If you’re looking to brush up on a skill, learn a new thing, or add a little spice to your intellectual life, there are a whole bunch of free MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) starting this month that you might want to check out.
If you’re not familiar, MOOCs are online courses offered by reputable universities for free (although you may need to pay a fee if you want a certificate that documents you’ve successfully completed the course). MOOCs are offered periodically throughout the year, but more than 3,700 of them start this month, according to Open Culture.
If the idea of taking a free college course just for the hell of it appeals to you but you’re not sure where to start, I’ve picked several worth checking out:
Chinese for Beginners from Peking University
Children Acquiring Literacy Naturally from University of California, Santa Cruz
Age of Jefferson from University of Virginia
Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot from Wesleyan University
Job Success: Get Hired or Promoted in 3 Steps from State University of New York
Corruption from University of Pennsylvania
Improving Communication Skills from University of Pennsylvania
Confronting The Big Questions: Highlights of Modern Astronomy from University of Rochester
Guitar for Beginners from Berklee College of Music
Ruby on Rails: An Introduction from Johns Hopkins University
Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop from California Institute of the Arts
Script Writing: Write a Pilot Episode for a TV or Web Series (Project-Centered Course) from Michigan State University
Bonds & Stocks from University of Michigan
Major Depression in the Population: A Public Health Approach from Johns Hopkins University
How To Create a Website in a Weekend! (Project-Centered Course) from State University of New York
I could go on and on. There are courses on a wide range of topics—science, health, business, communication, music, technology, language, etc. If there is a specific topic you’re interested in, try searching the full list by keyword (I searched for “writing” and got 39 hits).
Be aware that for the most part, these courses won’t count toward a college degree. They’re more of a it’s-good-to-be-a-lifelong-learner sort of thing.
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