Qualifications can be costly, but there's an entire world of free, or nearly free, world-class education at your fingertips.

During Lockdown, online learning platforms have reported significant increases in enrolments.

Whether you want to learn for fun, for distraction, or towards a qualification, here are just some of the great available resources. You can learn new skills, and make yourself more marketable to employers by taking free or low-cost online classes at home.Here's a roundup of some of the most popular online learning communities, with some notes on the classes they offer.  

Trailhead

Trailhead is Salesforce's free online learning platform, that can teach you the business, tech and soft skills to make your career successful. There are hundreds of guided learning paths - bite-size modules are gamified and can include live and on-demand video.  There is also the possibility to network with mentors and employers. While many of the modules are salesforce orientated, from building applications to learning in-depth analytics and solutions, there are a wide range of topics to help you develop in-demand skills including how to cultivate equality at work, develop leadership strategies and how to succeed during Covid-19!

• Succeed from home during Covid-19
• Champion Workplace Equality
• Lead during challenging times

Udemy

Looking to learn a hobby or new skill for work? The range with Udemy is impressive - you can learn everything from web design, pet care, to dance, accounting and fashion. With over 57,000 instructors and 150,000 online courses ro choose from. Many courses are free, and the courses that have a cost all come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and the site frequently offers sales. If you are looking to boost your career prospects, here is our top pick on where to get started - 

• Practical Leadership Skills
• Web Developer Bootcamp
• Business Etiquette 101: Social Skills for Success

OpenLearn 

The Open University has free courses in Science, the Arts, The Environment, Languages, Politics and Law and other subjects. This is the OU's contribution to the OER project - Open Educational Resources,  Courses range from a just couple of hours' duration to over 50 hours' teaching. Free courses include - 

• Creating an Ethical Organisation
• Developing Career Resilience 
• Cynicism: Philosophy for dogs? 
• An introduction to business cultures 

FutureLearn 

FutureLearn has courses from multiple institutions. Many you can take for four weeks for free. Other levels are available to access classes for longer including certificates and credit towards degree programs.

• Digital Product Management 
• How to succeed at interviews 
• Essential skills for your career development 

Edx

Edx gives you access to 2500+ online courses from 140 of the top institutions in the world including Oxford, Notre Dame, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, Sorbonne, Imperial College London, CalTech and others. Some of their online courses that will boost your employability include - 

• Project Management
• Public Speaking 
• Artificial Intelligence 

 

TEDTalks

There are now over 3,000 TED Talks available for you to watch for free on all sorts of subjects. If you want to know 

• why the Netherlands isn't underwater, 
• how to be your best self in times of crisis 
• the meaning of life 

there is so much rich content available.