The internet has made learning easier and more accessible than ever. In the world today, free online courses are everywhere. Whether you want to upskill or switch careers, or even just a beginner trying to learn a skill, there are free courses to help you. You just need to know where to look.
Therefore, this blog post is a guide to where you can take free online courses.
Why You Need To Explore Free Online Courses
Every new course you take gets you closer to becoming better at your skill. This helps to boost your confidence and remind you that growth is within reach. If you’re wondering how genuine and relevant these courses are because they’re free, the simple answer is very.
Most of these courses require a payment for the certificates once you’re done.
In addition, some course creators offer these free courses so that they can add you to their email list and send valuable updates. Furthermore, these instructors or brands provide free courses to showcase their experience and possibly upsell you to other valuable offers.
Therefore, while these courses seem too good to be true, they can help you build your CV, gain relevant knowledge and stay updated in this fast-changing world of technology and learning.
Top Platforms That Offer Free Online Courses (With Certificates Available)
In this section, we’ll look at free online courses that offer certificates. This includes those that require payments for the certificates and those that don’t.
1. Alison
This is an online education platform that offers over 5500+ free courses. As long as you have data, you can access the courses relevant to your growth and learn at your own pace. This is the world’s largest free online empowerment platform for education and skills training.
However, you need to pay for your certificate when you’re done—this is optional.
You can also download your learner’s record, found on your dashboard, as proof of the courses you’ve taken.
2. Hubspot
The Hubspot academy offers free marketing courses at no cost. The courses are designed to provide actionable skills that can be applied directly to your business. The certificate is offered for free once you pass the exam associated with the course.
3. LinkedIn Learning
This is a learning platform that offers courses which help employees develop new skills that will keep them relevant in the job market. While there is a subscription plan for most of the courses, there are free courses with certificates that you can take on the site.
4. Udemy
This is another top online learning platform that offers courses ranging from personal development to trending technical skills. The free courses are accessible through the Udemy free resource centre. However, this free version comes with certain limitations, such as no certificates and no Q&A sessions. The certificates are exclusively available for paid courses.
But occasionally, Udemy instructors offer promotional courses that allow you, as a user, to enrol in free paid courses and receive certificates for free.
5. Google Digital Garage
Google Digital Garage Academy offers free online courses in areas such as marketing, coding and beyond. There are courses such as fundamentals of digital marketing, Google Ads training, Google Analytics and many other courses with a certificate upon completion.
6. freeCodeCamp
This is an online platform that works specifically for individuals who are into coding. The certificate is earned upon successful completion of all lessons and required projects. This ensures that you’ve learnt all the theoretical knowledge and applied the real-world projects designed to build your skills and understanding.
7. Coursera
Coursera offers a variety of free online courses. These courses cover various topics and are available on Coursera’s free courses. There are also short courses designed to be completed in a day, found on free online courses that you can finish in a day.
However, these free courses do not offer certificates or graded assignments.
Top Platforms That Offer Free Online Courses Without Certificates
Several reputable platforms offer high-quality courses designed to help you grow your skills or advance your career. While these platforms deliver excellent educational content, it’s important to note that they do not provide certificates upon course completion. Let’s take a look at some of the top platforms that focus purely on learning without certification.
Khan Academy
This is a nonprofit organization that provides free, world-class education to individuals globally. Their range of subjects includes courses such as mathematics, science courses, computing, and many more. There are no certificates issued for completing classes, but you can track your learning progress.
MIT OpenCourseWare- Free online courses
This is an initiative by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to publish all of its course content online for free. This covers everything from engineering to the humanities and health sciences. This platform gives you access to course materials and it’s designed for you to learn at a self pace, however, there are no certificates given after completing any course. If your goal is to acquire knowledge or just personal development, this is a gold mine.
Academic Earth
This is another educational platform that offers free courses from top universities around the world, including Harvard. Yale and MIT. At Academic Earth, you get access to course materials and video lectures across subjects like business, computer science, education, and humanities. This allows you to learn from reputable institutions however, certificates are not available as their main aim is to offer free education.
Conclusion- Free Online Courses
At the end of the day, the platform you choose to learn from depends on your goal. If you’re looking to just hone your skills or learn something new, then you can go for platforms that do not offer certificates.
However, if your goal is to update your CV or learn a professional skill, then going for platforms that offer free certificates will be your best bet.
What platform have you used in your learning journey?
Which one would you be using next?
Drip your answers in the comment box, bookmark and send this post to that one friend who might need it.
