COVID-19 has left us with more time to kill than ever, and cooped up in places we’re lucky to call our homes. For us fortunate few, this time can be utilized to learn the skills we’ve always planned to learn or do the extra bit of personal development that our hectic schedule never allowed us to do. The internet is a learning haven for those on the lookout to increase their skill repertoire. We’ll list some sites which give access to free technical skill development, and a few which provide useful marketing knowledge. For those on the hunt for some other courses, a simple google search will introduce you to a plethora of learning opportunities– whichever topic it may be!
Google does it once again! Google Digital Garage offers a number of free courses including basics of code and crash courses on machine learning. Their digital marketing course even provides a certificate upon sitting for a quick examination, for absolutely free of cost! Other than that, they feature popular courses from renowned universities, the certificates of which can be availed at a reasonable price. A quick browse through their collection will have you spending several productive hours, indulging in their bite-sized easy to understand courses.
Collaborating with 190+ leading universities and companies, Coursera brings you learning on every topic imaginable. The videos are free of cost for every course, but if you want to access graded assignments or earn a Course Certificate, you will need to pay. There is also the option for applying for Financial Aid or a Scholarship by filling out an application that includes information about your educational background, career goals, and financial circumstance. Most courses can be viewed through ‘audit mode’.
They are the rebranded name of Lynda and provide integrated service of LinkedIn and Lynda. Although there are a limited number of free courses on LinkedIn Learning, you can access paid courses for free by registering for LinkedIn Learning free trial, which will give you 1-month free access to all premium courses. And, you can take this 1-month free trial benefit after 12-months. They also provide some premium courses on your feed each day and will give you full access for 24 hours.
Similar to Coursera, Udemy provides learning on a vast number of topics, of which 1990 (numbers may vary) are absolutely free of cost with in depth video content. Payments need to be made for certificates. However, there are several sites and groups online which give you free coupons for quite a few free courses with certificates.
Although a for profit organization, they offer free courses to teach the basics of web development. Known as the Dash program, it mainly equips you with a great understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It is free, completely online and self-paced. It consists of tutorials and practical projects designed to let you practice on your own. If you have been planning to try out web designing, this is an easy place for you to get started!
They offer free coding classes in 12 programming and markup languages including, Python, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, jQuery, React.js, AngularJS, HTML, Sass and CSS. The tutorials promise to offer hands – on experience and real time information flow from peers. The basic courses are for free, and they may be enough to equip you with skills in coding. However, if you do want to get a more in-depth scoop on coding, you may sign up for CodeAcademy Pro account for $19.99 per month. For a future professional in this field, we do think it is a worthy investment.
PPC University is a totally free online learning resource created by WordStream, to help build your PPC (pay– per-click) and digital marketing skills. Over the years, it was found that small to medium-size businesses had trouble managing their online advertising. These courses offer tutorials for beginner to advanced users, and you can also avail additional modules for social advertising.
Alison is a familiar name for those who regularly take online courses. It has about six million registered users enjoying certified courses absolutely free of charge. Their Diploma in E-Business course provides lessons on search optimization, Google Analytics and AdWords, campaign tracking and integration, revenue metrics analysis, digital measurement, and lots more. If you are planning your new business venture while staying safe indoors, this e- business course will definitely open new doors for you!
Other than that, you can check out the following to get access to some brilliant softwares for free:
WampServer has a set group of Apache, PHP and MySQL. These three can also be downloaded individually from many other locations, but save yourselves the trouble of doing the extra search. A thorough knowledge of these softwares is extremely sought-after. Free training on how to use them can be found everywhere, from YouTube videos, to free software development websites.
Open Wonderland is an open source environment that enables you to create 3D virtual worlds. It can be downloaded for free and hosted on your server or desktop. The software is 100% Java open source. A deep understanding of such environments can greatly amp up your professional value!
Apache Hadoop provides free download of Hadoop, which has single- handedly become the world’s standard for analysing big data. As the site states: “The Apache Hadoop software library is a framework that allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers using simple programming models.”
Source
Bloom, E. (2013, March 26). 10 Great places to learn new technical skills, free! IT World.
White, S. K. (2018, June 15). 8 free online course sites for growing your tech skills. CIO.
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