There are so many free online courses. However, I know for many of you there’s not enough hours in the day. That’s not the case for me and others. I’ve thought about free online courses for a long time. I’ve considered taking classes and creating a leadership course. It wasn’t until recently that I seriously began looking at what was available. And what I found was amazing. Here are a few examples:
Free Online Courses
Work
So, my work is twofold and overlapping. I write blogs for several organizations and books, but I also have a Leadership training business, Randy Cark Leadership.com. I manage content marketing for both. So, for me, it was easy to look for classes that might enhance my work. I googled writing courses, social media, leadership training, and content marketing.
I found Class Central 180 Free Online Courses to Improve Your Writing Skills and jumped down the rabbit hole. There are classes in basic writing, grammar, and style, as well as journalism, media writing, and creative writing. There was a lot, and that’s not the only site by a long shot. So, if you’re looking to add to your work knowledge, just Google free online _____________ training. I think you’ll be surprised at what you find.
Prestigious Universities
Many, if not most, of the top colleges in the world offer free online courses. For example, you can find business, programming, humanities, mathematics, and education courses at Harvard. There are also social sciences, art and design, and music courses—not one or two but dozens. MIT Open Courses offers 2,400 online courses! Stanford, Yale, and, closer to home, Indiana University offer various courses. There are thousands of free online college courses available.
Here’s another site I found intriguing: EdX — Access 2500+ Online Courses from 140 Top Institutions. Be careful because this site is a vast rabbit hole. With courses from Berkeley, Penn, Michigan, and so many more, 140 institutions, to be exact, there are almost too many to choose from. While exploring the site, I found most classes were free (but not all). Some offered free courses and then a small fee for certification. Every course shared the number of weeks, hours per week, and a course description. One of my favorites was a class on Medieval Norse sagas from the University of Iceland. I am not making this up; yes, I am interested in the class.
Hobbies
So, what are your hobbies and interests? Because whatever they are, you can take them to the next level with online courses. One of the interests I googled was recording. I would like to learn more about modern recording techniques. Here’s one I found that offers a free trial, Skillshare.com Recording. Whatever you’d like to learn, it is out there.
How about painting with acrylics? There are dozens of free videos from the Will Kemp Art School Painting with Acrylic Paint. Or maybe learn to play an instrument, such as piano, Flow key piano tutorials, or cook? The Culinary Cook — The Science of Professional Cooking. Mashable shared this post, 10 hobbies you can learn to do online so your life is a little less boring, with courses on embroidery, plant care, juggling, and my favorite – cocktail mixing.
What Course Will You Take?
Whatever interests you, simply google free online courses and the topic. You’ll discover more than you can vet. For example, when I googled free cooking courses, 206 million popped up!
If you have the time, energy, and interest, it may be a great way to while away the hours. Besides, when you stop learning, you stop growing. Let me know if you have any free online courses you recommend.
How Can I Help You?
I like to help people and organizations, but I have three criteria I consider before taking an assignment – I believe in what the organization stands for, I know I can help, and it looks like fun. If you have any questions, Contact Me.
So, does your business have a management training plan? Because if not, many organizations, large and small, use my book, The New Manager’s Workbook a crash course in effective management, as the basis for their leadership development program. Check it out. It might help you stop putting off what you want to do.
