Staying at home for days and having to practice social distancing has left us all feeling a bit bored. Instead of scrolling through your TikTok “for you page” for countless hours or napping all day, how about taking some time to learn something new?
EdX is a popular non-profit online-based learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT. It is dedicated to “removing the barriers of cost, location, and access.” The platform offers more than 2,500 free online classes from top-ranked universities worldwide. Berkeley, MIT, Dartmouth, Princeton, and Cornell are just a few of these universities. Self-paced courses range from Python programming, the fundamentals of neuroscience, to entrepreneurship. Additionally, edX also offers an online degree program (MicroBachelors and MicroMasters) that counts as real college credits, but with less expense.
There are also Advanced Placement (AP) courses designed for high school students who want a jumpstart into their next AP course.
Anant Agarwal, the founder of edX says, “We hope that edX can serve as a resource for learners during this time of uncertainty… Whether they are coming to us to help them learn more about the information they are hearing on the news or using their time at home to learn something new just because it’s a nice distraction.”
Harvard University offers 145 online courses for free that cover subjects like computer science, business, history, poetry, and health. With these courses, you gain access to lectures, reading materials, and discussion forums. A multitude of other universities also have these resources. If desired, you can pay a fee ranging from $45 to $200 for a verified professional certificate upon completing the course.
Here are some of Harvard’s popular courses on the site:
- CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science
- Improving Your Business
- Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies
- Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking
- Principles of Biochemistry
Registration is free, meaning anyone can go to class at the world’s top universities. Add this to your list of “quarantine activities” and let the learning begin!
