I Spent 7 Months Gathering The Very Best Free Courses I Could Find On The Internet
Source: Medium, Jano le Roux
Photo: A feartured computer science course taught by Harvard University. (Illustration)
Including life-changing Harvard, MIT, and Stanford courses.
I am an Apple notes guy.
I see it. I like it. I want it. I save it.
For the last 7 months, I’ve been stealthily stacking up on my private online course stash like a squirrel collecting acorns before winter.
But today I’m opening up my private stash to have a mini nerd fest together.
Most of these courses I’ve completed, some I’m burning to get to.
Let’s dive right into the juicy ones.
Harvard’s CS50 Computer Science Course
CS50x is regarded as one of the best computer science courses out there to get started with programming.
It’s an 11 week module based on Harvard University’s largest course called CS50. If you’ve been dabbling with code and you’re ready to really understand computer science at a fundamental level — this course is for you.
I love how David J. Malan breaks everything you need to know down to a foundational building block level before putting together the bigger pieces.
Some of the topics I liked most in the course were web development, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, and software engineering.
Programming languages covered:
Languages include C
Python
SQL
JavaScript
CSS
HTML
The instructor uses problems inspired by real-world obstacles including biology, cryptography, forensics, finance, and even gaming to make the course fun.
If you get a passable score on 9 assignments and a final project, you are eligible for a HarvardX certificate. The course is free, but the certificate does have a cost of $149.
MIT’s Machine Learning Course
Machine learning is changing the world as we know it.
And the world as we know it is changing machine learning.
MIT’s free 15 week course on machine learning is the perfect place to start to get in on all the machine learning action.
In this course, you’ll learn the fundamental principles behind machine learning problems like classification, regression, data clustering, and reinforcement learning. You’ll learn how to build and examine models such as linear models, kernel systems, neural networks, and graphical models.
Different projects need different models.
I really appreciate how the instructors guide you step-by-step to find the perfect model for your project. The course, however, doesn’t stop there. It holds your hand every step of the way to keep your work organized, validated and tuned and get you career ready.
In this course you’ll build:
An automatic sentiment review analyzer
A digit recognition model with neural networks
An interesting reinforcement learning model
Apple’s Develop For iOS Course
Get free access here.
If you’re an Apple fanboy like me, you’ll love it.
This course gave me goosebumps.
Imagine the same effortless Apple feel you get on your iPhone built into a teaching experience to teach you how to build stunning iOS apps using native code that runs like a dream on the iPhone.
You’ll learn:
The Swift language
XCode
SwiftUI
UIKit
The course starts off effortlessly and Apple seamlessly guides you into deeper water where you’ll learn concepts like passing data between controllers, collection views, persistence, and how to make your apps more accessible to diverse audiences.
After completing this course, you’ll be well on your way to getting Apple certified as an iOS developer.
AWS’s Cloud Practitioner Course
If you’ve ever worked with a tech startup chances are, you ran into AWS.
This free course takes you straight to the heart of AWS to get you up to scratch on the latest AWS Cloud features. Whether you’re switching platforms or you’re a complete newby, this course is a wonderful AWS starting point.
You’ll learn:
Exactly how the cloud works
The difference between cloud computing and deployment models
How the global AWS structure is set up
Different ways of using AWS
How AWS service domains work
How to use AWS to solve different problems and use cases
How to use the Well-Architected Framework
How the Shared Responsibility model works
How security services are described with the AWS Cloud
How an AWS Cloud migration strategy can help you reach your goals
This course is also a wonderful first step to get you ready for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam where you can get your certification if passed.
University of Michigan’s Successful Negotiation Course
Every transaction you make is a negotiation.
Whether you’re negotiating with lawyers, employers, landlords, or just your stubborn old uncle, this course will show you the fundamentals to increasing the likelihood of success in your negotiations.
You’ll learn:
How to plan your negotiation strategy
How to use replicable strategies to get out on top
How to close a contract like an expert
How to continue to evaluate and sharpen your negotiation skills
Although the University of Michigan might not be as well known as some of the other contenders on this list — this was one of the most helpful courses on the list for me to keep my negotiation ax sharp.
RIT’s Storytelling in the Workplace Course
Our brains were made for stories, not facts.
That’s probably why you remember your childhood stories and not the facts you learned in class. The problem is, when we enter the adult world, it feels all to natural to become more rigid and factual, especially when entering a formal work setting.
This course takes you back to a creative child mindset where stories come naturally, but teaches you the fundamental structure you can use to implement these in a formal work setting.
The course guides you step-by-step to:
Tell better stories in the workplace
Reach just the right people with just the right messages
Put together messaging for the optimal audience impact, through your tone, style, and story angle
Use different platforms for different messages
Bocconi’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Course
If you’ve ever been on Twitter for more than 2 minutes, you’ve probably heard the buzzwords VC funding, angel investment, hedgefund baby, or venture capital and you wanted in on the hype — this course has your back.
Professor Stefano Caselli, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at Bocconi University, takes you under his wing to break down private equity and venture capital at a fundamental level.
This course is designed to give you a deep understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the creation and development of a startup, and the financial support it can get from venture capital investment. It covers all the major aspects of financing theory, financial theory and practice, such as risk, capital structure, dividend policy, bankruptcy and fraud.
The course is split up over 5 weeks:
Week 1: Private equity and venture capital
Week 2: Legal issues and taxation
Week 3: Management of private equity and venture capital funds
Week 4: Company valuation and deal making in private equity settings
Week 5: A final exam to test your knowledge
After this 5 week deep dive, you’ll understand how the undercurrents of the VC world flow and have a good base to start your venture capital journey.
Stanford’s Quantum Mechanics Course
I’m not going to try to convince you that quantum mechanics is easy.
But I will tell you that it’s not as hard as it sounds if you have a brilliant Stanford lecturer that breaks it down lesson by lesson.
If you have a reasonable background in basic physics and math, this 9 week course might be just what you need to get started.
Quantum mechanics was once mostly of interest to a few scientists. Now it is used by many engineers and scientists who need to use super small things to make stuff work.
This course gives you a solid intro to quantum mechanics and how to use it. If you have a science or engineering background, this course might just be what you need to take your career to the next level.
You’ll learn about:
Taking measurements in quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanical waves
Dealing with the uncertainty principle
Quantum mechanical systems that change in time
Computing powers of fundamental constants
This course takes around 9 weeks to complete whereafter you’ll be ready to tackle the more advanced courses on quantum physics.
There is literally no excuse not to be able to learn anymore.
All these courses are fantastic, fun, and best of all, free.
Start where you are
Do what you can
Use what you have
Cause it doesn’t matter who you are.
Nobody can take your knowledge away from you.
If this piece resonated with you and you’d like bite-size resources, tech, and marketing nuggets, do follow me on Twitter and I’ll leave some golden nuggets in your feed — promise.
Thanks to Alessandro Butler