Open University): free short courses and articles across many subjects, many with a free certificate of participation.
- Your library's databases: students often don't know their university library gives them free access to journals and e-books. A two-minute reminder can save them a lot of searching.
Which free video lessons are worth sharing?
- Khan Academy: short, clear videos with practice exercises, especially strong in maths and science.
- Crash Course: fast, engaging overview videos on YouTube across sciences and humanities, good for a first look at a topic.
- Your own recorded lectures: if your lectures are recorded, remind students to rewatch only the confusing parts with timestamps, not the whole thing. Our guide on studying from video lectures explains how.
Which free tools help students practise and research?
- PhET Interactive Simulations (University of Colorado Boulder): free, research-based simulations for physics, chemistry, biology and maths. Students change variables and see what happens.
- Desmos: a free online graphing calculator that makes functions and data visual.
- Google Scholar: a free search engine for academic papers, with citations and links to free versions where they exist.
- Zotero: a free, open-source reference manager that saves sources and formats citations.
- A self-testing tool: reading and watching are passive. Testing yourself is one of the most effective ways to learn (Dunlosky et al., 2013), and it beats rereading for long-term memory (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). Ace turns your own lecture slides or PDFs into practice questions, with every answer showing the line from the material it came from. It's free to try.
How should you share resources so students actually use them?
- Share three, not thirty. A long list feels like more work. Pick the few that fit the module.
- Attach each one to a task. "Watch this 8-minute video before Tuesday" works better than "here are some helpful links".
- Always add a way to practise. After a reading or video, give students questions to answer. Practice with feedback is where learning happens (Butler & Roediger, 2008).
- Check access. Make sure links work on phones and don't need paid accounts.
A simple routine to suggest: watch or read one short resource, close it, answer five questions from memory, then check. It takes twenty minutes and turns any of the resources above from something students consume into something they practise with. Coming back to the same questions a few days later spaces the practice, which strengthens memory further.
See also active recall vs re-reading to share with students who rely on rereading.
Frequently asked questions
Are these resources really free?
Yes, the core content of each is free at the time of writing. Some offer optional paid extras, such as certificates or premium features, so check before recommending a specific feature.
Can I use OpenStax textbooks in my course?
OpenStax books are openly licensed, so you can generally use and share them in teaching. Check the licence on each book for the exact terms.
What's the single most useful thing to share?
A way for students to test themselves on your course material. Practice questions with feedback do more for long-term learning than any extra reading.
Sources
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
- Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
- Butler, A. C., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). Feedback enhances the positive effects and reduces the negative effects of multiple-choice testing. Memory & Cognition, 36(3), 604–616.
