At the time of writing this blog, we are in lockdown due to Covid 19 – meaning most people are working from home and are being asked to stay at home in the evenings and weekends.
So, if you do find yourself with more time on your hands than usual, and are keen to do some extra learning, read on.
We’ve put together a list of free, online tech courses available. There’s a real variety of teaching styles, topics and experience levels – so there really is something for everyone. We feel it’s important to add, too, that if you are just not in the right head space for anything other than just getting through each day as it comes, we get it. No pressure. Maybe bookmark this blog and come back to it when things feel a little easier.
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Here is our Top 10 Online Tech Courses (in no particular order)
General Assembly
General Assembly offers some free, online educational events – mainly introductions to – Coding, Data Analysis, Data Science, UX Design… and they are adding more regularly. If you are looking for an introduction to coding also consider General Assembly Dash. It promises to teach you the basics of web development, in a hands on, project based way. Navigate to Online > Short – Form Offerings > Free – Learn to Code, to find it on their website.
Codecademy
Codecademy is another big hit in our community. It has a huge catalogue of content and their basic (free) subscription gives you 180 hours of learning. It’s also worth noting that their pro version – a huge step up in terms of content and support – is quite affordable at £15.99/month. You can browse their catalogue or take their quiz to work out where to begin, if you’re not sure where to start.
Lynda.com from Linkedin
An offering from Linkedin, Lynda offers you free access for a month before you have to get a subscription. There is a huge amount of courses, tutorials and online videos – with varying lengths. Make sure to start with this platform when you know you can dedicate a good amount of time over the month, to make sure you get real value from it before it asks you to pay!
IDEA
This one is less about coding, more about digital citizenship. The Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award, known as iDEA is an international programme that helps you develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free. Great for kids and young adults, but there is definitely something for everyone if you have a good look around
Udemy
Udemy’s mission to improve lives through learning is more vital than ever. They are committed to providing people around the world affordable access to the skills needed to meet the demands of our changing world. From DevOps Basics for the absolute beginner, Python for Data Science to AWS Services for Solutions Architect Associates, there is a free course available for all levels and areas.
Stanford University – Computer Science 101
We’re sure you’ve heard of this place of education! Well, they’re offering a free computer science 101 course online over the course of 6 weeks. This course is best for those with zero prior experience.
Khan Academy
A selection of content for both adults and children alike. You simply need to give your date of birth, learning profile and select what topic you are interested in learning.
Flatiron School
Flatiron is a school that offers courses and bootcamps for those wishing to transition into tech. You can browse their course catalogue or use their “find perfect course for you” feature. When browsing the catalogue, it’s best to focus on the online courses, the online bootcamp prep courses and the basic introductory courses. There are lots of free courses available in these areas.
Open University
OpenLearn, by open University is our last pick but not certainly nor least. A valued resource in the UK, it has opened up a huge number of courses for free access. In the Science & Technology section, you’ll find courses such as “learn to code for data analysis”, “software development for enterprise systems” and much more. There’s also a range of experience levels offered.
freeCodeCamp
freeCodeCamp is a community of more than a million people who are learning to code together. Learn to code with free online courses, programming projects, and interview preparation for developer jobs.
Let us know if you can recommend any other online tech courses! [email protected]
To find out which other companies are running free or paid for online tech courses, check out our Training Index in our Resources Section.
