6 Free online courses worth knowing about!
When faced with some extra time on our hands, we got thinking about ways we could use said time to work on some self-improvement (in-between all the baking and binge watching series of course!). The internet can be a wonderful place, especially when it comes to online courses… that also happen to be free!
With everything from master classes with Anna Wintour, to critically acclaimed courses from Ivy league universities – we can guarantee there’ll be something that spikes your interest. Impress your peers with a fancy certificate and new found appreciation for a topic of your choosing – what’ve you got to lose?
We’ve rounded up 6 of the best places to find free online courses that will ignite your appetite to learn and leave you enlightened…
1. Coursera
Build skills with thousands of classes, courses, certificates, and degrees to choose from online from world-class universities and companies. You’ll be taught by experts from some of the world’s top universities and companies such as Duke, Stanford, Google and Yale to name but a few!
With a huge range of topics the world is your oyster, choose from personal development, data science, social sciences, linguistics and more. Their interactive courses also make it super easy to connect with other students to discuss ideas and course material and collaborate on concepts.
2. Udemy
Udemy offers most likely the largest selection of courses available. There’s a whopping 100,000 new additions published to the site each month! You can imagine there’s just about every topic you could conjure up to become an expert on.
From IT and Software to photography, design courses (an excellent chance to finally learn the ins and outs of photoshop), music and marketing – you name it, they have it! Furthermore, a tonne of the content is video based furthering your learning experience and options available.
Simply search ‘free courses’ in the search bar and you’ll see over 6,000 courses to choose from that won’t cost you a penny!
3. Masterclass
What is Masterclass you ask? A treasure trove of online classes taught by the most world-renowned experts and instructors in their respective fields. The likes of Serena Willimas, Anna Wintour, RuPaul, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Margaret Atwood… Need we say more!
There’s over 75 classes to delve into, with each class typically consisting of twenty 10 minute lessons per class. These usually follow the format of video content accompanied by a PDF workbook, community activities and engaging assignments.
It would be rude not to mention that there is an entire course in which Dominique Ansel Teaches French Pastry Fundamentals – sold! Although these classes aren’t free, you can gain an all-access membership for $180 per year or $15 per month. We reckon that’s pretty good value for money.
4. Skillshare NZ
Watch, play, learn, make and discover. Skillshare is all about exploring your creativity, learning new skills, deepening existing passions and finding what really fascinates you.
Covering all manner of creative pursuits from animation, design, writing, lifestyle, illustration, photo and film and business. Perhaps you’ve been wanting to master the fundamentals of DSLR Photography and finally get use of that camera that cost you a small fortune!
Or, maybe you’d be hugely appreciative of 10 Tips & Tricks to Speed Up Your Workflow in Illustrator. Check out what’s available and just dive right in – what you find might just surprise and delight you!
5. EdX
Similar to Coursera, you can expect classes that are hosted from the creme de la creme of universities such as Harvard and MIT and Berkeley. We feel empowered and wiser by simply listing such institutions – impressive to say the least!
You’ll find everything from economics, law, architecture, the arts and more. You can also obtain a multitude of professional certificates and for those really keen to stretch their thinking capacity – by all means enroll in a masters program.
Popular courses include the likes of Thinking & Acting like an Entrepreneur by RWTH Aachen University and Analytics Storytelling for Impact by Microsoft.
6. Moz
This one is more niche but it’s an invaluable resource and tool for the digital realm – Moz is dedicated to all things SEO (that’s search engine optimization for those not in the know, and now you are!). For anyone in a business team that’s focus is predominantly digital, or if you’re just interested in how search engines such as Google decide who’s website appears where – this is your go-to. Ever wondered how Google prioritizes what you see on that first page after typing a search term? Prepare to be enlightened! Great for general knowledge of how the internet works and also to expand your expertise in your field.
Looking ahead and dreaming of a change of scenery? Why not book a holiday home to escape to!
