Free Courses You Can Take During The COVID-19 Lockdown To Improve Your Skills

As the COVID-19 lockdown reaches its second week, it is becoming more and more likely that there could be an extension, meaning that we could be spending more time at home than earlier suggested.

However, even if the lockdown is lifted this week, what can you say you have accomplished or achieved so far? Gained some weight maybe? Completed LaCasa de Papel Season 4? Slept like you have not slept in a while? While these are legitimate ways of passing away time (not being sarcastic), there is so much more you can do to be more productive with your time. Some of them have been discussed in a previous article.

In this article, I will be giving you valuable resources on how you can improve your skills professionally and academically during this break. All for free.

SPOILER ALERT!!! Many online learning platforms are giving out free access to their platforms this April. Continue reading to learn how to get your free access.

Udemy

Udemy is arguably one of the most popular online learning platforms in the world, with hundreds of thousands of courses uploaded by experts in various fields – entrepreneurship, sales and marketing, technology, humanity, professional skills, soft skills and many more. Whatever you are looking to learn, there is definitely a course for you on Udemy. While many of their courses are paid for (though very affordable), they also offer lots of free courses. To access these free courses, search for the course you are interested in, select the filter option and choose free. All the courses that will be shown to you will be free to access and you also get a certificate.

Click here to access free courses on Udemy.

Pluralsight

If you are looking for one place where you can learn anything tech – from beginner to expert level, this is the place to be. Pluralsight is no doubt an industry leader when it comes to tech education. Every field in the tech space is covered here. The only but here is that it is pretty expensive. But guess what? Throughout the month of April, Pluralsight is giving you access to its courses for free. Yes, you heard that right. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of dollars worth of courses will be available for free on Pluralsight. All you need to do is visit their website, create an account and start learning.

Click here to access free courses on Pluralsight.

MyOwnBusinessInstitute

I stumbled on this website very recently and I was very excited about what I was seeing. Free business courses with certification from a university? It does not get better than that. The course curriculum will definitely make you stand out as a business owner and the certification from the university is just the perfect icing on the cake. You can walk with your head and shoulders high as a certified business guru. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone that wants to own their own business or those that are interested in a business development role in a company.

Click here to access free courses on MyOwnBusinessInstitute.

Hubspot

This is one of my favourite online learning platforms, obviously because I am into the digital media space. Anything relating to digital marketing you will learn here and for free. Their courses are packed with valuable resources, facilitated by in-house experts and with live case studies. Considering the fact that the world has practically gone digital, this is the perfect time to hone your digital media skills for yourself or your business.

Click here to access free courses from Hubspot Academy.

Free Code Camp

If you have always been fascinated by those guys that sit in front of their laptops for hours writing ‘only God knows what’, then this is for you. You can also be one of those guys that speak in tongues (Lol… Not the tongues of men or God, but of machines). Learn HTML, CSS, Javascript and more, all for free and with a certification (who doesn’t like certificates. #winks).

Click here to access free courses from FreeCodeCamp.

PHLearn

It is amazing how a picture can look so amazing, you cannot stop staring at it. What is even more baffling is when you see the original picture. Let me just come and faint! This is for photographers and anyone that is interested in learning Photoshop. You can learn anything and everything about Photoshop for free here, and before you know it, those babes and dudes will be tripping for your pictures (Haha).

Click here to access free tutorials on PHLearn.

MIT Open Courseware

This is for my undergraduate friends. Wouldn’t it be cool to get back to school ahead of the class by the time all of this over? Not just ahead of the class, but also knowing more than your lecturers? (No offence intended). You now have the opportunity to be exposed to the same curriculum that foreign students are exposed to. We are talking about a world-class school here, the University of Massachusetts. Take any of your subjects or courses here for free and stay ahead of your class. Maybe even ahead of your lecturer.

Click here to access free courses on MIT Open Courseware.

Saylor Academy

Just like MIT’s open courseware, Saylor Academy also offers you courses that you are offering in school. The difference, however, is that Saylor Academy offers you a certificate for every course that you complete. And for those of us that are still thinking of schooling abroad, the courses here can be converted into course credits for you to gain admission into the school of your choice outside Nigeria

Google Digital Marketing Certification

This is basically gold for anyone that wants to enter into the digital marketing space. Imagine being certified by Google… Think about it for a while. Wait! Don’t think, enrol for free and then you can enjoy the feeling better.

IBM Digital Nation

Talking about golds, this is pure gold. Get certified by one of the oldest and biggest IT firm in the world for free. All you need to do is register for a learning path that you are interested in, and you are on your way to becoming an IBM certified IT expert. You can walk into any company and they would be tripping for you. That is how valuable IBM is in the tech space.

Whew… Amazing resources right? Believe me, there is more. But it would not be cool to give you too many options that eventually leaves you confused. If none of these online learning platforms have what you are interested in learning, please leave a comment and we will find the learning platform that suits your needs.

Enjoy a productive lockdown and please #StayHome #StaySafe.