Top 10 Sites for Free Online Learning

Whenever we think to grow in our life, learning something new is the only conclusion at which we arrive. There is not any option or method that can replace the significance of learning from our life. If we talk about the current mode of education, there is no doubt to say that online learning is the way of the 21^st Century.

Online learning has now become a necessity due to the current pace of digitalization, also boosted by the COVID19 pandemic. Every person is now finding it worthy to learn from the comfort of their home. This trend has given rise to more platforms for online education and skill development courses.

When it comes to online learning, there are number of choices available on the web. Sometimes it becomes very confusing and difficult to choose as everyone is claiming that they are the best in the industry. In order to smooth your learning endeavors, we have compiled a list of some reliable sites based on their credibility combined with our own research and personal experiences.

edX

edX is the most popular platform for providing online courses and certifications. Founded in 2012 by MIT and Harvard University, they offer online learning in association with Boston, Berkeley, and the founding universities themselves. There are 3000+ university-level courses in a wide range of disciplines from 140 leading institutions worldwide.

Apart from certifications, they offer various programs and degrees like MicroBachelors and MicroMasters at graduate and master’s level. They offer many courses at no charge i.e. you have to pay only for the certifications, not for learning. Even there is a 90% financial assistance for certificates. If you are not capable of paying, you can write with genuine reason and they will most probably consider your request.

Coursera

Founded in 2012 by professors of Stanford University, Coursera is an American online learning platform with more than 35 million learners. Similar to edX, they offer a wide range of online courses, degrees, and master track programs from top universities like Stanford, Michigan, and renowned companies like Google and IBM.

They also offer financial aid for some courses with a 100% exemption on the fees. The process of applying is quite similar to edX where you have to provide a relevant reason in form of answers. Course instructors include experts from the world’s top universities and companies, and courses include recorded video lectures and discussion forums. You can even earn a degree of bachelor’s and masters in the latest courses.

Udemy

Being a global education marketplace, Udemy has more than 35 million students, 57000 experts, and 130000 courses. Unlike other online learning platforms driven by content from universities and companies, Udemy allows experts to curate their own courses and teach them online.

Due to its large number of courses, udemy has become the biggest website for online learning. The website offers both free and paid content with price ranges vary from as low as $9 to $500. If their prices don’t fit your budget, you don’t need to worry as Udemy is known for providing great discounts.

LinkedIn Learning

Previously known as Lynda, LinkedIn Learning is another reliable platform for online learning and skill development programs. All the courses offered by LinkedIn mainly fall into 3 categories: Business, Creative, and Technology. Thousands of courses that fall into these categories are taught by industry experts.

A free trial of 1 month is offered by this platform in order to explore the quality of their content. Being the most popular social media platform for networking professionals, this learning initiative by LinkedIn is also gaining more popularity with time.

Khan Academy

Founded in 2008, Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organization with a goal to provide free, world-class education to students. Khan academy is free for both learners and teachers with online tools, materials, supplementary exercises, and short lessons in the form of videos.

From kindergarten and schools to early college, the wide range of their topics include math, science, grammar, history, economics, biology, computer programming, and many more. Khan Academy offers personalized learning, impactful content, and various tools to empower teachers.

Alison

Alison is a free online learning platform that mostly focuses on professional skills. It has more than 15 million registered learners and over 2000 courses available for free access. Both the course and certificate provided by them are absolutely free of cost.

Alison also has a wide category of courses ranging from IT, language, and marketing to health, lifestyle, and business. There are mainly two types of courses offered by them i.e. certificate and diploma courses. So, it’s a golden opportunity for any college student or professional to acquire both skills and certifications for free.

FutureLearn

FutureLearn is a British digital education platform owned by The Open University and SEEK Ltd. They are associated with top international universities and renowned organizations to offer online courses and degrees. They are running hundreds of courses on a diverse range of topics.

One of the core benefits of FutureLearn is the social learning involved in their programs. It gives the students an opportunity to engage in discussions with others throughout their course. There are various courses on subjects like Business, Creative Arts, Math, Computer Science, IT, and Psychology, etc.

Stanford Online

Stanford Online is an online education initiative launched by Stanford University which offers a variety of professional education opportunities via free online courses, online degrees, and professional certificates. They offer learners a single point of access to their extended education and lifelong learning opportunities around the world.

They are a single body and not associated with multiple universities and organizations. It offers courses from Stanford’s undergraduate and graduate schools, including Stanford Law School, Stanford Business School, and Stanford Medical School.

NPTEL/Swayam

If you are inclined towards the credibility of your certificate rather than popularity, then NPTEL is the platform you must consider. Initiated by the government of India, this platform is now offering thousands of courses in collaboration with prestigious institutes like IIT, IISC, and IIMs.

All the courses are taught in online mode by the topmost and passionate professors of these institutes. Quiet similar to other platforms, the courses are free and you have to pay only for the certificates. The mode of their exams is also similar to universities and kept under high surveillance.

Codeacademy

Codecademy is an online learning platform dedicated specifically to teach and learn the various coding and programming languages. Unlike other similar resources that teach people how to code at their own pace, Codecademy motivates learners to keep a fast pace. Most of the courses can be completed in less than 11 hours.

It is an interactive platform that offers free coding classes in different programming languages including Python, Java, Go, JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, C#, Swift, HTML, and CSS. They have trained more than 45 million learners in the mentioned topics. Codecademy features a centralized dashboard that allows you to monitor your progress.

As we are living in the age of information, investing your time and money in updating your knowledge is extremely important. The success of your life depends on your approach towards learning.

You should have a strong willingness to learn something new in order to thrive in your life. Being aware of the best platform for learning the skills you need can make a huge difference. All the sites discussed here will smooth your learning endeavors and enable you to grow in life.