6 Best Free Courses Online with Certificates

1- CS50 for Lawyers

2- The Web Developer Bootcamp

3- Neural Networks and Deep Learning

4- Machine Learning

5- Stanford Introduction to Food and Health

6- Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects

Course #1: CS50 for Lawyers

This free certificate course online builds up on Harvard’s introductory course on CS. But it varies from that introductory course because it follows a top-down approach. Comparatively, the Harvard introductory course follows a bottom-up approach. And it imparts knowledge of basic, lower-order concepts and skills. Furthermore, it focuses on higher-order skills, concepts and knowledge.

By the end of this online certificate course, learners will be familiar with different legal aspects. And they will have a deep understanding of implications clients’ technological decisions have. The intensive case studies included in the course help in understanding that. Topics included in this course are: algorithms, databases, cloud computing, networking and privacy, programming and scalability, etc.

Offered by: Harvard University via edX (HarvardX)

Instructed by: Doug Lloyd (senior preceptor in computer science at Harvard University) and David J. Malan (professor of practice of computer science at Harvard University)

Price: free (with a verified and printable certificate for $99 USD)

Skills and Knowledge Imparted:

  1. Computational thinking
  2. Programming languages
  3. Algorithms and data structures
  4. Cryptography
  5. Cybersecurity
  6. Internet technologies
  7. Cloud computing
  8. Web programming
  9. Database design
  10. Cybersecurity
  11. Challenges at the intersection of law and technology

Difficulty Level: beginner

Duration and Total Lectures: 10 weeks

Average User Rating: 4.5

Review:

This free online course with Certificate suits beginners who have as well as those who do not have prior knowledge related to the field. In the case of those who do not, the use of C language during the course might prove challenging.

Students found the course difficulty to be demanding. The 9 problem sets learners have to solve can be time consuming. But the knowledge and skills gained thereof are of tremendous help. The course is demanding but quite remarkable delivery. Additionally, the course instructors, especially David Malan, seem to be very good at his job.

Related: 10 Best Free Website Designing Courses and Certifications

 

Course #2: The Web Developer Bootcamp

Have little to no prior experience in web development? But wish to learn it anyway? That wish is all you need to start this online certificate course. It is not a ‘watch as I code’ course. But an online certification program that is very engaging. So, it will keep you hooked with its engaging mode of instruction. This certificate course will equip you with the old and the new in the world of the web. Because it contains projects that give you hands-on experience in web development tasks. Those tasks include creating YelpCamp. You will get to learn helpful tools and technologies including, but not limited to: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Bootstrap 4, and SemanticUI, etc. To conclude, this is an ideal free certificate course to build your existing knowledge in the field.

Offered by: Udemy

Instructed by: Colt Steele (developer and Bootcamp instructor)

Price: $23.99

Skills and Knowledge Imparted:

  1. Making web applications with complete authentication using pioneering technologies.
  2. Creating blog applications from scratch using Express, MongoDB, and Semantic UI.
  3. Inventing complicated yelp-like applications from scratch.
  4. Using Bootstrap to create effective and responsive layouts.
  5. Working with JavaScript variables, conditionals, loops, functions, arrays, and objects.
  6. Manipulate the DOM with vanilla JS and jQuery.
  7. Translation between jQuery and vanillas JS.
  8. Writing JavaScript based browser games.
  9. Creating complex HTML forms with validations.
  10. Inventing static HTML and CSS portfolio sites and landing pages.
  11. How to write server-side JavaScript with NodeJS.
  12. Using NPM for installation purposes.
  13. Creating node modules.

Difficulty Level: intermediate

Duration and Total Lectures: 46 hours, 399 lectures

Average User Rating: 4.6 (136,980 ratings)

Review:

Some students can find the number of lectures a lot. And especially when you consider the fact that each lecture is almost an hour long. A learner has to learn as well as practice with each lecture.

Most learners find this free certificate course to be one of its kind, especially for its mode of instruction. Due to its instructor, the course has gained much respect and prestige. He has a knack for simplifying difficult concepts while teaching them. And he does so by creating a very friendly connection with his students. Consequently, most of those students go on to build handsome careers for themselves as web developers. In conclusion, this is a very beneficial course.

Course #3: Neural Networks and Deep Learning

If you want to break major ground in AI, this is the ultimate free certificate course for you. It is your ticket to gain the sought-after skills of deep learning engineering. For deep learning is the superpower needed to construct and operate AI. This free online certification course is part of a specialization. There are total 5 courses in that specialization. This course is the first one among those. It is great for those seeking future career opportunities in the field of AI. Because it not only teaches you surface-level aspects related to deep learning. But it also equips learners with the practical side of things when it comes to the subject.

Consequently, that practical knowledge will enable learners to begin and work on their applications. After finishing this course, learners will know how to work with deep neural networks. They will have an understanding of major technological trends in deep learning. Learners can go on to build complex neural networks.

Offered by: deeplearning.ai via Coursera

Instructed by: Andrew Ng (CEO and founder of Landing AI, co-founder of Coursera, adjunct professor at Stanford University, chief scientist at Baidu and founding lead of Google Brain); Kian Katanforoosh (lecturer of computer science at Stanford University, deeplearning.ai, and Ecole CentraleSupelec) and Younes Bensouda Mourri (teaching assistant of mathematical and computational sciences at Stanford University)

Price: free

Skills and Knowledge Imparted:

  1. Artificial neural network
  2. Backpropagation
  3. Python programming
  4. Deep learning

Difficulty Level: intermediate

Duration and Total Lectures: approximately 18 hours

Average User Rating: 4.9 (60,821 ratings)

Review:

The projects and assignments in this course are very comprehensive. So, students are able to learn from them fast. The course explains mathematical components behind theories related to neural networks well. 39% of users who studied this online certificate course started a new career. 37% benefited in their careers thanks to skills and knowledge gained from this course. And 11% got a pay increase or promotion.

Related: 22 Best Python Courses Online [FREE Courses Included]

Course #4: Machine Learning

Machine learning is among the most sought-after fields today. It is very vast and captivating too. So, some of the best online courses are definitely associated with this field. Coursera offers among the most comprehensive online certified courses in machine learning. This course is one of them. Its classes contain knowledge and comprehension of the most effective machine learning techniques. It will equip students with skills needed to solve real-world problems. And some of Silicon Valley’s best practices in innovation. Innovation that relates to machine learning and AI.

This free certificate course introduces machine learning and statistical pattern recognition. It is a thorough introduction too. The topics include supervised and unsupervised learning. They also include best machine learning practices and the likes. Case studies included here will provide a detailed view of machine learning’s scope. That will enable them to apply learning algorithms to build intelligent robots. They will also be able to work with text recognition and processing database mining.

Offered by: Stanford via Coursera

Instructed by: (CEO and founder of Landing AI, co-founder of Coursera, adjunct professor at Stanford University, chief scientist at Baidu and founding lead of Google Brain)

Price: free

Skills and Knowledge Imparted:

  1. Logistic regression
  2. Artificial neural network
  3. Machine learning (ML) algorithms
  4. Machine learning

Difficulty Level: beginner

Duration and Total Lectures: approximately 56 hours

Average User Rating: 4.9 (115,070 ratings)

Review:

Some of the topics in the introductory section are difficult for some beginners. 40% of the students who enrolled in this online certificate course ended up starting a new career in machine learning. And 38% got career benefits thanks to this course. Users found the teaching style to be effective because it included lucid presentations. Assignments are at the right difficulty level for beginners. The introduction is very comprehensive. So, students build a good base of concepts that follow in the rest of the course. It’s not too complicated nor too simple. The free Matlab license also comes in handy.

Course #5: Stanford Introduction to Food and Health

This course gives information and practical skills to learners. Skills they need to improve their eating habits, as well as help others do the same. The world needs those habits. Because over- and under- eating has initiated a lot of health issues. Those issues persist in all age groups. This certificate course aims to take focus away from mere discussions about nutrients. And shift it to a more realistic discussion about food and the environment. An environment where that food is being consumed and wasted.

By the end of this module, you will be able to differentiate between harmful and healthy foods. And last but not least, this course evaluates some cooking habits and dietary plans. That evaluation will categorize the best habits and plans from the worst.

Offered by: Stanford via Coursera

Instructed by: Maya Adam, MD (lecturer at Stanford School of Medicine)

Price: free

Skills and Knowledge Imparted:

  1. Health informatics
  2. Background on nutrients and food.
  3. Food safety
  4. Food science
  5. Contemporary trends in eating.
  6. Future directions in health.

Difficulty Level: beginner

Duration and Total Lectures: approximately 4 hours

Average User Rating: 4.7 (9,685 ratings)

Review:

Users have found this free certificate course to be very engaging. They claimed it is an ‘eye-opener.’ They felt its content and videos to be very easy to understand. Learners might not have a productive way to receive feedback here. Because this certificate course does not include many quizzes. They will not have a proper way to test their knowledge acquired from this course.

Related: 7 Best Computer Networking Courses and Certifications [Free Included]

Course #6: Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects

Do you want to try out something interesting and unique when it comes to learning? This free certificate course will pick your interest. It is about learning how to learn itself. And it does matter whether it is learning arts or science, maths or technology. This course discusses weird and interesting things. For instance, it discusses how your brain creates memory chunks to retrieve information.

It also deals with illusions of learning and procrastination. And it looks into some of the best practices. Practices proven by research as most effective in helping learners master difficult subjects. This course is the 101 learning course. You can take this course on its own. But you can also take it in parallel with or before its companion course, Mindshift. Mindshift is career focused.

Offered by: McMaster University and University of California San Diego via Coursera

Instructed by: Dr. Barbara Oakley (distinguished scholar of Global Digital Learning at McMaster University and professor of engineering plus industrial and systems engineering at Oakland University) and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski (Francis Crick Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Computational Neurobiology Laboratory)

Price: free

Skills and Knowledge Imparted:

  1. Test preparation
  2. Learning to learn.
  3. Pomodoro technique
  4. Meta learning
  5. Renaissance learning and unlocking your potential.

Difficulty Level: beginner

Duration and Total Lectures: approximately 12 hours to complete

Average User Rating: 4.8 (46,662 ratings)

Review:

This free online certificate course with certification lives upto its names. Today’s ‘learning’ is not creating a lot of free-thinking individuals. And that because the very concept of learning is flawed and tainted. So, the instructors of this course have tried their best to do justice to learning. Users have found this course’s content to be of great use in different, unrelated walks of life. It also corrects past misunderstandings.

This free certificate course is more inclined towards theoretical concepts. So, it lacks a certain degree of technicality in its mode of instruction.