Top 10 Online Platforms with Free Courses

Due to self-quarantine restrictions, many online platforms made their courses and classes free of charge, and now’s your time to seize this opportunity and enroll in as many classes as you can. Learn a new skill or refresh old ones, because there’s never been a better time to start.

Check out some of the online sources that are offering free education!

#01 edX

edX gives you access to 2000+ online university-level courses in a wide range of disciplines and from 140 leading institutions worldwide. MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley are just some of the schools and organizations that are a part of this platform. With their classes, you can gain new skills and earn a certificate of completion at the end of the course.

A few of our top picks:

1. CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science is an introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming by Harvard University
2. Designing the User Experience is a course that will help you with translating product ideas into tangible assets by creating wireframes, 3D renderings, prototypes and MVPs
3. Product Management with Lean, Agile and System Design Thinking will teach you how to use lean, agile and systems design thinking in all aspects of the digital product lifecycle

#02 Coursera

Coursera is an online learning platform that offers massive open online courses, specializations and degrees. Currently, they provide over 1900 free online courses in over 50 languages. You can also choose between 4 levels of knowledge: beginner, intermediate, advanced and mixed.

A few of our top picks:

• Web Design for Everybody: Basics of Web Development & Coding Specialization is a great course if you want to learn how to design and create websites, and build a responsive web portfolio using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript
• Full-Stack Web Development with React Specialization course will help you build complete web and hybrid mobile solutions – in these four comprehensive courses, you can master front-end web, hybrid mobile app, and server-side development
• Developing Applications with Google Cloud Platform Specialization course will teach you how to build secure, scalable, and intelligent cloud-native applications on GCP

#03 OpenLearn

OpenLearn is an educational website with nearly 1000 free courses across 8 different subject areas. The Open University has over 40 years of experience in delivering flexible learning and 170,000 students are using their courses right now.

A few of our top picks:

• Software development for enterprise systems will show you how to develop core skills in object-oriented analysis and design, as well as software that is fit for purpose, reusable and amenable to change
• An introduction to interaction design will teach you interaction design, the importance of user-centered design and methods of user information gathering
• Project management: the start of the project journey will give you the info you need to understand projects, what they are and how they come about, and it also explores the roles of project managers, feasibility studies, decision making and project life cycles

#04 Class Central

With Class Central, you can discover free online courses from top worldwide universities. They offer a list of their top-ranked courses based on thousands of reviews written by Class Central users, and the list is generated on a yearly basis.

A few of our top picks:

• ANIMATIONs online course will tell you more about the design histories and theories that will enable you to develop creative, technical and analytical skills in animation film production
• Python and Statistics for Financial Analysis shows you how to combine both python coding and statistical concepts and apply them to analyze financial data

#05 Open Culture

On Open Culture website, you can find 1,500 online courses from universities like Stanford, Yale, MIT, Harvard and Oxford. You can use them to learn everything you want – from history, philosophy and literature, to physics, biology, psychology and computer science.

A few of our top picks:

• Crisis Management: Proseminar in Public Relations will provide you with the opportunity to create and analyze a sound crisis communication plan, and communicate the necessity for crisis planning and response to a variety of organizational stakeholders
• Building Mobile Applications is a Harvard University course that will teach you how to build mobile apps for Android and iOS, and how to publish them on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store

#06 Alison

Alison’s Certificate courses are a range of free online courses built for learners of any ability or knowledge level. Each of these free online classes takes less than 3 hours to complete and provides training in a single topic. They have over 1000 available certificate courses from top universities, world-class professors, experts and companies.

A few of our top picks:

• Web Page Design Using HTML5 and CSS3 will teach you about the elements and attributes of HTML5 and CSS3, as well as creating responsive web pages
• Introduction to C# Programming will teach you about the basic features and functions of programming applications in C# using Microsoft’s Visual Studio Express
• Software Testing – Condition Coverage and Mutation Testing Strategies is about learning the coverage-based techniques such as Multiple Condition Coverage (MCC) and Modified Condition and Decision Coverage (MC/DC), as well as using Data Flow Testing to test your variable in a program and creating a control flow graph

#07 Udemy

Udemy has more than 50 million students and 57,000 instructors teaching courses in over 65 languages. There have been over 295 million course enrolments and over 6000 free online classes and courses. Udemy is part of the growing MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) movement available outside the traditional university system.

A few of our top picks:

• UX UI Design for Beginners tutorial will give you a confident understanding of UX/UI Design and teach you the theory of making great websites and apps
• Learn Android Application Development will take you through the basics of Android development, and introduce some more complex features as well
• Introduction to Software Testing or Software QA is a quick introduction to the field of testing that describes why a career in QA is such a respected and professional career

#08 Google Digital Garage

Google Digital Garage is a platform for learning the fundamentals of online marketing that anyone can take, regardless of their skills or background. This free online learning platform delivers a full digital skills course, using relatable examples of how different types of small businesses can use digital channels in different ways. After the course is completed, participants can receive a certificate endorsed by Google and IAB Europe.

Our top pick:

• Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course has 26 modules to explore – all created by Google trainers, packed full of practical exercises and real-world examples to help you turn knowledge into action

#09 Moz Academy

Moz Academy is offering free access to its online SEO courses during the COVID-19 crisis. This promo is valid till May 31st – just apply the promo code “wegotthis” when you sign up. Anyone can use this resource to level up their skills, learn a new discipline, or simply channel their energy into a productive distraction.

#10 freeCodeCamp

freeCodeCamp is a nonprofit community that helps you learn to code by completing coding challenges and building projects. Each freeCodeCamp certification takes around 300 hours of dedicated learning and all the certifications are completely self-paced, so you can take all the time you need. Also, anyone can join the freeCodeCamp community to get help with finding their first software development job.

So, what will you be learning next?

Taking your time and enrolling in online courses is the best investment you can make at the moment, and it’s completely free. Scroll through any of these online platforms and you’ll find a course for any skill you ever wanted to learn. To make the best out of this situation – upgrade your skills, learn new ones and prepare yourself to rock the job market once we get back to life as we know it.