9 online computer science classes that are free until May 31 — and each comes with a free certificate you can add to LinkedIn

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9 online computer science classes that are free until May 31 — and each comes with a free certificate you can add to LinkedIn

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Online-learning site Coursera announced in late March that it would be offering 100 classes for free until May 31, 2020, to support access to online education for the one-third of the world that's practicing some form of isolation right now.

Among the 100 courses offered, there are nine computer science courses that you can enroll in for free and earn a certificate for completing. They're taught by some of the best universities in the world, or by high-profile institutions like Google Cloud that are offering specialized insight into their field.

You can audit Coursera courses for free throughout the year, but auditing doesn't give students access to the full features that are included in this promotion, like graded homework, projects, unlimited access to a course's reading material, and a verified certificate of completion that you can add to your CV, resume, and LinkedIn profile.

Here's how to enroll in Coursera courses for free:
  1. Click on the class you'd like to take below and make sure that there's a blue promo banner at the top of the page. If not, refresh the page and let it load fully.
  2. Click the "Enroll for free" button.
  3. Select "Purchase Course." If the promo has applied, it should say below that "Your promotion will automatically be applied at checkout."
  4. At checkout, the course should state $0.

Coursera also included a few free computer science classes taught by Princeton in this promotion, which you can complete, but that don't include certificates (because they never have): Algorithms, Part I, Algorithms, Part II, Analysis of Algorithms, Computer Science: Algorithms, Theory, and Machines, and Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose.

You can find the full list of Coursera's 100 free courses here, which range in topics, target ages, and from developing new career skills to diving into personal interests and building new hobbies.

9 Coursera computer science classes you can take and receive a certificate of completion for free:Read the original article on Business Insider
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Introduction to TCP/IP

Introduction to TCP/IP
Coursera
Enroll for free

Learn "everything about the Internet" in this course, starting with the operational functions of Internet technologies (IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP, addressing, routing, domain names, etc.) and your PC/laptop's security and gateway Internet setup and basic principles. Through a Wireshark experiment, you'll also observe how the TCP/IP packets and security systems serve your PC/laptop.

Google Cloud Platform Fundamentals for AWS Professionals

Google Cloud Platform Fundamentals for AWS Professionals
Coursera
Enroll for free

This is an accelerated 6-hour course with labs for AWS professionals. It introduces students to the core capabilities of Google Cloud Platform through four technology pillars: networking, compute, storage, and database. It's designed for AWS professionals with at least a basic proficiency with networking technologies like subnets and routing and experience with Amazon VPC, Amazon EC2 instances, and disks.

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Industrial IoT on Google Cloud Platform

Industrial IoT on Google Cloud Platform
Coursera
Enroll for free

Google Cloud's Industrial IoT course covers the network architecture in its entirety, from sensors and devices to analysis. According to Google Cloud, you'll be able to create a streaming data pipeline, to create registries with Cloud IoT Core, topics and subscriptions with Cloud Pub/Sub, store data on Google Cloud Storage, query the data in BigQuery, and gain data insights with Dataprep by the end of the course.

Building Conversational Experiences with Dialogflow

Building Conversational Experiences with Dialogflow
Coursera
Enroll for free

Google Cloud's Dialogflow course is a "deep dive into how to create a chatbot using Dialogflow, augment it with Cloud Natural Language API, and operationalize it using Google Cloud tools."

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Build Your First Android App (Project-Centered Course)

Build Your First Android App (Project-Centered Course)
Coursera
Enroll for free

In this project-centered course, you'll design, build, and distribute your own unique application for the Android mobile platform. You'll exit it with the understanding of Android specificities that make moving onto more advanced coursework possible. It's best suited for those who have some prior experience programming in Java.

Code Yourself! An Introduction to Programming

Code Yourself! An Introduction to Programming
Coursera
Enroll for free

This is a good course for beginners. It'll teach you how to program in Scratch, an easy to use visual programming language, and provide an introduction to the fundamental principles of computing and thought processes of software engineers. You'll gain skills in Graph Theory, C++11, C++, and Graph Algorithms.

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Computer Vision Basics

Computer Vision Basics
Coursera
Enroll for free

This course covers the main principles of computer vision: digital signal processing, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. Topics include color, light and image formation; early, mid- and high-level vision; and mathematics essential for computer vision.

It'll be good for anyone interested in exploring the concepts of computer vision or could use a refresher in mathematical concepts of computer vision. The course recommends that learners have basic programming skills and experience, specifically in MATLAB, with basic linear algebra, 3D co-ordinate systems and transformations, basic calculus and basic probability.

C++ For C Programmers, Part A

C++ For C Programmers, Part A
The computer science courses below are free to enroll in, and include a certificate of completion that you can add to your resume and LinkedIn. Coursera
Enroll for free

This course is aimed at C programmers who want to program in C++, and requires a basic understanding of algorithms and object-oriented software to understand examples and exercises. You'll gain skills in Graph Theory, C++11, C++, and Graph Algorithms.

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Introduction to Programming with MATLAB

Introduction to Programming with MATLAB
Coursera
Enroll for free

This course uses the programming system and language called MATLAB to teach computer programming to those with little to no previous experience because it's "easy to learn, versatile and very useful for engineers and other professionals." But, it's good to note that it's also not a MATLAB tutorial; it's an introductory programming course that uses MATLAB to illustrate general concepts in computer science and programming.