In today’s world of advanced technology and media, many people feel it is necessary to develop their technical skills to obtain an internship or job. While expanding your technical knowledge is important and could be valuable in your career, many students may feel they have not retained the necessary technical skills through college coursework. Many students studying the arts, languages, social sciences, and many other subjects could feel they are at a disadvantage to those studying computer science, data analytics, or engineering because they lack the knowledge of technology that seems to dominate today’s working world. Fortunately, there is no need to feel this way — many resources exist for students to take courses that allow them to develop these skills, and many are free! Here are five valuable (and free!) resources that could help you build your technical skills:
- LinkedIn Learning
Many students are familiar with LinkedIn, a professional networking and career development online platform, but not everyone knows that the website offers free courses to develop a plethora of skills. Courses teach many different lessons, including how to work with Excel, the basics of Python, and even overcoming your fear of public speaking. Courses vary in how in-depth and time-consuming they are, but if you are looking for a quick and easy way to learn a skill, you can complete many basic courses that LinkedIn in under two hours. To access these free courses, navigate to the “LinkedIn Learning” tab from your LinkedIn profile, or visit https://www.linkedin.com/learning/ and select “Start My Free Month.” If you already have a LinkedIn account, the website will recommend courses based on your profile!
- Coursera
Coursera collaborates with hundreds of different universities and companies to create online courses taught by professors and experts worldwide. Develop your skills in data science, business, language learning, math and logic, and more. All of Coursera’s courses are free, but they give you the option of paying for a “Coursera Verified Certificate” to prove your proficiency in a skill. Visit https://www.coursera.org/ to get started!
- Codecademy
If you’re interested specifically in coding, Codecademy is a great place to start. This interactive learning platform offers courses in Java, Python, HTML, website development, and many more topics. Start learning to code here: https://www.codecademy.com/.
- Upskill
This website offers courses in web development, which you learn by watching videos and then completing training projects in a kind of “boot camp” manner. You do not need any previous programming knowledge to start learning with Upskill. At the end of this course, you complete a final project to put all of your skills to the test. Start learning with Upskill at https://upskillcourses.com/.
- MongoDB University
Another resource that offers free online courses is MongoDB. Courses are downloadable, pre-recorded video lectures that are only a few minutes long. Quizzes and labs at the end of each lesson allow you to test your knowledge and track your progress, and there is even a discussion forum that will enable you to get help from experts and classmates. A “Proof of Completion” is provided after finishing a course. Get started for free with MongoDB at https://university.mongodb.com/.
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