NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt University is offering K-12 teachers across the country a free professional development course through massive online open course provider Coursera.

School officials say teachers lack professional networks of support and access to new research on education. The online course will let teachers learn from some of the brightest scholars at the leading education schools on the best way to beef up teaching skills.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Vanderbilt's Peabody College as the No. 1 graduate education school in the nation.

The four-week online course, which begins in January, is entitled "Student Thinking at the Core." Registration and materials are free.