Ever wanted to learn game development or web programming from Harvard? Or how about web design from the California Institute of Arts? Now you can, without tuition, and without leaving your home.
Nearly two hundred universities around the globe in the past four months have made about 600 courses free to access online, by anyone. These have added to the already ten thousand courses from more than 800 universities participating in what is called “MOOCs”, or Massive Open Online Courses, an initiative that began about seven years ago.
These free (or virtually no-cost) courses run the gamut of topics, including computer science, math, programming, humanities, health, business, engineering, art and design. Many of the courses can be taken at the speed of one’s own choosing and offered in a variety of languages.
Learn front-end web development or app development from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The University of Alberta is offering a video game programming course.
Duke University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers machine learning, while several post-secondary institutions have courses on the blockchain. Palo Alto Networks has a string of cybersecurity courses, as well.
In terms of business, Harvard offers “improving your business through a culture of health,” while MIT and Stanford have courses on real estate, and other schools range with fintech, stock market concepts, finance and accounting. Rutgers offers a course on Influencer Marketing Strategy, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has a course on Finance for Startups.
In the social sciences arena, courses include Harvard’s “Citizen Politics in America: Public Opinion, Elections, Interest Groups, and the Media,” and “U.S. Public Policy: Social, Economic, and Foreign Policies.”
Learn meteorology from Harvard, quantum computing from MIT, and nuclear reactor physics basics from the National Research Nuclear University. The University of Alberta offers a course on black holes, while King’s College London has a course on “The Science Behind Forensic Science.”
A plethora of universities also offer courses on theology, journalism, and health sciences. Courses include “Medical Cannabis for Pain Control”, and “Disease Prevention and Management”.
For those who are itching to learn more about Irish language and culture, Dublin City University would be pleased to take your enrollment.
And finally, if you didn’t manage to make the cut as an astronaut, at least you can take a course on “Engineering the Space Shuttle,” an offering from MIT.
